In the years following Enron, the absence of debate in the United Kingdom over the role of corporate lawyers stood in sharp contrast to the position in the United States, where the volume of material had been overwhelming. Although there was a brief flurry of interest as the profession in England and Wales galvanised itself successfully to fight off the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposals to regulate non-US lawyers through the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002, this did not last long. Why was this so? Practitioners at the time pointed out that the United States was different, and that if we wished to improve corporate governance we needed to look to auditors, not to lawyers. However, it seemed premature to reach such conclusions without at least some debate about them both within and without the profession, and this debate was lacking.

Matters have since moved on. The financial crisis has occurred, and regulatory attention worldwide has shifted. Nevertheless, questions relating to the corporate governance role of English and Welsh corporate lawyers have remained unaddressed. Given that the legal profession in England and Wales is undergoing radical reform in the wake of the Legal Services Act 2007, with the introduction of alternative business structures and changes to the manner in which the profession is regulated, now seems a good time to consider these. Financial services regulation is also changing, with the government intending to abolish the Financial Services Authority. The discussion in the book focuses on the law and regulatory position as of 2010.