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The current arrangements for the regulation of barristers are “relatively cost-efficient” and there is no need to make the Bar Standards Board (BSB) fully independent, the incoming chairman of the Bar Council has said.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has set out plans for a centralised assessment test, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, for all those wanting to join the profession. The new exam would not be introduced before the 2018/19 academic year.

Setting up a new panel of criminal defence advocates could confuse the public, CILEx Regulation has warned. It said the legal regulators should control standards and quality.

Personal injury, commercial and family work will all fuel negligence claims against lawyers, insurance specialist BLM has warned in a white paper. It also predicted that a new source of claims could come from the “rapid pace of reform” in legal services, testing new systems and processes “to their limit”.

Riverview Law has unveiled the technology which will power a range of legal ‘virtual assistants’ it is preparing to launch next year. Riverview said ‘Kim’ was already being used outside the legal world.

US online legal services provider LegalZoom has made its much-anticipated move in the UK, announcing today that it is to acquire Yorkshire firm Beaumont Legal for its 2016 launch, with more deals potentially to come.

The demise of the Law Society and Mastek’s online conveyancing portal Veyo gives the “green light” to rival system Free2Convey, the chair of the Legal Software Suppliers Association has said. Matt Lancaster said Free2Convey could now become the “central conveyancing portal”.

A soldier turned solicitor has set up an alternative business structure with a former special forces officer. Proelium Law aims to provide commercial law, international law and security advice to businesses and other organisations wanting to operate in conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Law Society and Indian technology giant Mastek have decided to scrap online conveyancing portal Veyo, at a cost to the profession which has so far been confirmed at more than £3m but is likely to be much higher. The society said it was “deeply sorry” that conveyancers who had “waited patiently” for the product would not be able to use it.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to launch a research project on the “competence” of personal injury lawyers, it has emerged. The research will examine the “decisions and processes implemented by firms to respond to legislative and market changes”.