Latest news
MP: Moving lawyers’ AML oversight to FCA “will help fraud fight”
Moving the supervision of lawyers’ anti-money laundering activities to the Financial Conduct Authority will strengthen the fight against fraud, a campaigning MP has told Legal Futures.
SRA urges target firms in acquisitions not to ignore due diligence
An SRA review of law firm acquisitions has highlighted failures and behaviours on the part of some target firms as a cause for concern.
SRA targets accountant’s reports and sole owners in shake-up
All law firm accountant’s reports will have to be submitted to the SRA in future, and sole owners will not generally be allowed to hold compliance roles too, under proposals published today.
Magic circle pay trainees less than US firms – and work them harder
The biggest City law firms are paying their trainees less than their US competitors but working them harder, according to new research showing how pay continues to spiral.
SRA shuts down four law firms in three days
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has shut down four law firms so far this week – two of them connected to the same man.
Government hints at more controls on RTA damages and costs
The government’s motor insurance taskforce reported yesterday with a hint that it may extend the whiplash tariff to other injuries and also review the small claims limit.
Don’t forget human support in the rush to digital, lawyers told
Both the structure and delivery of legal services – such as a lack of guidance and reactive communication – can cause difficulties for consumers, new research has found.
LSB: “Significant concerns” over viability of Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Services Board has expressed “significant concerns about the viability” of the Legal Ombudsman scheme as it struggles to get its caseload under control.
Law firms need to keep “meaningful offline routes” to services
Digitally excluded consumers need law firms to maintain “meaningful offline routes” to services because “digital transformation is not inherently progressive”, says a report for four legal regulators.
Vos eyes machine-made decisions for property disputes
Many property disputes “could be amenable to machine-made decision-making” in the future, the Master of the Rolls has predicted.
Blog
From ‘year zero’ to £6.5m – how a law firm found its second life
In 2018, I hit what I call ‘year zero’. On paper, Olliers Solicitors was a top-tier criminal defence firm but beneath the surface, I could see we were at a crossroads.
Linklaters’ chief growth officer takes the ‘blank sheet’ challenge
In the third and final part of this series, Lucy Murphy, chief growth officer at magic circle firm Linklaters, outlines her vision for the law firm of the future.
The ‘blank sheet’ challenge, part 2 – what would you do differently?
In the second part of this blog series, Shainul Kassam, managing director of small London firm Fortune Law, sets out how she would set up a law firm now.
