§ Mr. VazTo ask the Attorney-General (1) if he has received any representations from the Leicestershire Law Society concerning the effects on the network of national solicitors' offices of the proposals in "The Future of the Legal Profession"; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he has received any representations from the Leicestershire Law Society concerning the takeover rate by insurance companies, building societies and other such institutions of estate agent firms; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Lord Chancellor has received representations from the Leicestershire Law Society in connection with his Green Papers on the future of the legal profession. The White Paper "Legal Services: A Framework for the Future" (Cm 740) published on 19 July describes the Government's decisions on the proposals in the Green Papers and its plans for legislation.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Attorney-General if he will list the organisations which have responded to the document entitled "The Future of the Legal Profession"; which organisations(a) favour and (b) oppose the proposals; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Lord Chancellor's three Green Papers published in January—"The Work and Organisation of the Legal Profession", "Contingency Fees" and "Conveyancing by Authorised Practitioners"—have been treated collectively as his papers on the future of the legal profession. They contained a variety of proposals and options. Over 2,000 responses were received from individuals and organisations. They included comments for and against some or all of the points raised. There would therefore be little benefit to be gained from seeking to construct a list of those for and against them as a whole. The White Paper "Legal Services: A Framework for the Future" (Cm. 740) published on 19 July contains a synopsis of the responses. The Lord Chancellor has also arranged, where authors have consented, for copies of all responses (except those which dealt only with personal cases) to be made available for inspection in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament, in the Supreme Court library and on written application, in his Department's headquarters.