Compliance & Regulation
LSB approves new regulator for accountant probate providers
The Legal Services Board has approved CILEx Regulation’s application to take over the regulation of probate work carried on by members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Retired solicitor struck off for falsifying letter in bid to explain rule breach
A 75-year-old solicitor has been struck off after he provided a client with a banking facility for over 20 years and then faked a letter of retainer to cover himself.
SRA leads Agile Nations project to create global legal services market
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is leading a project called the Agile Nations Lawtech Innovation Network aimed at helping to create a global market for legal services.
SRA needs “radical rethink” to change disproportionate focus on BAME solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority needs to rethink its approach radically to tackle the “grimly entrenched” problem of ethnic minority solicitors being over-represented in its enforcement work.
BSB signals tougher approach to transparency rules compliance
Approaching one in 10 chambers admit failing to comply with the Bar Standards Board’s service and price transparency rules, with the regulator now set to toughen up its approach to enforcement.
High Court orders solicitor to hand over firm’s files to SRA
The High Court has ordered a high-profile solicitor to surrender her firm’s files after the Solicitors Regulation Authority closed it down but she refused to co-operate.
Economic crime levy “could impact law firm structures”
Some law firms may have to make structural changes to ameliorate the impact of the government’s economic crime levy, solicitors have warned.
Legal regulators slammed for “lacking expertise” on comparison data
Data already in the public domain cannot easily be adapted to help consumers choose a lawyer, mainly due to failings by legal regulators, according to research.
SDT releases Ecohouse documents to campaign group
The Transparency Task Force has been granted access to a limited number of documents used in Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hearings relating to a collapsed Brazilian property investment scheme.
Bar students need more pupillage data to avoid “buyer’s remorse”
Bar students should be given detailed information from chambers about their pupillage criteria to avoid suffering from “buyer’s remorse” when they realise how difficult it is to succeed.
Blog
The new metrics for success in conveyancing
While technology has made much of the conveyancing process faster, there remains a practical limit to how many matters anyone can manage while still keeping standards intact.
The UK legal market is polarising – and the middle is disappearing
Consolidation and the boutique boom are not contradictory. They are the same market stretching apart at both ends – and it changes what your firm is worth, and to whom.
Conveyancing’s consistency problem is about pressure, not skills
When I qualified, a conveyancer had perhaps 10 or 12 plates to keep spinning. Today’s conveyancers have 20 or 30, and almost none of the room for error I had starting out.
Reports
Associates
