Practice Management

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint over an advertisement from a website that claims to help clients recover a “huge amount” of their legal costs, which said that “on average, a solicitor overcharges you by 20%”. The offending advert was headed: “Top 5 ways your solicitor rips you off.”

Fee income at SME law firms is on the up, but profits are not matching the growth, with staff and premises costs among the causes, new research has found. There was a “dramatic growth in income” at London firms in particular, with “high-value project work… back on the desk” as corporate deals gathered pace.

The crisis engulfing the law firm that sent tweets ‘boasting’ about its success in defending local authorities in special educational needs and disability tribunals has escalated further today, with three council clients cutting their ties to the firm.

The Law Society’s failed conveyancing portal Veyo recorded a loss of £11.4m in its last financial year, with rival product Free2Convey the cause of its demise, according to newly published annual accounts. Some £6.8m of the loss was put down to research and development expenditure, with a further £743,000 on 10 staff.

A law firm which offended parents of children with special educational needs and disability through comments on Twitter over the weekend is to face an investigation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Milton Keynes-based Baker Small has apologised and made a contribution to charity over its conduct.

The High Court has summarily dismissed a professional negligence claim brought by a hotel company against Midlands firm Wright Hassall and a barrister, Max Mallin. The case involved the conversion of a Victorian office building in Manchester into a four-star hotel.

A legal hackathon is to be held north of the border as part of a push to stimulate lawtech innovation among Scottish law firms and promote the use of technology in improving access to justice. Two broad challenges will be presented in the hope that technological solutions emerge, such as mobile phone or computer apps.

A solicitor who faked three client care letters and backdated them has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The SDT rejected Rafique Chowdhury’s claims that he acted “in a moment of madness” and was “regularising the files, not seeking to mislead anyone”.

A business specialising in legal documents has created a web-based, dementia-specific lasting power of attorney that it claims is far superior to the online LPA provided by the government. Net Lawman has teamed up with the Alzheimer Society-backed dementia support website Unforgettable.org to distribute the LPA.

The digital delivery of legal services in England and Wales to people formerly on legal aid could be at the cusp of a “tipping point”, according Britain’s foremost researcher into online law, Professor Roger Smith. He also predicted that high street law firms would be increasingly vulnerable to website-based national brands, as retailers have been to Amazon.