Jurisdictional contests between accountants and lawyers: the case of off-balance sheet finance 1985-1990

Drawing on Abbott's influential work on professional jurisdictions, this paper explores the nature of an inter-professional dispute between accountants and lawyers which occurred from 1985 to 1990. The conflict centred on different interpretations of company law which arose from the existence of off-balance sheetfinance and the issuance of Technical Release 603, and Exposure Drafts 42 and 49 by the Accounting Standards Committee in the UK. In accordance with Abbott's framework, the paper relates the character of the "disturbance" between the two professions, the jurisdictional contest which ensued and the transformation which resulted in an inter-professional settlement and the restoration of occupational "balance ". It is shown that the construction and achievement of the latter involved the interposition of a state agency in the form of the Department of Trade and Industry.