The research, carried out by the legal market regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), found that the role had changed from advising on the law to involvement in the company’s strategic decision-making and that many joined for work-life balance.With 25,6000 now working in legal departments, this now represents18 per cent of the solicitor population, with 60 per cent of these working in the private sector.The regulator attributes the growth to financial pressures which has seen companies setting up legal departments instead of outsourcing to external law firms.
Relevant and proportionate
Commenting on the research, which was completed to review the regulatory requirements of the in-house legal market, Richard Collins, SRA Executive Director said: "The in-house sector continues to thrive, grow and develop and it is important to ensure that regulation in this sector remains relevant, effective and proportionate. "Not least among these challenges is the indication that in-house solicitors are experiencing conflicts between their organisation's decisions and their own professional obligations. Many in-house solicitors are in a role that also involves providing advice to third parties outside of their organisation, and potentially linked to that, it would seem that there is an appetite among some organisations to convert to an ABS.' He added that the research also 'confirms the need, if we are to deliver relevant, effective and proportionate regulation, not to treat the in-house sector as a single, undifferentiated, cohort to which we apply a single regulatory approach.' Source: SRA
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