Latest news
Solicitors should be able to practise from unregulated firms, SRA suggests
Practising solicitors should be allowed to deliver advice to the public from unregulated firms, subject to restrictions, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has suggested as part of a phased review of how it regulates both individuals and organisations.
Ex-partners fined for exchanging offensive emails
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined three former partners who sent each other emails containing offensive comments about colleagues over several months. It said the emails contained “derogatory and hurtful comments about individuals, including some colleagues, which were based on gender, sexual orientation and/or race”.
Breathing space for PI lawyers? General damages reform will not come in until 2017
The abolition of general damages for all low-value whiplash claims will not come into force until April 2017, it has emerged – giving the personal injury market more time to adapt than expected. Law firms have also been urged to start planning for the changes, with some likely to close as a result.
Slater & Gordon’s share price collapses in response to Autumn Statement
Slater & Gordon’s share price tumbled by more than 50% overnight as investors reeled at the potential impact of the personal injury reforms unveiled yesterday in the Autumn Statement. It fell below A$1 for the first time since the firm listed in 2007.
First “fully digital” court process set for expansion after successful pilot
A group of London local authorities, a legal software supplier and an electronic data specialist claim to have developed the first “entirely digital” process for court proceedings.
Autumn Statement: £5k small claims limit and end to general damages in whiplash
The government is set to remove the right to general damages for minor soft tissue injuries and increase the small claims limit for personal injury claims from £1,000 to £5,000, it was announced in the Autumn Statement today. The Chancellor, George Osborne, also announced that £700m would be invested to fully digitise the courts.
Average price of standard law firm will drops to £118
The average price of a standard will from a law firm has fallen from £124 to £118 over the last year, new research has indicated. The report, by IRN Research, warned that a highly competitive market had become even tougher with the arrival of accountants and chartered legal executives.
SRA withdraws solicitor’s suspension following intervention
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has taken the unusual step of restoring a solicitor’s practising certificate after discovering he was not a partner in a law firm that was the subject of an intervention.
Reprimand and fine for barrister who admitted talking to jurors after trial
A barrister who admitted that he had talked to jurors at Basildon Railway Station after a trial has been reprimanded and fined £300 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal. Mohammed Omar Faruk said the incident was unintentional.
Horwich Farrelly recruits Greenwoods personal injury lawyers from Parabis
Insurance specialist Horwich Farrelly has recruited the entire Greenwoods large and complex personal injury team, among a total of seven partners and 36 other staff, from Parabis. Meanwhile Fletchers has revealed its ambition to be a top 100 firm by 2018.
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.
