Latest news
ABSs capture a third of personal injury market, SRA research reveals
ABSs account for a third of all turnover in the personal injury market, the first accurate overview of the progress of alternative business structures has revealed.
SRA takes too long to approve applications, ABSs say
Firms applying for alternative business structure (ABS) status believe the Solicitors Regulation Authority takes too long to approve applications and its staff are too “bureaucratic”, according to the regulator’s own research.
Quindell forced to shelve plans for main market listing
Alternative business structure Quindell plc has had to shelve its much-trumpeted plans for a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, the company admitted today. The news has further hit the AIM-listed company’s share price.
Russia-focused multi-disciplinary ABS plans growth
In the latest of our series profiling the new breed of alternative business structure, we speak to Red Square London, a law firm and multi-disciplinary family office that provides services mainly to wealthy Russian and Russian-speaking clients.
I took this job to change legal services market, says new LSB chair
Sir Michael Pitt, the new chairman of the Legal Services Board, has said he took the job to “help change the legal services market”. He argued that “more change is needed” to deliver a better legal services market and better access to justice.
Kenny: BIS data-sharing plans could be a “dead letter”
Plans by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for improved data sharing between different regulators could be a “dead letter” if they are not applied to all of the legal regulators, the Legal Services Board has warned.
Minimum salary finally to go as LSB approves training deregulation
The Legal Services Board has approved wide-ranging plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to deregulate training, including the delayed demise of the minimum salary.
Parliamentary inquiry calls for renewed wills push in bid to increase charitable giving
A parliamentary inquiry has called for a push to encourage people to make wills and that will-writers should inform all clients that they are able to leave money to charity in them.
Non-lawyers may be gentlemen – but they can’t be officers
The distance between reform in the UK and US has been shown up starkly by a Texan ethics ruling that prohibits non-lawyers working in law firms to have the word ‘officer’ in their job titles.
Government to ban inducements in latest insurance fraud crackdown
The government announced over the weekend that it is to ban lawyers from “encouraging people to make claims” by offering them upfront incentives like cash or iPads. It forms part of a new wave of reform in personal injury targeted at insurance fraud.
Blog
Reorientation in the AI era must begin with the client
Much of the discussion about AI in the legal industry focuses on technology: which tools to adopt and which tasks might get automated. But this misses the deeper story.
Awaab’s Law phase 2: New hazards council tenants can now claim for
The conversation on housing disrepair is moving beyond damp and mould alone. With the rollout of phase 2 of Awaab’s Law, the scope of issues covered is expanding significantly,
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.
