There is an increasingly strong belief that of the 200 or so mid-tier law firms, only 50 or so may survive in the short to medium term. The work of our own recovery specialists has helped us understand the warning signs of firms which – if they do not mend their ways – may well be one of the 150 or so predicted failures in the top 200. To put it another way, if you wish to be in the successful 50, you need to avoid these pitfalls.

In a guest blog, Julie Brannan, director of education and training at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, explains the rationale for the move from hours-based CPD to a system of ‘continuing competence’ that puts individuals and firms in the driving seat.

The practice of law firms paying a claims management company or insurer to have a case referred to them was ugly, drove unethical behaviours and placed commerciality above the rights and needs of injured people. It was rightly banned in April 2013.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has started a consultation process into whether to scrap the annual Solicitors Accounts Rules report. Let’s be honest here. For the accountants, the abandonment of the report represents a loss of fee income, so naturally, we are not going to be jumping for joy over these proposals. However, I suspect many COFAs won’t be that keen on them either.

Most personal injury (PI) firm partners would probably agree that the last few years have been a nightmare for them, what with the referral fee ban, LASPO and the Jackson reforms. But could matters get a whole lot worse? The latest issue that could create havoc for PI firms is that of negligence claims arising out of the under-settling of PI claims, but following closely behind this issue appears to be the under-assessing of PI claims.