Law Society responds to LSC's termination of the Unified Contract

The ongoing Unified Contract dispute between the Law Society and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has further intensified. The Law Society recently issued a statement in response to the LSC's announcement that it intends to terminate the Unified Contract.

On 21 December the LSC issued an 'update on the Unified Contract' and claimed that it has been forced to terminate the Unified Contract because the Law Society has failed to agree a revised amendment clause, and because of the risk of further litigation. In their response statement, the Law Society claim that this is inaccurate and as far as it is concerned, the Unified Contract is ongoing, and there is no need to terminate it. The Law Society claims that the LSC chose to take this action "for its own reasons" and that the LSC "inflamed a difficult situation by announcing the termination of the Unified Contract just as firms closed for the holidays".

The Law Society's full statement can be read on their website:
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/newsandevents/news/view=newsarticle.law?NEWSID=377953.

The Legal Services Commission's original announcement can be read on their website:
http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/aboutus/whats_new_7173.asp?page=1.