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When the Legal Services Act (the ‘Act’) came into force in 2011, its purpose was to modernise the delivery of legal advice. Parliament accepted the findings of an independent report (the Clementi Report) which concluded that both corporate and private clients should be provided with more choice. The report commented that, in many respects, the way legal advice was delivered was outdated, inflexible and over-complex. It also noted there was often a serious over-charging of clients.  

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Indeed, over the four decades during which I have provided corporate legal advice to companies, businesses, directors and shareholders, one of the most frequent comments I kept hearing, was that lawyers took too long, and the ultimate cost of their work was nearly always more than initial estimates. These are both outcomes I seek to avoid.

On 5 November 2018, approval was given by the Legal Services Board (the ‘LSB’) to implement the proposals envisaged by the Act, which now permit solicitors to carry out a wide range of legal services outside of the regulatory framework administered by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the ‘SRA’). There are a small number of legal activities which will continue to remain the sole preserve of SRA regulated law firms (called ‘reserved legal activities’) but Representation UK’s business does not handle this type of law. If you would like to know what these reserved legal activities are, please see below.

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Representation UK and Andrew Lindsay specialise in providing high quality corporate legal advice, dealing with acquisitions and disposals, negotiating complex commercial contracts, and advising on directors’ duties, corporate governance and reputation management issues. None of these areas of law, nor, indeed employment law, intellectual property and company tax advice, are included within the definition of ‘reserved legal activities.’

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Consequently, if you are a company, a business, a director or a shareholder, and you have experienced frustrations about the way in which certain legal services have been provided, (including how much they cost and how long they take), you may like the bulk of your legal work in future to be carried out by Representation UK.

With over 30 years of front line corporate legal experience, I would be delighted to explore whether I can assist you. You might already have your own long-term legal advisers; or you may have access to the services of an in-house legal team. Nevertheless, I am sure we could provide you with additional choice and value. Indeed, you might want to think of us as your 'virtual in-house legal team.'

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And, because we retain close relationships with a number of solicitors’ practices (including those who provide the 'regulated services' referred to above), we are able to introduce you to the most appropriate law firms should we be unable to assist in a particular way. 

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Of course, Andrew Lindsay continues to be subject to the Code of Conduct for Solicitors, and Representation UK carries both professional indemnity and public liability insurance.

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At the bottom of this page is a series of extremely complimentary comments about Andrew Lindsay and the two highly regarded corporate legal departments he previously headed from two leading directories of national law firms (The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners). Please take the time to review them.

Reserved Legal Activities

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The types of work which continue to be carried out exclusively by solicitors’ practices subject to the jurisdiction of the SRA comprise the following:

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• Appearing as an advocate before a court, known as ‘rights of audience;’

• Managing a case through the courts, known as ‘conducting litigation;

• Dealing with the transfer of land or property under certain specific provisions, known as ‘reserved instrument activities;’

• Taking oaths and swearing affidavits etc, known as ‘the administration of oaths’;

• Handling probate matters for clients; and

• Notarial activities, which comprises work governed by the Public Notaries Act 1801.

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Representation UK does not perform any of this work, but should you require any of it to be undertaken, we are able to refer you to a number of experienced solicitors carrying out this type of work, to ensure you obtain the attention you require.

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Unquestionably, the decisions of Parliament, the SRA and the LSB have modernised and improved the way in which legal services will be provided to both businesses and private individuals in the future. We hope you will see and feel the benefit.

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All legal services provided by Representation UK are of the highest quality. Andrew Lindsay has over 30 years’ corporate legal experience. During that time, he has advised a large number of companies, boards of directors and shareholders on a wide variety of commercial legal matters. We look forward to representing you in future.