Barristers
Cry freedom: New rules “strengthen regulators’ independence”
The Legal Services Board has finalised revised rules to ensure clearer separation of regulatory and representative functions at bodies like the Law Society and Bar Council.
BSB reduces publication periods for misbehaving barristers
The Bar Standards Board is to cut the length of time that sanctions imposed on misbehaving barristers appear on its website, on the Bar Register and when it responds to requests for information.
Consumer panel urges regulators to publish complaints data
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has criticised legal regulators’ continuing “resistance” to publishing complaints data about the lawyers they oversee.
Inns of Court to be first provider of new Bar training course
The Inns of Court College of Advocacy is set to be the first organisation approved to run the new Bar training course, which it is doing on a not-for-profit basis.
Chambers “must publish” data on sexual orientation and religion
The Legal Services Board has approved a new rule requiring chambers to include sexual orientation and religion in the diversity data they publish on their websites, whether or not all of their barristers agree.
“I need a good PA,” says barrister who practised illegally for four years
A barrister who worked without a practising certificate for more than four years – which is a criminal offence – told a disciplinary tribunal he could do with “a good PA”.
White students still way out ahead in race for pupillages
White students are significantly more likely to obtain pupillage than those from BAME backgrounds, with the gap widest among those who have not achieved the highest results, new figures have shown.
Exclusive: First Bar Standards Board ABS closes down
The first alternative business structure licensed by the Bar Standards Board – a combination of barristers and football agents – has shut down, Legal Futures can reveal.
“Formal periodic reaccreditation” for lawyers back on the table
The Legal Services Board is set to begin work on a a review of continuing competence that will revisit the possibility of formal periodic reaccreditation for lawyers.
LSB agrees to limit price transparency to public access barristers
The Legal Services Board has approved Bar Standards Board plans which will require public access barristers, but not other self-employed barristers, to publish fees for routine legal services on their websites.
Blog
Does the Lloyd review mark the end of the Legal Services Act?
The Legal Services Board often generates eye-rolls and irritation from the leaders of the frontline regulators it oversees and of the representative bodies attached to them.
A familiar story?
There is no doubt that the rising cost of clinical negligence claims deserves attention. However, the system’s true cost driver is often not the claim itself.
When AI becomes a line on the client’s bill
On 23 June, Legora changed how it charges. The platform announced that its most capable product was moving away from a flat per-seat licence fee to consumption-based pricing
