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The Legal Services Board is to tell the approved regulators that they must consult those they regulate about setting the level of practising fees beyond what is needed simply for regulation, it has emerged.

If regulators are not loved by those they regulate, then it is no surprise to find that the regulator of regulators is even less loved. And so I don’t imagine that beyond the offices of the Legal Services Board, many tears will be shed that David Edmonds’ second and final term of office is up today. There may, indeed, be some sighs of relief.

Plans to simplify the approval process for non-lawyer owners of alternative business structures are being considered by the Legal Services Board, it has emerged. Private equity purchasers are proving particularly tricky under the current regime.

The prospect of external investment in intellectual property firms is set to soar after the Intellectual Property Regulation Board won the support of the Legal Services Board to become the third alternative business structure licensing authority.

Changes in the legal market since the Legal Services Act will accelerate, with competition from new providers and cuts in legal aid leading to a “tragic but inevitable” end for non-specialist high street firms, according to the politician who shepherded the Act through Parliament.