We began our April meeting with a presentation from Michael Stych, the CEO of Contend Legal. This is an AI-powered chatbot service that provides information in response to users’ legal questions.
Although Contend Legal operates in an unregulated area, not within the LSB’s oversight, we conduct research into unregulated providers and consider their impact on the legal market. We’re interested in how AI-driven business-to-consumer services affect how people access legal services, as well as the opportunities and risks they present. We thank Michael for joining us and sharing his experiences.
For regulated legal services, the LSB’s approach is pro-innovation. It’s been one year since we published our guidance for regulators on innovation and technology, and we’re continuing to explore how AI can help to improve access to justice for some groups of people.
Following up on our regulatory performance assessments
We recently published our latest assessment of how well the legal regulators are performing, which identified serious shortcomings for both the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Bar Standards Board (BSB).
For the SRA, those shortcomings relate to its authorisation, supervision and enforcement processes. For the BSB, our concerns relate to how well the Board can hold the executive to account, how efficiently and effectively the organisation is delivering its Reform Programme to modernise its regulatory approach, and the timeliness of its authorisations and investigations work.
Even prior to this latest assessment, we have had significant engagement with the SRA and the BSB on these issues. We had already initiated the process for formal enforcement action against the SRA following the Axiom Ince report. For the BSB, meanwhile, we have raised concerns over a succession of reviews and assessments, while the Fieldfisher report of 2024 identified multiple areas for improvement in the BSB’s enforcement processes.
The Board considered options for any further action in connection with the SRA and BSB’s assessments. We agreed that the statutory process currently underway against the SRA, following the Axiom Ince report, already provides the appropriate regulatory route to address the SRA’s performance at this stage. For the BSB, we agreed to escalate informal action by inviting the BSB to agree voluntary undertakings. In the Decision Note produced following the Board meeting, we have published our letter to the BSB informing them of this decision, along with the BSB’s response.
Reviewing the Legal Services Consumer Panel strategy 2025–28
We also looked at a near-final draft of the Legal Services Consumer Panel’s strategy for 2025–28. They will publish this strategy soon, so I won’t go into detail now, but we look forward to continuing to work with the Panel on areas of common interest and priority.
LSB financial report 2024/25
Finally, we reviewed the LSB’s finances for the year ending 31 March 2025. Our total spend was £5.219m, which was £52,000 less than originally budgeted. Subject to the results of an external audit, this saving will mean that the levy we charge next year will be slightly lower. The full report is available on our website.