Latest news
BSB will not contest challenges to "biased" disciplinary tribunal decisions
The Bar Standards Board is to accept that some barristers should have disciplinary findings against them overturned because of “anomalies” in the constitution of the tribunal panel which made the decision, it has emerged.
Mr Lawyer enters the online ‘find a solicitor’ fray
A new ‘find a solicitor’ website that prioritises lawyers with good feedback from their clients is set to go live in October. MrLawyer.co.uk claims it will “help to change the way the legal industry currently operates”.
Law Society cancels annual conference as corporate lawyers shun Wales
The Law Society has been forced to cancel its national conference – which would have been the first for seven years – because of insufficient interest from corporate lawyers in travelling to south Wales.
Liverpool firm becomes first family law ABS
A Liverpool-based practice has become the first specialist family law firm to become an alternative business structure. Tracey Miller Family Law will use its new status to allow business development manager Anthony Hool to take a minority stake in the firm.
LETR team floats radical reforms to “unfit” training regime
The system for training lawyers is not fit for purpose, the Legal Education and Training Review research team has suggested. The team of academics floated a series of ideas that in some instances would represent radical reform of the present regime.
Leading conveyancing firms gain ABS status
Two of the country’s best-known conveyancing practices have become alternative business structures, while an insolvency and litigation practice has also achieved ABS status.
Legal Ombudsman to accept complaints about claims management companies
Claims management companies (CMCs) face the prospect of having to provide financial compensation to unhappy customers after the government announced today that they are to come within the remit of the Legal Ombudsman.
SDT finally publishes first ever sanctions guidance
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last week published its first ever guidance on sanctions, nearly 18 months after the High Court expressed its surprise that such a document did not exist.
Income up sharply at pioneering ABSs
Two of the UK’s first alternative business structures – Slater & Gordon and Co-operative Legal Services – have reported strong increases in income, although profits at the Co-op have been hit by its expansion plans.
Stress pushing lawyers towards clinical depression and other mental illnesses, says survey
A fifth of lawyers who have so far responded to a survey on stress in the profession are currently suffering from clinical depression or another mental illness, it has emerged.
Blog
The SRA needs to admit it got it wrong about SLAPPs
The High Court judgment in Ashley Hurst v SRA in January raises serious questions about the regulator’s approach to allegations of SLAPP-like behaviour.
Why menopause support belongs on every law firm’s agenda
Progression in the law slows significantly as women approach senior leadership. Most will be at the height of their careers around the average age menopause symptoms begin.
Law firms need to go beyond document checks
At the root of every failed compliance review is a familiar phrase: a calm assertion of “but we did a document check”.
