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IT project “cost overruns” have contributed to the Law Society budgeting for a £10m deficit this year, it has emerged. The 2011 accounts also reveal that chief executive Des Hudson received a 6.8% pay rise last year to £407,000 in total.

A family law practitioner from Wakefield is calling on solicitors, barristers and chartered legal executives to unite to promote to the public the benefits of lawyer mediators over non-lawyer competitors.

There is a much higher chance of merger among mid-sized law firms than small practices in the coming year but the well of good merger partners is far from bottomless, new research has found. The survey found that most had thought about merger in recent months.

Law firms’ social media policies need to extend to issues such as who owns contacts and content developed by staff members through the use of networks like LinkedIn, while they should also be cautious about searching the social media activity of potential recruits, new guidance has advised.

Only a third of members of the public who complain to the Bar Standards Board about barristers’ professional conduct believe the process is open and fair, according to a user satisfaction survey.

Three of the seven ABSs so far approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority have been granted waivers as part of their applications, it has emerged. It also warned applicants who may have tight timescales for approval that it will not guarantee to meet them.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is set to recommend dropping the controversial ban on practitioners referring clients to tied financial advisers. Solicitors would instead have to ensure that the client is involved in the decision-making process that goes into any referral.

The Law Society will not be required to certify its compliance with the rules on internal governance because it is bound to fail the test, the Legal Services Board has decided. The board said the new governance arrangements are “somewhat fragile”.

The Legal Services Act will play a role in transforming the legal market around the world, with English lawyers well placed to take advantage as a result, Professor Richard Susskind predicted last week. He also gave a preview of his new book – Tomorrow’s lawyers: An introduction to your future.

Lawyers are “in denial about what customers hate about law firms” and it will take entrepreneurs from outside the profession to deliver the wholesale change to the business model that is required, the founder of Freeserve claimed last week.