Practice Management

Lawyers should not connect on LinkedIn with anyone they have not met or already communicated with, a social media specialist has warned in the wake of the controversy that followed barrister Charlotte Proudman tweeting a comment made to her on LinkedIn.

Separate representation for lenders and borrowers in conveyancing transactions “should be the norm”, a senior manager at insurer Zurich has said. Michael Blüthner Speight described the increased cost would be “minimal”.

Veyo is still being tested and there is no fixed date for its national launch, the president of the Law Society told property lawyers last week. Jonathan Smithers admitted that “clearly the publicity ran well ahead of the product”.

The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision striking out a negligence claim against Birmingham law firm Blakemores, now in administration, and also set aside a default judgment obtained by the firm for £635,500 in costs.

The Law Superstore, a new legal services comparison website which will offer consumers lists of approved solicitors, is to be launched next spring by the former chief executive of Minister Law and Brilliant Law.

Small law firms have been saving up to 25% on their indemnity insurance premiums following the arrival of a new insurer from Qatar, broker Lockton has said. Brian Boehmer estimated that firms had saved on average around 10%.

ReviewSolicitors, the legal review website launched last month, has recruited 300 law firms as premium subscribers through a deal with a leading case management provider. It means clients would automatically be offered the chance to post reviews while ReviewSolicitors would know they were genuine clients.

Some 60% of conveyancing firms refuse to give fee quotes over the phone and, whether they do or not, the majority then fail to follow-up with their prospective client, ‘mystery shopper’ research has revealed.

A company set up by a senior solicitor to be a member of his firm’s limited liability partnership can be the victim of age discrimination, the president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled. It is believed to be the first discrimination case brought by a company.

At a time when “the cost of legal services has generally been allowed to rise to unsustainable levels”, lawyers and the clients need to reconnect the four key ingredients that go into the purchase of legal services – cost, price, value and relationship – Professor Stephen Mayson has argued.