Monisha Shah is new chair of Legal Services Board

Lord Chancellor approves appointment of new chair of oversight regulator for legal services in England and Wales. 

The government has announced that Monisha Shah is the new chair of the Legal Services Board (LSB) for the next four years. 

Photo by ALEJANDRO POHLENZ / Unsplash

Ms Shah brings a range of experience to the role, as both chair and non-executive director. She is currently chair of Publishers’ Licensing Services, co-chair of the Copyright Licensing Agency and chairs the Kings Counsel Selection Panel. In addition, she serves as council member of the Advertising Standards Authority and is a serving trustee of the Royal Collection Trust and the Art Fund and chair of trustees of Caterham School.  

Prior to this, her experience includes non-executive roles at the Office of Students, the Ofcom Content Board, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Ms Shah also served as a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. 

Her appointment follows a Justice Select Committee pre-appointment scrutiny hearing, held on March 25, and the publication of the committee’s report two days later. The Lord Chancellor approved the appointment as of April 1. 

The LSB oversees eight regulatory bodies which carry out the day-to-day, frontline regulation of legal services in England and Wales. It also has responsibilities in relation to the Office for Legal Complaints, which is responsible for administering the Legal Ombudsman scheme, and the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.  

The LSB is independent from both the legal profession and government, and operates within a statutory framework set out in the Legal Services Act 2007. Under terms set out in the Legal Services Act 2007, appointments to the LSB are made by the Lord Chancellor after consulting the Lady Chief Justice, and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. All recruitment processes comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.