Legal Services Act
QC body donates £200k to benevolent associations
The body that organises the annual silk round has responded to pressure to release reserves during the coronavirus crisis by donating £200,000 to the benevolent associations for solicitors and barristers.
Prices and brands helping consumers differentiate firms
Consumers still find it difficult to differentiate one law firm from another, but publishing prices helps and awareness of legal brands is slowly rising, new research has found.
Co-op eyes partnerships after revenue and profit jump
Co-operative Legal Services is eyeing up partnerships to boost its probate and estate planning work after announcing a record year as an alternative business structure.
LSB questions Bar regulator’s decision-making
The Legal Services Board is launching a formal review of the Bar Standards Board’s leadership and decision-making in the wake of its controversial decision to stop funding the Legal Choices website.
Covid-19 could herald reform of reserved legal activities
Changes to the list of reserved activities that only authorised lawyers can do has been floated as one way the ways legal regulation could be flexed to help the profession recover from the Covid-19 crisis.
Exclusive: US legal giant sells its ABS to consolidator
US legal services giant LegalZoom has sold the Yorkshire law firm it bought more than four years ago to consolidator Metamorph, Legal Futures can reveal.
New file openings crash but staff stepping up during crisis
Many law firms are seeing the number of new file openings crash as the lockdown continues, but leaders have reported how staff are really stepping up their efforts.
Conveyancers calls on government to extend furlough scheme
The furlough scheme should be extended for property businesses, like conveyancers, where income required to pay staff will not be available for months after work is undertaken once lockdown is lifted.
IP specialist waited two years to switch to unregulated firm
A solicitor specialising in intellectual property has described “waiting in the wings” for two years to close down her regulated law firm and reopen as an unregulated business.
Whiplash reforms delayed until April 2021
The whiplash reforms have been delayed until April 2021 due to the coronavirus crisis, the Lord Chancellor announced today. This is the third time implementation has been postponed.
Blog
Ethical standards to protect the public
The recent BBC Panorama episode on solicitors acting for the Post Office highlighted how some lawyers can lose sight of their role to uphold the rule of law and the public interest.
Who will shape the future of UK lawtech?
The legal profession in England and Wales is broadly gender-balanced. The technology sector is not. Lawtech sits at the intersection of both.
AI and client confidentiality: the next regulatory faultline
The area most likely to expose firms to regulatory jeopardy in 2026 needs far more guidance: client confidentiality in the age of commercial AI systems.
