The mystery of LawVest
What is LawVest? It’s a question I’ve been asking those behind it for a bit but the information they have released to Legal Futures today has not made things a great deal clearer. They are keeping their model confidential for the time being, which is fair enough. But getting a firm like DLA Piper on board, and particularly Sir Nigel Knowles – who knows a thing or two about taking something small and making it very big – is a statement of significant intent.
Lessons from Hackgate for COLPs
Barbara Hamilton-Bruce reflects on the latest developments in the phone hacking scandal and says it is by considering real-life events in the coming months that firms and their prospective compliance offices for legal practice can get the best idea of what exactly outcomes-focused regulation is going to mean for all of them.
Is this the deal to silence QS’s critics?
You’ve got to hand it to Craig Holt – he keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat. To what will no doubt be the chagrin of its many critics, QualitySolicitors (QS) has surely announced itself on the big stage by securing investment from a private equity firm. No longer reliant purely on the money it makes from the network firms, QS can invest the millions Mr Holt reckons it will need to build a national network and genuinely recognised brand.
The ticking bomb of referral fees
There is an interesting game of pass the parcel going on over referral fees right now – made more interesting by the fact that the parcel is ticking loudly. The Ministry of Justice wants paying referral fees to be a regulatory offence, while the regulators want it to be a criminal offence – nobody wants the blame when the ban proves impossible to enforce.
Don’t comply, don’t die
Amid the excitement of ABSs going live, in a small way, and the Legal Ombudsman’s first birthday, I have been keeping an eye on the third limb of the Legal Services Board’s initial three priorities for its first three years – ensuring the independence of regulation within those approved regulators where there is also a representative function. With both the Law Society and Bar Council still non-compliant with its rules, it is not a story that reflects very well on the LSB.
