Latest news
Now barrister ‘named and shamed’ by LeO is suspended for not paying other barristers
Tariq Rehman, the first lawyer to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Legal Ombudsman for a series of complaints, has been suspended by a Bar disciplinary tribunal. The tribunal suspended him for failing to pay three other barristers for work they had carried out.
Quindell sale moves closer after shareholders approve deal
The sale of Quindell’s professional services division moved a major step closed today after the company’s shareholders approved the disposal to Slater & Gordon.
Solicitors set for client account alternative this year
Solicitors will soon be able to ditch client accounts and instead use “third-party managed accounts”, their regulator has revealed. THe SRA said the use of such accounts may offer a lower-cost alternative that continues to provide appropriate protection.
SRA pokes hornets’ nest as it asks whether to drop referral fee ban in legal aid cases
The Solicitors Regulation Authority yesterday started an “open” debate about allowing solicitors to pay referral fees for legal aid and criminal work, saying the present ban acts as a barrier to consumer choice. The move is likely to be met with anger by the Bar Council.
Unnecessary ABS approval rules to be scrapped in latest regulation bonfire
The rule which requires the Solicitors Regulation Authority to approve the individuals who own companies that in turn own alternative business structures is set to be scrapped. The requirement for firms to keep a record of non-material breaches of the SRA Handbook may also go.
Almost half of law firms say PII brokers failed to disclose commissions
Almost a half of law firms using insurance brokers to secure their indemnity cover in last year’s renewal said brokers failed to reveal their commissions, a Law Society survey has revealed.
Global insurance giant backs legal business’s ambitious growth plans
Insurance giant Markel has laid out its plans to rapidly expand LHS Solicitors, an alternative business structure which combines the law firm and legal helpline it bought last year as part of its acquisition of Abbey Protection Group plc.
First solicitor is admitted through ‘equivalent means’ route
Robert Houchill, a senior paralegal at London law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite, has become the first solicitor to qualify through the ‘equivalent means’ route. He said the new route would give law graduates more flexibility in funding the legal practice course.
Single statement of skills for solicitors and barristers “not possible”, BSB admits
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has said that producing a “common document” on the knowledge and skills required by solicitors and barristers has “not proved possible”.
Globalisation changes “leaving ethics debate behind”
A high-powered trio of senior lawyers have kick-started what they hope will become a wider debate on the ethical dimension of lawyers’ professionalism amid heightened competition among law firms in an increasingly globalised marketplace.
Blog
Mazur: a symptom not a cause?
If Mazur is a symptom, what does it mean for the underlying health of our civil justice system: the ‘finest legal system in the world’?
Cross-generation collaboration: the key to in-house legal tech adoption
In-house legal function leaders will increasingly have to evolve their thinking on how to manage multigenerational teams containing differing levels of technological expertise.
AI and law firm risk – the view of professional indemnity insurers
In considering law firm applications for cover, many insurers will expect to see evidence of how firms are adapting to AI and preparing for the future.
