Finiancial News London reports…
The new president of the Law Society David Greene said if the UK leaves the Brexit transition period without a deal at the end of the year it would create a “vacuum” for the UK services sector.
The Law Society is “very keen for there to be a deal of some sort,” Greene told Financial News.
“Then we would have something at least we can work off. Even if it is a Canadian-style agreement for which there would be very limited provision of services. At least we would have something to provide a launchpad for further negotiation,” he said.
The UK’s Brexit talks with the EU are on a knife edge, with time running out to agree a deal which can be ratified before the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.
Greene said it was vital for the UK’s services sector that the government reach a deal with the EU by the end of the year.
“It is so essential to have some form of agreement as we leave so we can use it as a platform to deal with those issues about services going forward. If we don’t have a deal then we would have a vacuum and that would be disappointing,” he said.
Greene said lawyers would move into a new reality in January if the EU and UK fail to come to terms.
“If we don’t have a deal we will be facing a different world than the one we have got used to for the last 40 years. The vast majority of [legal] practitioners have known nothing other than being a member of the EU and all that means,” he added.
Greene was appointed as the Law Society of England and Wales’ 176th president last week. He represented clients in both the Article 50 Supreme Court case in 2016 and the prorogation case in 2019.
Number 10 was contacted for comment.
