Client care
Law firms face £6m negligence claim from property investors
Two law firms have been facing multiple claims worth nearly £6m from disgruntled investors who lost money on hotels and student accommodation that were never built.
Solicitors, surveyors and estate agents reach NI “understanding”
An agreement between solicitors, surveyors and estate agents in Northern Ireland to improve the conveyancing process could be a template for England and Wales.
“Huge savings to come” from local land charge digitisation
HM Land Registry launched its new digital local land charges register last week, which will cut the time it takes to get results from days or weeks to seconds.
ICAEW takes voluntary approach to firms publishing prices
The accountancy regulator has decided not to force its firms that provide reserved probate services to publish their fees – unlike the legal regulators.
‘Mystery shoppers’ finds law firms missing out on business
Law firms are still failing to respond to customer enquiries properly, with a mystery shopper survey showing a “dismally poor” performance in respect of follow-up calls.
Home owners “do not trust” law firms referred by estate agents
A significant proportion of home owners do not trust the law firms they are referred to by estate agents, a survey has found.
Conveyancing clients would pay more for “premium” service, research finds
Over a third of home movers would be prepared to pay more for a “premium customer service” from their conveyancer, according to new research that also charts how local solicitors have lost ground to licensed conveyancers and online operations. It said that many conveyancing firms were not responding quickly enough to “21st century mindsets”.
Conveyancers “doing a decent job” but leasehold information a concern, says SRA
A fifth of those buying leaseholds do not recall their solicitors giving them key information such as the length of the lease remaining, service charges and ground rent, according to research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. But overall, conveyancing clients were generally happy with the service they received.
Online quotes giving specialist conveyancers edge over high street solicitors
High street solicitors are losing out to specialist conveyancing businesses in capturing clients, new research has shown, but all lawyers still have much to improve on client communication. More than a third of clients would even consider paying more for a premium service, it found.
Small businesses shy away from “pricey” solicitors when facing legal problems, major survey find
Only 11% of small businesses consider solicitors to be good value for money, and most choose not to use them when faced by a legal problem, seeing them as a last resort, according to major new research. It also found that the annual cost of small businesses’ legal problems to the UK economy to be roughly £40bn.
Blog
A two-point plan to halve the size of the SRA
I have joked for many years that you could halve the size (and therefore cost) of the Solicitors Regulation Authority overnight by banning both client account and sole practitioners.
Key cyber and data security questions to ask a legal IT provider
One of the growing priorities that law firms face when considering a legal technology provider is cyber and data security, such as their responsibilities and cyber incident management.
Navigating carer’s leave: A personal journey and call for change
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023, which came into force on 6 April 2024, was a pivotal moment for the UK. It allows workers to take up to five unpaid days off a year to carry out caring responsibilities.
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