The essential guide to conduct, compliance and competence, and the Legal Services Act
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News in brief: solicitors, accountants and IFAs join forces, “ABSs are future for conveyancing”, and more
Our latest news round-up takes in an innovative partnership to combine financial, taxation and legal advice, an update on ABS applications, the role for ABSs in the conveyancing market, growing fraud claims against solicitors, support for provisional assessment, and new blood at the OLC.
Micro-managing LSB “risks independence of profession”
The Legal Services Board’s “unduly detailed approach to oversight” risks undermining professional independence, the Law Society president has claimed. John Wotton also argued that alternative business structures have “no magic bullet in competitive terms”.
LSB issues Bar Standards Board with warning notice over cab-rank rule changes
The long-running saga over standard contractual terms between barristers and solicitors has hit another hurdle after the Legal Services Board issued a statutory warning notice that it is considering whether to reject changes to the cab-rank rule that would underpin them.
LSB, Bar Council and big law firms sign up to Clegg’s ‘Business Compact’ on social mobility
The Legal Services Board, Bar Council and 10 top law firms have signed the government’s ‘Business Compact’ on social mobility to end the “who you know, not what you know” culture, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced.
The drama taking place under our noses
The Law Society, in my experience, is rather good at making things complicated. For evidence, look no further than the new internal governance arrangements which received lukewarm support from the Legal Services Board shortly before Christmas. This may seem like a dry and esoteric issue to most. Virtually everyone, in fact, which is why pretty much nobody else seems to write about or comment on it. They are wrong.
Government kicks off review of LSB and Legal Ombudsman’s roles
The government review of the “continuing need for the functions and the form” of the Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints began yesterday with a call for evidence. It will take up to six months to complete.
Consumers don’t need to use a lawyer to write their will, banks tell LSB
It is not necessary to use a legally qualified professional to prepare a will, the British Bankers Association has insisted. It said a bank’s in-house unit “produces just as satisfactory a service as a firm of solicitors regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority”.
LSB puts Law Society on report after SRA complains about independence threat
The Legal Services Board has activated statutory powers that require the Law Society to provide monthly reports on whether it is complying with rules that are meant to ensure the independence of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Legal Services Board in first group of quangos subject to new government review process
The Legal Services Board is in the first tranche of quangos subject to a new triennial review process, Cabinet Office minister Frances Maude announced last week. It will review whether the board’s functions are required and other tests of continuing relevance.
Legal Services Board levy set to fall as it reins in costs
The Legal Services Board is planning to reduce its levy on the legal profession by 9% next year, it announced yesterday while outlining its plans for 2012/13 and wider strategic objectives for the next three years.
