Legal Services Board
Exclusive: SRA snaps up LSB strategy chief
Crispin Passmore, the director of strategy at the Legal Services Board, is jumping ship for a newly created director-level policy role at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Legal Futures understands.
Lack of diversity should raise flag about firms, LSB tells regulators
Legal regulators should in future rate the risk that firms present to the public on the basis of the diversity of their workforce, and focus supervision on those with the worst records, according to a report.
Circuits club together to back QASA judicial review
The circuits have come together with the Criminal Bar Association to indemnity the four barristers bringing a judicial review against the Legal Services Board over the legality of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates.
Grayling: legal market needs to be more diverse and innovative
The new chairman of the Legal Services Board (LSB) needs to help develop “a more diverse and innovative legal services market that attracts new providers”, justice secretary Chris Grayling has said. The search for a new chairman of the LSB began last week.
QASA claimants granted costs cap – but at 10 times the level they wanted
The High Court has capped the costs exposure of the four barristers bringing a judicial review against the Legal Services Board over the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates – but at a level 10 times the one they had proposed.
LSB sparks fresh independence row with call for regulators to have lay chairs
The frontline regulators need lay chairs at the helm so as to cut the “overly strong ties” that still exist with their branches of the profession and have held back change, the Legal Services Board said yesterday. The call was met by strong opposition.
High Court gives green light to QASA judicial review
Criminal barristers were yesterday given permission to pursue their judicial review against the Legal Services Board over the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). The legal challenge is that QASA “offends fundamental issues of justice”.
Revealed: LSB ditches investigation into regulating 'general legal advice'
The Legal Services Board has ditched its investigation into whether giving ‘general legal advice’ should become a reserved legal activity – but hinted it may look to remove probate from the existing list.
Manchester firm ties up joint venture with insurer as law centres win ABS exemption extension
A Manchester law firm has launched a joint venture alternative business structure (ABS) with one of its major insurer clients. Meanwhile, the transitional exemption from ABS licensing currently afforded to not-for-profit organisations has been extended indefinitely.
Revealed: LSB legal director opposed approval of QASA
The legal director of the Legal Services Board disagreed with its decision to approve the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates because he wanted to ensure that the impact on judicial independence had been fully considered, it has emerged.
Blog
Ethical standards to protect the public
The recent BBC Panorama episode on solicitors acting for the Post Office highlighted how some lawyers can lose sight of their role to uphold the rule of law and the public interest.
Who will shape the future of UK lawtech?
The legal profession in England and Wales is broadly gender-balanced. The technology sector is not. Lawtech sits at the intersection of both.
AI and client confidentiality: the next regulatory faultline
The area most likely to expose firms to regulatory jeopardy in 2026 needs far more guidance: client confidentiality in the age of commercial AI systems.
