Practice Management

There are increasing reports of law firms allowing their client account to be used by others as a bank account in clear breach of the rules, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) warned yesterday.

The Law Society has called on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) not to abandon the training contract, which it is said was viewed by other jurisdictions as the “gold standard”.

Lawyers frustrated by having to confine their tweets to 140 characters will be free to express themselves in ‘moots’ of up to 500 words on new legal social media site mootis, launched today.

Magic circle firm Allen & Overy has expanded the online legal service it provides to financial institutions as part of its “strategic vision to integrate a range of new service capabilities and delivery models with its core high-end legal practice”.

QualitySolicitors (QS) has launched a new online customer platform, which has taken a year to develop and is described by the network as the most advanced of its kind.

More than 1,000 barristers have already signed up to a “game changing” initiative that aims to smooth the way for consumers and businesses to use public access, Legal Futures can reveal.

Workload and disciplinary problems have topped the table of reasons why lawyers contacted mental health charity LawCare last year, between them accounting for nearly half of all calls.

Claims management companies (CMCs) which break the rules this year face potentially huge fines – of up to 20% for those with an annual turnover of more than £500,000. Smaller CMCs can be fined up to £100,000.

Failure to undertake continuous professional development will be an “aggravating factor” when enforcement decisions are made against those guilty of incompetence, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.

A group of US-based entrepreneurs claim to have carried out pioneering research which has shown that big commercial firms in the UK are “routinely rehiring poor performing barristers while ignoring the best performers”.