The Legal Services Board is an independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales.

[1] It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, created through the Legal Services Act of 2007 (LSA 2007).

The Act outlines the general functions of the Board, which include: a duty to promote the regulatory objectives (and act in a way which it considers most appropriate for the purpose of meeting those objectives); to assist the regulators in the maintenance and development of standards of regulation, education and training of authorised persons; to have regard to good corporate governance practice in its affairs; and to prepare an annual report detailing the discharge of its functions in the previous financial year and its performance in line with the regulatory objectives.

As a result of the LSA 2007 coming into force, all changes to these bodies' internal professional regulatory arrangements must be approved by the LSB.

[7] It has a duty to promote nine regulatory objectives defined under the Act, a duty it shares with the approved regulators:[6][7]: s.28 The professional principles are: If the approved regulators fail to uphold the regulatory objectives, or if they fail to comply with the 2007 Act, the LSB can:[7] Under Section 51 to 54, the LSB has a duty to regulate practising fees, resolve regulatory conflicts and work with the Competition and Markets Authority and Lord Chancellor on competition issues.

[7] The LSB a non-departmental government body, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, but independent in its operations and decision making.

Nick Vineall KC, Chair of the Bar Council in 2023 repeated this call, saying that there was nothing in the previous review in 2017 that it ought to be pursuing an overarching strategy for the entire legal services sector.

In June 2016, the LSB voluntarily submitted written evidence to the committee after it had heard from The Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Council and Bar Standards Board in a public hearing on regulatory independence, which the LSB attended but was not invited to contribute to.

In November 2016, the LSB also submitted written evidence to the committee in relation to the impact of Brexit on legal services.

The Panel examines issues of importance to legal services consumers, advises the LSB in its work overseeing the frontline regulators and publishes this advice.