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mandate and structure

The LSB is the overarching regulator for legal services in England and Wales.

The LSB was established by the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) and has been fully operational since January 2010. It is independent of government and of the legal profession, although it is funded by the profession via a levy on secondary regulators such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The LSB must have a lay chairman, a chief executive and seven to ten ordinary members, of whom the majority must be lay persons.

The LSB’s overriding mandate is to ensure that regulation in the legal services sector is carried out in the public interest and that the interests of consumers are placed at the heart of the system.

Statutory role

The LSB’s principal statutory role is to regulate the frontline regulators of providers of