Cab rank rule to go

Barristers will have to give up the cab rank rule in order to adapt to the forthcoming legal aid reforms, Geoff Hoon, the parliamentary secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department, warned last week. Speaking at a briefing session for journalists, Hoon said the cab rank rule had served the barristers' profession in the past, but a new set of ethical principals would have to be adopted. "We are seeing a significant change in legal culture," he said. John Peysner, of Nottingham Law School, said the rule could not survive the introduction of conditional fees.