Latest news
Appeal judges overturn Blakemores negligence claim strike-out and £635,000 costs judgment
The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision striking out a negligence claim against Birmingham law firm Blakemores, now in administration, and also set aside a default judgment obtained by the firm for £635,500 in costs.
Moorhead: corporate lawyers’ approach to professional ethics could be a “serious problem”
There is evidence to suggest that some of the largest law firms are making errors on the ethical approach of their corporate lawyers, while solicitors’ code of conduct is “hopelessly silent” on the problems of commercial practice, according to a leading academic.
The Law Superstore comparison website to be launched by former Minster Law chief
The Law Superstore, a new legal services comparison website which will offer consumers lists of approved solicitors, is to be launched next spring by the former chief executive of Minister Law and Brilliant Law.
LSB: criminal advocacy reforms “should not be designed around” any particular group of lawyers
It is important that government plans to enhance the quality of criminal defence advocacy in publicly funded cases “should not be designed around one particular professional group”, the Legal Services Board has warned. The comments can be read as coded concern that some of the proposals seem weighted in favour of barristers.
Putting the cab into the cab-rank rule: BSB fines barrister over taxi firm conviction
A barrister convicted by a magistrates’ court of failing to get licenses for his taxi firm has been fined £600 by the Bar Standards Board. Ahtiq Raja was sole director of taxi firm Call a Cab Limited. Until last month, he was based at 9 King’s Bench Walk.
Three-way merger creates top-200 ABS
A three-way merger into a new alternative business structure has created a top 200 law firm, Legal Futures can reveal. The ABS, Taylor Rose TTKW, is made up of Peterborough-headquartered Taylor Rose Law, its associated costs firm Jaggards, and London firm Tucker Turner Kingsley Wood.
“Many parts of the Bar are in severe pain,” acknowledges BSB chair
The present model for delivering justice in the criminal, family and immigration courts has become “increasingly challenged” and “many parts of the Bar are in severe pain”, the chair of the Bar Standards Board has said. Sir Andrew Burns said he wanted the BSB to become much more of a risk-based regulator.
Small law firms “saved up to 25%” after Qatari insurer joined indemnity market
Small law firms have been saving up to 25% on their indemnity insurance premiums following the arrival of a new insurer from Qatar, broker Lockton has said. Brian Boehmer estimated that firms had saved on average around 10%.
I was wrong to sell my firm to Quindell, says former legal division boss
The former chief executive of Quindell Legal Services (QLS) has admitted that he was wrong to sell a business he had built up over 13 years to the troubled plc two years ago. However, Phil Hodgkinson said he had learnt a lot from the “Quindell experience”.
ReviewSolicitors recruits 300 law firms through deal with case management provider
ReviewSolicitors, the legal review website launched last month, has recruited 300 law firms as premium subscribers through a deal with a leading case management provider. It means clients would automatically be offered the chance to post reviews while ReviewSolicitors would know they were genuine clients.
Blog
Beyond PCP: Can regulators and lawyers work better together next time?
Nearly a decade after the Financial Conduct Authority began investigating the car finance industry, the story of the PCP commission scandal is still unfinished.
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
