Legal Services Act

The government has approved rule changes opening the way for fully digital conveyancing. The changes will allow digital documents with e-signatures to be used both for land transfers and land registration. Meanwhile, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers has stated its ambition to become “regulator of choice for all property lawyers”.

An alternative business structure set up by ex-government IT specialists has launched an online service that hopes to harness technology to simplify the conveyancing process. The co-founders of Juno Property Lawyers have worked on some of the highest-profile government IT projects and hired two senior solicitors.

A multi-disciplinary alternative business structure is looking to build on its unique combination of licensed conveyancers and chartered accountants. Known as Optimum Professional Services, it is hoping to expand into commercial property work and possibly other areas of law.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants was yesterday given the green light to regulate its members in handling probate work. Approving the regulatory scheme it is putting in place, the Legal Services Board said ACCA members would make a “positive contribution” to the legal market.

Solicitors have demanded to know how the Legal Ombudsman intends to reduce the cost of its work to an all-time low at the same time that it is seeking extra funds to deal with an unexpected rise in complaints. Meanwhile, the Bar has urged LeO to investigate the reason behind a drop in the confidence lawyers have in the service.

A law firm regulated by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives is aiming to supervise the training of solicitors in what is understood to be the first move of its kind. In a separate development, a law firm regulated by the Bar Standards Board has started a pupillage scheme, in what might well also be a first.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is set to become the second accountancy body that enables its members – 90,000 of them in the UK – to provide probate services. If approved by the Legal Services Board, it will follow the lead of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Gordon Dadds Group has made its first law firm acquisition since listing on AIM last summer, buying a specialist technology and corporate practice for up to £3.4m. In other ABS news, Co-operative Legal Services has launched an online platform for uncontested divorces with solicitor support, while a will-writing ABS has gone into liquidation.

The Ministry of Justice has said it was “business as usual” on the housing and debt legal aid phone lines operated by Carillion Advice Services yesterday, following the collapse of the parent company. However, a law firm that markets a partnership with the paralegal business declined to talk about the implications.

A new report has spelt out the “formidable” competition the Big Four accountants could become in the legal market, given that the three largest of them alone turnover more than the biggest 100 law firms in the world combined. It was published in the wake of Deloitte becoming the last member of the Big Four to apply for an ABS licence.