Latest news
LSB attacks Bar Council’s “extreme reluctance” to adapt to market conditions
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has said the Bar Council’s response to the Jeffrey review illustrated its “extreme reluctance” to “look forward and adapt to market conditions”.
Ex-BSB director returns to the law with CILEx
Mandie Lavin, the former director of the Bar Standards Board, has returned to the legal scene after being appointed the new chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).
“Too intimidating and too expensive” – new LSB chair’s verdict on the legal market
The legal market is “too intimidating, too uniform and, in many cases, too expensive”, the new chairman of the Legal Services Board has warned. Sir Michael Pitt said also he would like to see lawyers’ rulebooks slimmed down.
Indemnity cover cut ignores ‘increasing’ number of larger claims
The number of larger professional indemnity claims is increasing, undermining the case for a cut in the minimum cover for law firms from £2m to £500,000, an industry expert has argued in a letter to the Legal Services Board.
Diplomat to chair Bar Standards Board
Sir Andrew Burns, a career diplomat, has been chosen to replace Baroness Ruth Deech as chair of the Bar Standards Board (BSB) from 1 January 2015.
Exclusive: will-writers’ trade body launches unique ABS
The Institute of Professional Willwriters has won approval for a unique alternative business structure that will enable its members and others to access related legal services for their clients, and share in the fees generated.
New Legal Ombudsman chair pushes for jurisdiction over all legal services providers
The new chair of the Office for Legal Complaints – which oversees the Legal Ombudsman – has outlined his ambition for the service to cover unregulated providers of legal services and those offering legal advice as part of a wider package.
LSB attacks SRA’s “over-engineered” approach to MDPs and non-lawyer owners
The Legal Services Board has attacked the Solicitors Regulation Authority for having “over-engineered” its approach to regulating multi-disciplinary alternative business structures and to approving non-lawyer owners.
Slater & Gordon, Irwin Mitchell and Minster Law “will be the PI winners”
The “top three winners” from personal injury market consolidation will be Slater & Gordon, Irwin Mitchell and Minster Law, a leading defendant insurer has predicted.
Lloyds defends solicitor debt collection letters, saying: "Times have changed"
Views on transparency and clarity “have changed” since Lloyds Bank first started sending letters to debtors under the name of a solicitors’ firm, its group chief executive has told MPs.
Blog
Motor finance – the FCA is more worried about banks than consumers
The Financial Conduct Authority’s motor finance redress scheme announced last week amounts to one of the largest ever consumer failures by the regulator.
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.
