The legal services bill will stop businesses who wish to run multi-disciplinary practices (MDP), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has warned.
Those who wish to operate practices of this kind may have to wait until as late as 2011, because of the way the bill is worded, the body warned.
The ICAEW said that a way of letting companies swiftly make lawyers and accountants partners was not contained in the bill.
Caron Bradshaw, the business law manager at the ICAEW, opined that the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) does not see accountants working at MDPs in the future, since all structures are seen as the same by the bill.
"The DCA should have attempted some type of risk scale, they've not considered the professional standing [of an MDP]," Ms Bradshaw said.
She suggested that a plan which would see low-risk businesses provide legal services should be capable of being introduced more easily than one with enterprises which employ non-professionals.
The example of a firm that contained both legal and accounting professionals was provided.
In related news, the chief executive of the ICAEW, Michael Izza, has called on businesses to use their initiative to implement more eco-friendly policies.
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