Lawyers give 'Tesco law' green light despite accusations of vote-rigging

Published on Wednesday 7 April 2010 23:19

A POTENTIALLY damaging referendum has been won narrowly by the Law Society of Scotland, heading off the first of three challenges that could alter the landscape of the Scottish legal profession.

In only the third profession-wide vote in the Society's history and the first for almost 20 years, solicitors endorsed by just 20 votes its policy on legal reforms, which will allow external ownership of Scottish law firms.

The largest turnout in a Society referendum saw the reforms, contained in the Scottish Government's Legal Services Bill, backed by 2,245 votes to 2,221, despite a "no" campaign led by Mike Dailly of Govan Law Centre, who had claimed the vote was "rigged".

A total of 4,466 solicitors – 43 per cent of the Society's membership – voted in a secret ballot run by the Electoral Reforms Services that closed at midday yesterday.

The vote was called by officials aiming to see off a rebellion over its handling of reforms that will allow the introduction of alternative business structures (ABS) – dubbed the Tesco law – to legal firms.

Society critics believe the move, which could see legal services operated by large companies such as banks or supermarkets, would damage the profession's independence and integrity and squeeze out smaller firms.

The Society now faces two further challenges as it fights to maintain the ABS policy and hold on to its role as the representative body for every solicitor in Scotland.

First will come a potentially hostile special general meeting next week at which the ABS policy will be debated. The last SGM was adjourned amid rancorous scenes that saw officials accused of "shaming democracy" by closing proceedings on a technicality before a vote was held.

Thereafter, the profession will cast its vote in a second referendum forced by disgruntled Society members, unhappy with the conduct of its council during the implementation of the bill. Solicitors will be asked whether the Society should be stripped of the representative role it has held for more than 60 years.

Ian Smart, president of the Law Society, conceded the close result meant the rift surrounding ABS had yet to be fully healed.

He said: "The narrowness of the result illustrates just how the issue has brought out widely divergent views across the profession.

"While there have been a few heated remarks on the wider fringes of the debate, I believe the vast majority of solicitors still wish to try to find a united way forward. These results will therefore inform the ongoing policy debate which will also continue both in private and at a reconvened special general meeting."

But Mike Dailly renewed his attack on the vote, insisting the wording of the question, which said "appropriate safeguards" would be put in place, was unsatisfactory.

"The question was utterly loaded, against all international protocols about being neutral and I have complained to the Electoral Reform Society about it," he said.

John McGovern, the president of the Glasgow Bar Association, added: "The Law Society has won by 0.6 per cent. The profession is clearly split.

"The professional interests of high street solicitors are clearly different to the professional interests of big commercial firms.

"The Law Society should recognise that it cannot continue to represent both. It's time for solicitors to have a choice about which body, if any, represents them."