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Legal Services Board (LSB) chairman David Edmonds will tomorrow back a review of legal education and training but warn that he expects it to be far-reaching, Legal Futures has learned. However, we understand that the LSB had originally planned to conduct the review itself, but has been persuaded to let the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board and ILEX Professional Standards take the lead under the LSB’s oversight.

The latest in our series of extracts from Climate Change, a report on the impact of the Legal Services Act published by accountants Baker Tilly, considers what kinds of law firms might float and the impact it could have on the practice and staff

Universities minister David Willetts has expressed interest in aptitude testing as a way to address “inequities in earlier educational experience” for those looking to enter the professions, it has emerged. The news comes as a survey released today shows that having a public school education makes it seven times more likely you will become a legal professional than if you are state-educated.

The will-writing debate moved towards the end-game today after the Legal Services Consumer Panel launched its investigation into whether the industry should be regulated. However, the Legal Services Board is currently trying to secure £110,000 in funding for the panel to undertake market research.

How do people find legal help? It is well known within the legal profession that while lawyers may not have a great reputation with the public as a whole, consumers are far warmer about their own solicitor.

A row is brewing between the Law Society and the Legal Services Consumer Panel over the make-up of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) board, Legal Futures can reveal. The Law Society says it has no intention of taking active steps to remove the solicitor majority on the board until the current members’ terms end in 2013.

The Legal Ombudsman will open on 6 October 2010, it confirmed today. The board of the Legal Ombudsman has agreed to keep to its plans for opening, subject to the Parliamentary timetable. The announcement indicates confidence that the new service will survive scrutiny by the Cabinet committee examining the need for all pending regulations left by the previous government.

There is no reason to reduce the level of the guideline hourly rates so as to strip out the cost of referral fees, an influential committee has concluded. The Advisory Committee on Civil Costs found no evidence that referral fees are too high and said claims management companies do not make excessive profits.

This week’s Question of Ethics from the Solicitors Regulation Authority looks at what a solicitor can disclose to the Passport Office when he suspects that an application he signed may be fraudulent.

Professional services firms (PSFs) have managed to overcome the potential decision-making “paralysis” inherent in the partnership structure, new research has found. It said the partnership model can often complicate decisions, with non-contentious issues quickly flaring up to the point where they threaten the retention of partners.