6 Oct 2011

‘Tesco law’ shake-up for legal services

High street retailers will be able to offer legal services to their customers, under the new Legal Services Act.

Supermarkets and high-street can offer legal services (reuters)

From today, non-lawyers will be able to invest in and own legal businesses for the first time, allowing banks and supermarkets to offer the services of a lawyer alongside groceries and other items.

The government said that the new Legal Services Act would provide more choice for the public, and Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said it was “a landmark day” for the UK legal industry.

“Our legal services are already rated among the best in the world, used by millions of people around the globe as well as in the UK, and these changes will set them up to move to new heights. They will enable firms to set up multi-disciplinary practices and provide opportunities for growth,” he said.

However critics say the law will result in a drop in standards of legal advice. When the act was proposed in 2009, a coalition of law firms set up their opposition to the measure.

These changes will enable firms to set up multi-disciplinary practices and provide opportunities for growth. Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly

The change in the law has been dubbed the “Tesco Law” by some, although the supermarket giant has not committed to taking part.

The Co-operative is one of the first companies to announce plans to offer legal services and has already started a pilot scheme in some of its Bristol branches.

Jonathan Gulliford, sales and marketing director for Co-operative Legal Services, said its customers would appreciate being able to bypass solicitors offices. “[It is] not something they want to be doing and on the whole they don’t like doing it,” he said. “We want to get in to help our members and to do the work for them.”