Legal Services Act

Former Law Society president Ed Nally was today appointed to the Legal Services Board (LSB) to fill a vacancy that has been open for more than a year. Meanwhile, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is to cut around 80 jobs as it prepares for outcomes-focused regulation and the licensing of alternative business structures from 6 October 2011.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is on course to become the first body licensed to regulate alternative business structures, after submitting its application to the Legal Services Board. The CLC, which oversees 10-15% of the conveyancing market, has also applied to extend the range of reserved activities it regulates from conveyancing and probate to awarding rights of audience and the right to conduct litigation.

Our weekly round-up of other news takes in further expansion at Co-operative Legal Services, two innovations on the paralegal front, “virtual” firms piloting the SRA’s relationship management, and a tricky decision for LSB chairman David Edmonds

Smaller law firms have bucked the downward trend in fees income recorded by the biggest practices in the last couple of years, taking gross fees to a new record level, research released today has suggested. The report by TheCityUK found that the contribution of the legal services sector to the UK’s GDP has doubled in a decade to 1.8%.

Conveyancing, immigration advice, preparing wills and powers of attorney, and estate administration should all become reserved legal activities, a leading thinktank has recommended. However, the report from the Legal Services Institute – headed by Professor Stephen Mayson – says this work should not be the sole preserve of the legally qualified.

The outgoing Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO), Zahida Manzoor, is to hand over an estimated 600 cases awaiting investigation when her office closes at the beginning of next month, far more than previously thought.

The fragmented nature of the conveyancing market has been laid bare by figures showing that nearly a third of the 9,000 legal practices which registered dealings with the Land Registry last year handled 10 or fewer transfers. While MyHomeMove made almost 10,000 applications for transfers in 2010, 834 firms only made one application the whole 12 months, according to Land Registry figures.

There are concerns about the outstanding level of complaints at the outgoing Legal Services Ombudsman, Legal Futures has learned. Zahida Manzoor’s personal contract comes to an end on 2 March, and her office in Manchester will close on 31 March, with a number of cases likely to be outstanding – although Ms Manzoor says her office has been performing to a high standard in difficult circumstances.

More information to help consumers select a solicitor, freedom to choose a lawyer under legal expenses insurance, and the regulation of contingency fees are all areas where the profession and the public should work together, a leading consumer champion claimed last week.

The Legal Services Board is pushing ahead with preparations to regulate alternative business structures itself because of fears that the Law Society council will next month block the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s plan to become an ABS regulator, Legal Futures has learned.