Latest news
Will Lord Sugar enter the law? Dynamo Legal founder seeks £250,000 investment
New legal brand Dynamo Legal is set to receive a major publicity boost next week when its founder appears on The Apprentice in a bid to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment for the business. Alex Mills is looking to recruit 245 firms to the network.
Flood stokes cab-rank rule argument
The row over Legal Services Board-commissioned research that recommended removal of the cab-rank rule stepped up a further notch yesterday after one of the academics who conducted it hit back at the critiques published by the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board.
Law Society to tell its council: you can dissent but do so nicely
Rules strengthening ‘collegiality’ among members of the Law Society council and the way they express dissent are to be voted on this month. Changes to the code of conduct for council members also seek to impose collective responsibility on chairs of the society’s various boards.
Interest swap mis-selling claims company eyes ABS status
A claims management company specialising in interest-rate swap mis-selling could become an alternative business structure in order to litigate its own cases. All Square Treasury has just announced the appointment of a legal director.
Bringing all legal advice into regulatory net may resolve consumer confusion, says LSB chief
The status quo over reserved and unreserved legal activities is unsustainable and the answer may be for all legal advice to be regulated, the chief executive of the Legal Services Board has suggested.
Licensed conveyancers support retaining referral fees
A ban on referral fees in conveyancing is unjustifiable, according to a narrow majority of respondents to a Council for Licensed Conveyancers consultation – but there was strong support for enhanced disclosure requirements.
Barrister boss of SueSomeone.co.uk eyes ABS as he hits out at litigation ban
A barrister who has built a thriving direct access practice through a public-facing website is considering whether an alternative business structure will help him deal with the problems caused by the ban on conducting litigation.
Jordans recruits senior in-house lawyer to spearhead ABS
Corporate services provider Jordans has turned to the head of legal at a leading business process outsourcer to spearhead its planned alternative business structure. Debbie Farman, formerly legal director of Vertex, will lead a team of lawyers, paralegals and corporate compliance experts.
SRA: new ‘growth duty’ could give rejected firms and individuals stick to beat us with
Government plans to subject regulators to a duty to have regard to growth could lead to challenges of any decision to refuse approval of a new law firm or alternative business structure, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.
Exclusive: legal advice charity becomes first not-for-profit to set up an ABS
A legal advice charity in Leicester has become the first not-for-profit organisation to set up an alternative business structure (ABS), Legal Futures can reveal. The Community Advice and Law Service has won approval to launch Castle Park Solicitors Community Interest Company.
Blog
When AI becomes a line on the client’s bill
On 23 June, Legora changed how it charges. The platform announced that its most capable product was moving away from a flat per-seat licence fee to consumption-based pricing
Which legal AI will still matter in 12 months?
Four years ago, when senior partners asked me which legal AI they should buy, I would have walked them through a vendor comparison. Now I tell them the question is wrong.
Supreme Court redraws line between member and employee in LLPs
For anyone advising professional services firms on LLP structuring, and of course for those in LLPs themselves, last week’s Supreme Court ruling is an essential read.
