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A multi-disciplinary alternative business structure is looking to build on its unique combination of licensed conveyancers and chartered accountants. Known as Optimum Professional Services, it is hoping to expand into commercial property work and possibly other areas of law.

There has been a “significant decrease” in unauthorised businesses operating in the holiday sickness market, the Claims Management Regulator has reported. It comes as MPs debate the government’s surprise u-turn late last year to legislate for a ban on cold-calling.

An employment tribunal has rejected claims of race and sex discrimination by a former equity partner of leading City firm Simmons & Simmons because the events complained of took place in Paris and so outside of its jurisdiction.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants was yesterday given the green light to regulate its members in handling probate work. Approving the regulatory scheme it is putting in place, the Legal Services Board said ACCA members would make a “positive contribution” to the legal market.

The courts service is already seeing benefits from the early stages of the digital delivery of justice, it said yesterday as it outlined its plans for further rationalisation of the physical court estate. The proposals included the potential closure of eight courts, including Blackfriars Crown Court, which was meant to be one of venues for the flexible operating hours pilot.

Solicitors have demanded to know how the Legal Ombudsman intends to reduce the cost of its work to an all-time low at the same time that it is seeking extra funds to deal with an unexpected rise in complaints. Meanwhile, the Bar has urged LeO to investigate the reason behind a drop in the confidence lawyers have in the service.

More than half of firms of licensed conveyancers expect their workloads to increase over the next year, according to their regulator. Some 53% of firms expected volumes of work to increase over the next year, with only 10% anticipating a fall.

A law firm regulated by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives is aiming to supervise the training of solicitors in what is understood to be the first move of its kind. In a separate development, a law firm regulated by the Bar Standards Board has started a pupillage scheme, in what might well also be a first.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is set to become the second accountancy body that enables its members – 90,000 of them in the UK – to provide probate services. If approved by the Legal Services Board, it will follow the lead of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Male clients were half as likely as their female counterparts to nominate women for a place in a global guide to star lawyers, despite the fact they rated the performance by women lawyers as equal or better. The company behind the findings said male bias among made it harder for women lawyers to progress.