Latest news
Barrister to be disbarred over tax fraud
A barrister who avoided paying over £77,000 in income tax and VAT was yesterday ordered to be disbarred. The five-person bar disciplinary panel found that Edward Agbaje had engaged in dishonest conduct.
IFA-owned ABS turns profit after first year
In the latest in our series tracking the fortunes of the new breed of alternative business structures (ABSs), we profile Bobby Dhanjal Wealth Management, which a year ago became the first financial services business to set up a legal arm.
Online barrister service hits crowdfunding target as Stobart demise “clears way”
Online barrister service myBarrister last week exceeded its target of raising £150,000 through crowd-funding. It has now raised more than £163,000 in just over two months from 65 individual investors – the largest of whom has put in £50,000.
Big pay rise for Quindell boss as NAH gears up for stock market listing
Quindell chairman and chief executive Rob Terry saw his pay increase by nearly 50% in the last financial year, the alternative business structure’s annual report has revealed.
BSB unlikely to regulate ABSs until 2015
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is unlikely to become an ABS licensing authority until 2015 and will not be regulating non-ABS firms, such barrister-only practices, before October this year, it has emerged.
Leading trade unions make ABS play
Two of the country’s largest trade unions – the GMB and Communications Workers Union – have today broken new ground by creating an alternative business structure (ABS). Unionline is essentially a not-for-profit ABS as any profits will be ploughed back into the unions.
Fewer than one in ten people with legal problems see a lawyer, major study finds
There is a huge unmet need for legal services among individual consumers, the most detailed ever study of the issue has revealed, with fewer than one in 10 people experiencing a legal problem seeking advice from a lawyer.
Clients charged fixed fees in almost half of all transactions, survey finds
Clients are paying law firms fixed fees in almost half of all transactions, while unbundling is becoming a significant feature of the market place, a survey for the Legal Services Consumer Panel has found.
Consumers need help with decisions on legal services, says LSB research
Frontline regulators need to trial a range of materials to help consumers make better decisions in the wake of the legal aid cuts, academic research commissioned by the Legal Services Board has urged.
“Significant opportunity” for Saga Law expansion
Potential investors in Saga have been told that the over-50s specialist sees a “significant opportunity” to expand the customer base of its alternative business structure, Saga Law.
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.
