Legal Services Act

Law firm mergers are still being planned, despite the coronavirus pandemic, although they may take longer to get over the line, experts have predicted.

Small law firms have been hit hardest by the lockdown, a survey of the impact of Covid-19 on the profession has found but overall firms have “largely seen only a minor impact on business levels”.

An advocacy services firm which attended over 6,000 hearings last year has become an alternative business structure so it can add qualified advocates to its team of solicitors’ agents.

New instructions have been running at about 70% of the pre-lockdown level over the past two and a half months, but there are definite signs of a revival, with conveyancing roaring back, data shows.

The Legal Services Board is set to conduct a major review on the extent to which it can reform the regulatory regime – including the reserved legal activities – using its existing powers.

The Covid-19 crisis will not stop the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam in September 2021, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said as it published the exam’s final design.

The Legal Ombudsman is set for a major leadership shake-up in the wake of its recent budget debacle and following the decision of the chief ombudsman to leave.

Two young paralegals have launched an unregulated legal contracts business which provides fixed-price services for mainly online businesses in the UK, the USA and Europe.

A group of lawyers has begun crowdfunding to support a new initiative aiming to combat racial injustice by facilitating access to justice, funding and legal representation.

Some law firms suffered “serious falls” in revenue during May and, without a pick-up in new instructions in June and July, “the pain may become unbearable”, new research has warned.