The Legal Services Board (LSB) has confirmed interim Chair Catherine Brown will continue in the role until at least the end of March 2026.
Following approval by the Lord Chancellor, Brown will continue as chair from 1 January to 31 March 2026 having been in post since February 2025. Brown succeeded Alan Kershaw who stepped away suddenly after less than two years in post, citing personal reasons.
The appointment has been made ‘pending the conclusion of the current campaign to recruit a substantive Chair’ said the Ministry of Justice.
Brown has been a member of the LSB Board since 2019 and is an experienced non-executive board member, chair, and chief executive who has worked in the private and public sectors. She previously served as CEO of the Food Standards Agency and is now serving as the first Chair of the Enforcement Conduct Board; an independent oversight body for the civil enforcement sector. She was also vice chair of the Wellcome Trust advisory group on increasing diversity and inclusion in science and served as an Equal Opportunities Commissioner. Alongside her role at the LSB she is chair of the Internet Watch Foundation; a charity that exists to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material on the internet.
Welcoming the appointment, Law Society of England and Wales president Richard Atkinson said:
“Congratulations to Catherine Brown on her appointment as interim chair of the Legal Services Board.”
“Catherine’s breadth of experience in navigating complex regulation matters will be essential in steering the Board through this critical moment, as it oversees the forthcoming independent review they’ve commissioned into the SRA’s handling of the SSB Law collapse”
The LSB, created by the Legal Services Act, is the independent body overseeing the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, CILEX and the Bar Council amongst other. It also also oversees the Office for Legal Complaints and its administration of the Legal Ombudsman scheme that resolves complaints about lawyers.
LSB Appointments and reappointments are made, by the Lord Chancellor and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments who was consulted regarding the further appointment.
