During the 1960s the legal profession (barristers, solicitors, and certificated notaries) came under fire for what was perceived to be poor performance, the high cost of conveyancing, and its failure to deal with the needs of all levels of society.
[1] In response, the Labour government under Harold Wilson created a Royal Commission on Legal Services, known as the Benson Commission (after its chairman Sir Henry Benson), which was asked to "examine the structure, organisation, training and regulation of the legal profession and to recommend those changes that would be desirable to the interests of justice".
[1] The Commission frightened legal professionals, who believed that they were likely to face severe structural changes and lose their monopolies on probate and conveyancing work.
[9] The government response to the Benson Committee's report was published in 1983, and established a Civil Justice Review to examine court procedure.
[9] By 1995 the citizen advice services were still not within the legal mainstream, and it took 12 years to implement other recommendations (such as that the Lord Chancellor should have a junior minister in the House of Commons).