Legal Services Act

Small and mid-sized law firms need to accept that lower levels of profitability are becoming the “new normal”, it was claimed yesterday. Their income is also falling, with firms of 11-25 partners recording the biggest drop last year – 11% – compared to only 1% for sole practitioners.

Two family law barristers have set up what is believed to be the first service allowing separating couples to obtain advice from a single legal expert at any point in the process. They are launching The Divorce Surgery as an alternative business structure regulated by the Bar Standards Board later this week.

Unregulated online legal services company Rocket Lawyer has received a waiver to allow practising solicitors to advise its clients, Legal Futures can reveal. Peninsula – the business services giant that owns Croner – has its own waiver, and is highlighting to potential customers the benefits of privilege that come with it, we can also report.

Slater & Gordon announced today that it will invest over £30m on new technology and broadening its services over the next three years – with volume conveyancing a target – as the firm looks to put the troubles of the past behind it. Legal Futures was given the first trade interview with the firm’s CEO about his vision for the future.

The government stood firm on its proposed whiplash reforms yesterday despite criticism from peers, on the first day of the Civil Liability Bill’s committee stage in the House of Lords. Though dozens of amendments were put down, none was pushed to a vote but may well be revisited at the bill’s report stage.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority should investigate whether there are regulatory barriers to law firms that become alternative business structures providing other professional services such as accountancy and surveying, rather than vice versa, a report it commissioned has recommended.

Technology will revolutionise the way we educate, train, and utilise legal expertise, a senior judge has predicted. Sir Geoffrey Vos, chancellor of the High Court, laid out a vision of the future where training might depend on whether people wanted to be a ‘social lawyer’, a ‘human rights lawyer’ or a ‘business lawyer.

David Gauke, the justice secretary and Lord Chancellor, has admitted that the Ministry of Justice is feeling “a little frustrated” by the direct action taken by criminal law barristers over legal aid fees. Shortly after, the Criminal Bar Association recommended that its members “escalate” their current action by instituting a ‘no returns’ policy from 25 May.

The government yesterday defeated a Labour attempt to annul the legislation changing the scheme through which criminal defence advocates are paid for carrying out publicly funded work in the Crown Court, which has led to over 100 chambers declining instructions. However, there was also recognition that the criminal Bar needed greater support.

A former senior servant with substantial experience of competition law has been named the new chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel. Sarah Chambers replaces Dr Jane Martin, who resigned after just a year in post to become a member of the Office for Legal Complaints, the body that oversees the Legal Ombudsman.