CILEx Regulation have received approval from the LSB for alterations to the CRL Transparency Rules and the transparency requirements within the CILEx Regulation ACCA Handbook.
CRL’s Transparency Rules previously only applied to firms providing legal services for conveyancing, probate and immigration. The rule change will see an extension of CRL’s Transparency Rules to apply to all legal services provided by CRL Authorised Entities and CILEX-ACCA Probate Entities.
The rule change, in alignment with the LSB’s Statement of Policy,1 extends CRL’s Transparency Rules. This will mean that law firms regulated by CRL will be the first required to publish price and service information for all legal services provided to consumers and to small businesses.
Firms will need to provide details on their website of:
- all transparency information including price, in a prominent, clear, and accessible format
- information about the mix of staff that deliver their services
- complaints procedures, including a link to the Legal Ombudsman decision data webpage
- regulatory information including the CRL digital logo to demonstrate a firm’s regulatory status.
In addition, firms will need to publish information relating to Professional Indemnity Insurance and compensation arrangements. The changes include Digital Exclusion considerations and firms without a website will need to provide all required information in a consumer information leaflet.
The changes will make a positive difference to consumers looking to access legal services by increasing transparency and information access. A clear and uniform presentation of key information across provider websites will help consumers and small businesses to make an informed decision when selecting a legal services provider.
John Barwick, CRL’s CEO commented; “This is a positive outcome for CRL and will help us move forwards in our transparency and consumer empowerment objectives. The rule change has received backing from our regulated firms as well as external stakeholders including the LSCP and CLC. We look forward to future collaboration opportunities to look at what more could be done to improve fair and equal access to legal services information.”
CRL will be updating their transparency guidelines to help firms to understand the scope of the changes. This will include full details of the information they will be required to publish digitally or in print format, including accessibility requirements and timescales for completion. The guidelines will remain under review to monitor the impact these changes have on legal services consumers.
Further information
Transparency Rule change consultation document (consultation now closed)
Annexe 1 (Rules with proposed amendments)
Annexe 2 (Regulations with proposed amendments)
Recent press coverage: CILEx Regulation pushes ahead with transparency for all legal services – Legal Futures
