Legal Services Act

Law firms, chambers, regulators and other legal bodies which sign up to the official British Standard on dealing with vulnerable consumers are to have their commitment celebrated publicly on the website of the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

Eighteen solicitors were sanctioned by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last year for breaches of anti-money laundering obligations, the Law Society has reported. It has also identified alternative business structures as among the increased risks of money laundering facing the profession.

There are signs that lawyers are getting better at handling complaints but also still failing to signpost their clients to the Legal Ombudsman, the chief ombudsman has said. Both could help explain why complaint volumes are lower than had been planned for.

A Buckinghamshire-based will-writing company has today become the latest recipient of an alternative business structure licence. Parchment Wills & Legal Services Ltd of Gerrards Cross is a founder member of the Institute of Professional Willwriters.

A niche property law firm in Oxfordshire has become the sixth alternative business structure to be licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Its senior partner said becoming an ABS gives the firm “additional flexibility in terms of structuring our business”.

Co-operative Legal Services may look to acquire a conveyancing practice as it brings property work in-house, it revealed yesterday. The revelation came during a press briefing that laid out the Co-op’s strategy more clearly than ever before.

The Co-operative Group has today announced plans to create 3,000 jobs in the legal sector as it laid out its ambitions to create the largest consumer law business in the country. It will also offer face-to-face advice in all 330 of its bank branches.

Two junior barristers from Liverpool have launched a public access service which offers legal advice to consumers for a £150 fixed fee. It comes as a new fixed-fee ‘find a solicitor’ site seeks to target those who are just above the eligibility threshold for legal aid,

The Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) will apply this year to become an alternative business structure licensing authority, it has emerged, joining the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

Lawyers’ legal education and training should be aimed at the specific activities they will be authorised to practise rather than at achieving a particular title, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has urged.