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OFT welcomes end of Scottish legal 'mixed doubles' rule

OFT welcomes end of Scottish legal 'mixed doubles' rule

OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING News Release (110/08) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 24 September 2008

The OFT has welcomed the move by the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates this week to withdraw its rule banning so called 'mixed doubles'. The OFT had previously expressed concern to the Faculty that the rule, which said that Advocates and Solicitor Advocates (solicitors with higher rights of audience) should not appear in Court on behalf of the same client, could be anti competitive and potentially in breach of the Competition Act 1998.

The withdrawal of the rule will allow clients to choose the professional legal services that best meet their needs, irrespective of whether they are provided by Advocates or Solicitor Advocates.

The OFT believes that this will lead to increased choice, result in clients incurring lower legal costs, and allow Advocates and Solicitor Advocates to draw on their complementary strengths and expertise in order to offer and develop new and improved ways of providing advocacy services. Cavendish Elithorn, OFT Senior Director of Services, said:

'We are very pleased that the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates has responded to the concerns of the OFT and others and withdrawn the rule, thus allowing Advocates and Solicitor Advocates to work together. Consumers in Scotland will now have the same choices as those in England and Wales and benefit from a more competitive market.'

NOTES

1. Advocates offer specialist legal representation and advice to clients of solicitors and of members of certain other professional bodies. They have rights of audience before the higher Scottish Courts.

2. Prior to the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Scotland 1990 Act only Advocates could appear before the higher Scottish Courts the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

3. Under section 24 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Scotland Act 1990 suitably qualified solicitors in Scotland were for the first time granted rights of audience in the higher courts. The aim of the reform was to give consumers of legal services the widest possible choice of legal representative, consistent with the efficient administration of justice.

4. In Scotland, any Solicitor who wishes to acquire extended rights of audience must satisfy the Council of the Law Society of Scotland about both their professional conduct and reputation and their competency in the practice and procedure of the Supreme Courts. In addition they are required to pass an examination.

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