These are the issues to be examined in this year’s Times Law Awards essay competition, sponsored by One Essex Court. The topic is: Tesco law: The Shape of Things to Come? Will Clementi be good for consumers but bad for lawyers? The entries will be judged by Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor; Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood; Lord Grabiner, QC; Robert Thomson, Editor of The Times ; and Emma Himsworth, of One Essex Court.

The competition could not be more timely. Although the final Clementi recommendations are still awaited, it is clear from his consultation paper published in March that major changes lie ahead. Sir David has indicated that he is taking his cue from a report by the Department for Constitutional Affairs published in July last year which concluded that the regulatory framework in England and Wales was “outdated, inflexible, overcomplex and insufficiently accountable or transparent”.

So there is little sympathy for the status quo. Yet, as Sir David said: “It is relatively easy to criticise the current system . . . It is more difficult to determine the best way forward.”

Nonetheless, the indications are that we are heading towards a regime of so-called Tesco law, a shorthand for a future provision of legal services that is stripped of its mystique, available through familiar portals (perhaps via your local supermarket) and provided by business structures that have external funding or ownership. There would be no frills, and would even be a do-it-yourself element. It would be a transparently competitive market.

All this appears, on the face of it, to be good for the customer (the word “client” might appear too rarefied). Yet there could prove to be a hefty price to be paid. To provide services in this way might entail considerable compromise in the independence and quality of the profession. As Himsworth points out: “The significance of the outcome of the Clementi report cannot be underestimated. While the aim for the future must be to provide better consumer access to legal services, this has to be achieved within a regulatory framework capable not only of protecting a diverse range of consumers, whether an individual or a corporation, but also of ensuring that the independence and standards of the professionals providing such services are not compromised.”

So the reforms to be recommended by Clementi will bear upon the regulation of the profession, the wider roles of professional bodies, issues of competition and ethics as well as ownership of legal practices. They will also include the ability of different types of lawyer to form partnerships as well as the creation of partnerships with other professional advisers, such as accountants or surveyors.

Among these the importance of regulation is critical. The system by which the Law Society, for example, is both representative and regulatory body is regarded as unsatisfactory. Clementi says: “Scepticism arises where bodies introduce new rules, or hold on to existing rules, which reflect the clearly expressed interests of their members; and then argue that such rules are in the public interest.”

In examining alternatives Sir David describes various models, but above them all, one way or another, is a regulator. Are there dangers, however, in having the legal profession — a bastion of freedom — so subject to the apparatus of the State?

Meanwhile, the new structures within which lawyers might be able to practise — including, notably, the legal disciplinary practice, which combines together various types of lawyer and the multidisciplinary practice, which unites a mix of professional advisers — could be of benefit to customers by offering a “one-stop shop”. But will barristers, for example, lose their independence if compelled by market forces to be part of such a relationship? And are there also dangers if it were possible, as Clementi intimates, to have a “split” between those who own the practice and those who manage it? (This is highly topical given the reluctance of leading City firms to act against the top banks).

So the stakes are high. If you are aiming for the law as a career, how do you want your future profession to be regulated?

Details of the Clementi consultation paper are available at www.legal-services-review.org.uk

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