Frank H Stephen

Lawyers, markets and regulation

Frank H. Stephen’s evaluation of public policy on the legal profession in UK and European jurisdictions explores how regulation and self-regulation have been liberalized over the past 30 years. The book surveys where the most recent and radical liberalization involving the ownership of law firms by non-lawyers is likely to lead, and appraises the economic literature on the costs and benefits of regulating markets for professional services. It challenges socio-legal views on professional legislation and highlights the limitations of regulatory competition, as well as the importance of dominant business models. The author reviews the empirical work underpinning these theories and policies. He also evaluates the effectiveness of regulatory competition as a response to regulatory capture.

Law and Economics of Plea-Bargaining

Although highly criticized by legal scholars, plea-bargaining is probably the most transplanted instrument of criminal procedure. In contrast to most of the legal literature, Law and Economics is quite optimistic about it. In this paper, we take the view that such optimism is not well founded. Our approach is based on the view of plea-bargaining as part of a nexus of relationships that undermines the efficiency argument. In particular, we find it quite important to assess the defendants lawyers incentives and the prosecutors goals, both of which are rather neglected in Law and Economics. Other aspects we consider are the interests of the victims and judicial scrutiny. Our conclusions temper the usual Law and Economics optimism.

The more things change, the more they stay the same: Explaining stratification within the Faculty of Advocates, Scotland

Since the 1970s the legal profession has become increasingly diversified. However, the inclusion of traditionally excluded social groups has not eradicated inequalities. This paper attempts to explain the contradiction between increasing diversification and persistence of inequalities by examining changes in the structure of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland. We observe significant changes over the last 40 years, especially the increasing numbers of women entering the Faculty. Yet, women still face discrimination, and their success has largely been at the expense of working-class aspirants. We argue that existing theoretical perspectives, namely feminism and the perspectives of Bourdieu, as well as new insights offered by Beck, are insufficient to account for stratification within the legal profession. We call for a new theoretical perspective which accounts for both social change and persistence of inequalities, and suggest that such an approach is best offered by a feminist reworking of Bourdieu.

Law and Development

This book draws on the analytical framework of New Institutional Economics (NIE) to critically examine the role which law and the legal system play in economic development. Analytical concepts from NIE are used to assess policies which have been supported by multilateral development organisations including securing private property rights, reform of the legal system and financial development. The importance of culture in shaping the legal environment, which in turn influences financial sector development, is also assessed using Oliver Williamson’s ‘levels of social analysis’ framework.

A Technological Revolution in 'lawyering'?

This paper is based on a draft chapter of a book (Lawyers, Markets and Regulation) which I am currently writing. Comments on the argument would be welcomed but the paper should not be cited as yet. The paper argues that the Legal Services Act 2007 lays down the basis for significant changes in how lawyers and others will provide legal services in England & Wales in the future. At the heart of the Act there is one fundamental change in the institutional infrastructure for the provision of legal services and a confirmation and consolidation of the trend in UK policy towards competitive self-regulation of markets for legal services. The licensing of Alternative Business Structures (ABSs) owned by non-lawyers to provide legal services has the potential to create a ‘technological revolution’ in ‘lawyering’ leading to innovation in not only how legal services are delivered but perhaps in the nature of legal services themselves. Some commentators have argued that ABSs will ‘cherry pick’ legal services to the detriment of ‘High Street’ law firms’ ability to subsidise the provision of welfare law advice. It is argued her that this argument confuses profits with price. Welfare Law may be currently unprofitable because of the high costs of current suppliers. ABSs have the potential to provide these services at lower cost because of economies of scope and economies of scale. This would make the provision of such services profitable for ABS firms. The two tier system of regulation inaugurated under LSA 2007 consolidates, strengthens and extends system of competition between regulators introduced by the Administration of Justice Act 1985 and the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. Under LSA 2007 front-line regulators such as the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, the Bar Standards Board and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers are supervised in carrying out their regulatory activities by the Legal Services Board which is under an obligation to promote competition in the market for legal service. The paper will further consider why there has not been the predicted revolution in lawyering in the liberalised jurisdictions of Finland and New South Wales

Access to justice

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