News

Rules governing law firms’ ability to acquire the case loads of failing firms should both be relaxed and made more certain for the benefit of the profession and clients, insolvency and legal experts have argued.

The College of Law is to enter the undergraduate degree market for the first time by launching a two-year LL.B that it says will prepare students for legal practice. Students will be able to choose a degree that focuses on legal issues for individuals or one aimed at business law.

Lord Justice Thomas is heading a new expert group to advise the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board and ILEX Professional Standards on developing and operating the controversial quality assurance for advocates scheme, it has emerged. Meanwhile, the BSB has hit out again at the Legal Services Board’s “unhelpful and ill-timed” intervention over the scheme.

The timetable for bringing in outcomes-focused regulation is too tight to understand the full consequences, and risks a breakdown in the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s relationship with the profession, the Law Society has warned.

The obligation on barristers to notify clients of their right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman is more a marketing opportunity than a burden, the Legal Services Board has said. Meanwhile, the LSB reaffirmed that its policy on providing complaints information at the time of engagement will stand, despite a number of concerns raised by the Bar Standards Board.

Solicitors Regulation Authority proposals to exclude lender and other financial institution claims from the scope of compulsory professional indemnity insurance will be “massively damaging to the profession” and lead to more expensive and longer conveyancing transactions for the public, Law Society chief executive Des Hudson has warned.

Lord Justice Jackson has comprehensively rejected most of the government’s suggested “refinements” to his blueprint to reform the costs of litigation. He told Lord Chancellor Ken Clarke that if he accepts the recommendations to abolish recoverability of after-the-event insurance and success fees, and to raise general damages by 10%, “the package should be implemented in full”.

Partners in law firms that receive external investment after October will alienate younger colleagues if they appear to be stripping the firm of value for future generations, a report has warned.

A service that enables law firms to offer trade mark registrations under their own brand without lifting a finger has been launched for the first time in the latest twist on legal process outsourcing. Under the ‘white label’ trade mark registration service, all work is undertaken by intellectual property specialist solicitors Azrights in the background without the knowledge of clients.

Law firms and alternative business structures should not be allowed to dodge regulation by establishing separate businesses to handle unreserved work, the Legal Services Consumer Panel said this week. The panel also appeared to rebuke Co-operative Legal Services – whose stated intention is to be one of the first ABSs – for calling for freedom in how businesses choose to provide unreserved work.