LSB chief warns AI and new models are eroding boundaries of reserved legal activities
The chief executive of the Legal Services Board (LSB) has warned that the unregulated legal market is expanding at an unprecedented rate, arguing that rapid technological advancements and shifting market forces are rendering the current system of reserved legal activities obsolete.
Speaking at the LegalEx conference in London in this month, Richard Orpin confirmed that the oversight regulator intends to push for a formal statutory review of the framework, declaring that the legal landscape has changed “beyond recognition” since the Legal Services Act (LSA) was passed.
The LSA currently sets out six specific reserved activities including the exercise of a right of audience, the conduct of litigation, and probate activities which can only be carried out by authorised practitioners or those with a valid exemption.
However, Orpin told delegates that the rapid development and deployment of customer-facing artificial intelligence tools are severely disrupting this established regulatory structure.
“AI is blurring the boundaries between regulated and unregulated legal advice,” Orpin said. “New business models are emerging that don’t map neatly onto the categories the Act anticipated.”
The LSB chief also highlighted how recent case law has exposed the fragility of the current definitions. He pointed to the widespread industry confusion sparked by last year’s landmark Mazur judgment, which left the profession in a tangle over whether, and to what extent, unauthorised law firm staff and paralegals are permitted to carry on reserved activities.
Orpin noted that the Mazur ruling brought the deep complexity and uncertainty surrounding boundaries particularly concerning the conduct of litigation into “sharp focus,” emphasising just how much is at stake for both consumers and legal professionals when these lines are poorly defined.
While a complete overhaul of the LSA’s reserved activities would require primary legislation, Orpin made it clear that the LSB is actively preparing the groundwork to challenge the status quo.
“The LSB has previously said that a statutory review of reserved activities requires a robust evidence base,” Orpin concluded. “That is still true the case for such a review is growing, and we intend to make it.”