Legal Services Act

Yorkshire law firm Heptonstalls has joined forces with Call Brian, an automated personal injury claims system, to offer other firms a way to continue making money after the whiplash reforms come into effect.

The First-tier Tribunal has upheld the decision of the Legal Services Board not to release an email exchange with the Solicitors Regulation Authority over the Leigh Day case.

A private equity company that last year bought two major volume conveyancing firms has now taken a minority stake in a solicitor-owned legal technology company for £1.5m.

A revised accounts code that expressly allows firms of licensed conveyancers to use third-party managed accounts has been approved by the Legal Services Board.

A firm of financial advisers has launched an alternative business structure to provide its clients with legal services which it claims are faster and “at least a third cheaper”.

Unregulated providers are leading the way with developing consumer-facing legal technology, showing that the way solicitors are regulated is “not an obstacle to innovation”.

Alternative business structures are reshaping the boundaries of the law by emphasising the benefit of integrated professional services, rather than pure legal knowledge, a leading academic has argued.

Employment and commercial work are seeing the biggest increases in demand from clients, research has found. However, lockdown has had a “devastating impact” on other practice areas.

The Law Society and Bar Council have urged the government to act on a report from MPs that that would help lawyers who have fallen through the gaps of the coronavirus support schemes.

Employment lawyers could be about to see a surge in enquiries, with data from Citizens Advice showing that people are becoming increasingly concerned about redundancy.