Latest news
High Court finds abuse of process in how law firm sued fellow solicitors
The High Court has found a Newcastle law firm’s conduct an abuse of process after it repeatedly failed to pay the proper court fees when it issued claims. As a result, some of the professional negligence cases it was pursuing against another firm were time-barred.
SRA asks: Are solicitors to blame for declining criminal advocacy standards?
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to research this year whether standards of criminal advocacy are declining and whether solicitors are to blame. As part of the research, the SRA said it would ask judges whether solicitor-advocates were “working beyond their level of competence”.
Looking to play the markets? Then invest in Law plc
Listed UK businesses with a strong legal element have proven good investments over the past year, outperforming the FTSE indicies, a Legal Futures analysis has shown. While both the FTSE 100 and FTSE All-Share indicies fell during 2015, almost all law-related shares were up – some spectacularly so.
Client fails to defeat firm’s fees action with negligence counterclaim
A Midlands law firm making a claim for fees against former husband-and-wife clients has successfully applied for their £2.6m negligence counterclaim to be struck out. The court emphasised that a breach of fiduciary duty by a solicitor does not necessarily mean their entitlement to be paid is forfeited.
Barristers who work for free could be breaching referral fee ban, Bar Council warns
Criminal barristers who agree to work for law firms “for no fee” could be breaching the referral fee ban, the Bar Council has warned. The Bar Council said law firms were “wrong to suggest no fee is available” where counsel was “unassigned”.
No end to flood of complaints about CMCs as total rises above 15,000
The number of complaints to the Legal Ombudsman about claims management companies is gathering pace and passed 15,000 in the first nine months of 2015, it has emerged. LeO said almost half of the complaints were about fees.
Leigh Day accuses SRA of premature referral to tribunal over Iraq abuse inquiry
London law firm Leigh Day has come out fighting after it emerged that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has referred it to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over its conduct in representing hundreds of Iraqis who claimed that they had been abused or unlawfully detained by British forces during the Iraq war.
‘Amicable app’ aims to take some of the pain – and cost – out of divorce
A counsellor and a tech entrepreneur are launching an app to help couples going through separation or divorce, and cut down on the need for lawyers and the amount spent on them. The first version of the ‘amicable app’ will go live at the end of March.
Robot takeover of lawyers’ work “unlikely to be as far-reaching or as fast as predicted”
Automation by computers is unlikely to replace much of the work currently done by lawyers any time soon and the negative employment effects of technology have been overstated, according to a study.
Insurer sidesteps ABS with new legal venture
LV= has created its legal offering to offer an extra service to its members and customers, rather than to make any great profit, its claims director has told Legal Futures. The new venture is not an alternative business structure, unlike all the other such arrangements between insurers and law firms.
Blog
Mazur: a symptom not a cause?
If Mazur is a symptom, what does it mean for the underlying health of our civil justice system: the ‘finest legal system in the world’?
Cross-generation collaboration: the key to in-house legal tech adoption
In-house legal function leaders will increasingly have to evolve their thinking on how to manage multigenerational teams containing differing levels of technological expertise.
AI and law firm risk – the view of professional indemnity insurers
In considering law firm applications for cover, many insurers will expect to see evidence of how firms are adapting to AI and preparing for the future.
