Latest news
Co-op eyes up conveyancing firm acquisition
Co-operative Legal Services may look to acquire a conveyancing practice as it brings property work in-house, it revealed yesterday. The revelation came during a press briefing that laid out the Co-op’s strategy more clearly than ever before.
Firm claims RTA portal “breakthrough” as insolvency cases granted stay of LASPO execution
Liverpool costs specialists yesterday claimed a “massive breakthrough” in a dispute about the recovery of ATE insurance in RTA portal cases that has seen thousands of cases stayed. The news came as the government announced a two-year moratorium on ending recoverability in insolvency cases.
Co-op to recruit 3,000 staff as it bids to dominate consumer legal market
The Co-operative Group has today announced plans to create 3,000 jobs in the legal sector as it laid out its ambitions to create the largest consumer law business in the country. It will also offer face-to-face advice in all 330 of its bank branches.
Fixed fees to fore as barristers launch public access service and latest ‘find a solicitor’ site goes live
Two junior barristers from Liverpool have launched a public access service which offers legal advice to consumers for a £150 fixed fee. It comes as a new fixed-fee ‘find a solicitor’ site seeks to target those who are just above the eligibility threshold for legal aid,
Line of solicitors being marched through SDT for failure to pay insurance premiums
Fifteen solicitors have had sanctions imposed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal – including indefinite suspensions – for failing to pay the premiums demanded while their firms were in the assigned risks pool, with 15 more still to face the tribunal.
Law Society backs alternative routes to qualification as Mayson airs fears over direction of LETR
The Legal Education and Training Review should lead to alternative routes to qualification through a modularised and work-based approach, the Law Society has said. It comes as Professor Stephen Mayson has expressed concern that the review is in danger of being subsumed by vested interests.
Consumers slowly getting the message that they don’t need CMCs, says Financial Ombudsman
There has been a fall in the number of consumers using claims management companies (CMCs) to make complaints about payment protection insurance mis-selling, while some CMCs are “disappointingly lax” in the way they pursue their clients’ cases, the Financial Ombudsman Service has reported.
Insolvency Service gives SRA a taste of its own medicine
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has had the tables turned after receiving a monitoring visit of its own from the Insolvency Service which then criticised the way it regulates solicitor insolvency practitioners.
IPReg set to apply this year to become ABS regulator number 3
The Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) will apply this year to become an alternative business structure licensing authority, it has emerged, joining the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Council for Licensed Conveyancers.
Should prospective lawyers have to do pro bono work to qualify? New York says ‘yes’
Would-be lawyers in New York will have to undertake 50 hours of pro bono work before they can qualify, the profession’s regulator has decided in a landmark move. It comes as 6,000 lawyers walked around London yesterday to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for legal charities.
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.
