UK "legal reform" is now in effect. Many lawyers lacking specialty niches will now experience the commoditization already experienced by many doctors lacking specialties. The BBC has the story here. And, Nathan Koppel of the WSJ blog covered it with a apt song quote and an apt picture for so-called "Tesco Law." .
The legal reform process has been building in the UK since the early 2000s. Here is a UK government webpage that collects many of the relevant papers and draft laws that were part of the journey to the new revolution. The key paper was this 2003 Clementi Report.