Latest news
Barristers unhappy with BSB warning on commercial pressures
Barristers have complained that the decision of their regulator to make public the risk of commercial pressures damaging the Bar could on its own have a negative impact on the profession’s reputation. There are also reports of “growing anxiety” among young barrister about chambers being run as corporate organisations.
Unregulated firm calls in unregistered barristers to help SMEs
A new unregulated law firm is using unregistered barristers to offer small businesses “unlimited legal advice” for as little as £49.50 per month. Philip Harmer, founder of LawPlan, said the business “set out to give value, which seems like an impossibility in the legal world”.
Call for two-tier regulation based on client money
There should be a two-tier system of legal regulation that distinguishes between those branches of the profession that hold client money and those that do not, the chairman of the Costs Lawyer Standards Board has argued.
SRA drops annual diversity surveys to help small firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has decided to drop annual diversity surveys of the profession, and make them biennial, to reduce the regulatory burden on smaller law firms. The regulator said the next survey, scheduled for this summer, would not take place until May 2017.
Barrister firm to be like solicitors’ practice – “but a better kind of solicitor”
One of the newest barrister entities has said that using its services will be “like going to a solicitor’s firm, but a better kind of solicitor”. In a separate development, two barristers have set up a BSB-regulated firm to provide clients with a “bespoke service”, principally in sports, entertainment and media law.
SDT allows solicitor who overturned strike-off to return to practice
A solicitor who successfully challenged her strike-off at the High Court can return to practice following a decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. A fresh tribunal said it would be “disproportionate” to strike off Rukhsana Kiani.
Fine for CMC that made 17.5m unsolicited calls in six months
A claims management company that made 17.5m automated calls over just six months, asking people if they had suffered hearing loss at work, has been fined £250,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Solicitor struck off for fraud despite blackmail claim
A solicitor who took money from clients – including telling a personal injury client that he had been awarded less than he really had – has been struck off despite claiming that he was being blackmailed at the time.
US debate on whether to allow ABSs heats up
More than two decades’ experience of alternative business structures has shown lower rates of complaint against lawyers than in traditional firms, a law firm headquartered in Washington DC, which allows non-lawyer ownership, has argued – as lawyers and businesses keen on the legal market lined up against each other.
Mid-market firms losing corporate work “by stealth”, report says
Corporate clients are bleeding law firms without them realising it, as work is funnelled away to cheaper providers by in-house counsel who wish to avoid confrontation over pricing, according to a report. The steady process of commoditisation was behind the shift, it said.
Blog
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
Recruitment, retention and reward in the legal accounts world
Understanding the legal finance market is important – not just for those actively involved in it day-to-day but also for leaders within law firms.
