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A thousand more law firms will no longer be required to submit accountants’ reports, the Solicitors Regulation Authority decided at yesterday’s board meeting. The change is set to be introduced on 1 November 2015.

There will a review of the Legal Services Act 2007 during this Parliament, the Lord Chancellor Michael Gove announced today. Giving evidence to the justice select committee, he also addressed legal aid, the importance of the criminal Bar, court transformation and court fees.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has rejected misconduct charges against a solicitor who said he was the victim of technology problems with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s online system, mySRA, that meant he was not aware of conditions attached to his practising certificate.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to ask solicitors how they judge the seriousness of misconduct offences in a new initiative on professional standards. The move will result in a policy statement and decision-making framework for the regulator’s staff.

The turnover of personal injury claims management companies (CMCs) bounced back 27% to £310m last year as the market began to “stabilise”, it has emerged. Applications by personal injury CMCs for authorisation from the Ministry of Justice also increased by almost two-thirds.

An influential think tank has called for the introduction of compulsory pro bono for lawyers, set at 10% of their “work output”. It said that for many lawyers, the law had become “no more than a revenue-generating business”.

Legal apprenticeships “are going to be massive” and law firms will have to respond by recruiting A-Level students straight from school, the dean of BPP Law School has predicted. Peter Crisp said he also believed the SRA would “force through” a centralised assessment test for would-be solicitors.

A leading QC is to take part in a pioneering free direct access video surgery later this month. Stephen Harvey QC will be discussing business risk and regulation via a new online video platform. The approach has also won the backing of the Bar Council.

Some partners in small law firms are charging £50 per hour – only £10 more than the lowest paid fee-earners, a survey has found. In some firms equity partners took home less than non-partners.

The High Court has dismissed a claim against a firm of solicitors, despite finding it negligent in failing to raise the absence of a covenant in restraint of competition during the purchase of a commercial property. It considered the lengths that a solicitor is expected to go to beyond facilitating the immediate transaction.