Latest news
PE firm makes second big acquisition in bid to build national practice
Private equity firm Blixt Group has made the second major acquisition of its consolidation play in the shape of a £12m Lancashire law firm now eyeing deals of its own.
Ireland’s biggest ALSP heads to London after £9m funding boost
The biggest alternative legal services provider in Ireland is heading to London and the US next year after closing a €10.5m (£9.1m) funding round that will help double its headcount to 500.
Solicitor who certified LPAs “as a favour” is fined £6,000
A criminal defence solicitor who said he certified two lasting powers of attorney “as a favour” for an elderly client has been fined £6,000 for failing to make the necessary checks.
Pay returns to top of list for attracting new recruits
Pay has returned to the top of the list for job-hunting lawyers, overtaking flexibility, but most fee-earners are happy where they are, a survey has found.
Solicitor was “manifestly incompetent” in advice to elderly client
A solicitor has admitted manifest incompetence in failing to advise a 92-year-old client to refuse a £60,000 engagement ring and £35,000 car in part-payment of the property he was selling.
Regulator tells conveyancers to prepare for sharp work downturn
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has issued a stark warning to the law firms it regulates to “stress test their businesses for resilience” to a fall of up to 40% in work volumes.
Women barristers closing pay gap a little in some areas of practice
Women barristers are closing the pay gap with their male colleagues in certain practice areas but it remains vast in the higher-earning areas of work, the Bar Council has found.
LSB to consider “alternative configurations” of reserved legal activities
The Legal Services Board is to undertake a “first-principles analysis” of the list of reserved legal activities to consider “potential alternative configurations”.
LSB plans to make it easier for clients to complain to their lawyers
Stronger rules on how clients are informed about their right to complain, and ensuring verbal expressions of dissatisfaction are treated as complaints, are set to be introduced next year.
SRA forced to wait for end of Post Office inquiry to take action
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is going to have to wait until the end of the Post Office inquiry before it can take formal disciplinary action against any lawyers involved in the scandal.
Blog
Regulate sole practices on evidence, not turnover
For a sole practice, the SRA’s plan that I cannot hold a compliance role if my firm has more than £600,000 of turnover is not a measure of risk. It is a ceiling on growth.
Is Google becoming pay-to-play for law firms?
For years, law firms have been told that SEO is the long-term alternative to paying for every click. That principle hasn’t disappeared but search results have changed significantly.
Material information and the case for intelligent client onboarding
Upfront information means work traditionally undertaken after an offer is accepted will need to happen earlier. And that fundamentally changes the role of client onboarding.
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