Regulation

The Legal Services Consumer Panel today ratcheted up the pressure on regulators to impose transparency requirements on lawyers with survey findings that only 6% of consumers could find prices on their websites. The panel’s annual tracker survey described a sector “which is slow to respond to consumer need”.

The Bar Standard Board has decided to introduce compulsory registration of youth court barristers, despite fierce opposition from the Bar Council. However, it shied away from demanding compulsory training, arguing that the market for youth advocacy was too “fragile” for additional regulation.

White male solicitors are almost six times more likely to become a partner than women from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background, research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has concluded. This was particularly because large corporate firms account for nearly 70% of partners in England and Wales.

The High Court has granted an injunction restraining a former in-house solicitor from acting in proceedings against her former employer, saying that even if she was aware of the danger of disclosing confidential information, she might still subconsciously use it.

An experienced solicitor has been struck off after dishonestly pocketing cash payments from clients, claiming he was recouping money owed to him by the firm at which he was a consultant. He attended clients’ homes to draft wills, bringing his wife along as a witness, and sought – and obtained – payments in cash.

The cab-rank rule will not be extended to public and licensed access (PLA) cases after the Bar Standards Board received complete backing for the position in consultation. Feedback has also led it to drop plans for a requirement that PLA barristers disclose of the level of their professional indemnity insurance.

Legal services continue to be at high risk of attracting criminals intent on money laundering, but are not considered to be a target for terrorist financing, according to the latest government assessment, which also warned that innovation in the legal sector could provide criminals with new opportunities.

The government has unexpectedly reversed its opposition to a ban on cold-calling by claims management companies. Minister Baroness Buscombe said: “We have already committed to ban cold calls relating to pensions, and are minded to bring forward similar action in relation to the claims management industry.”

A personal injury lawyer has been sanctioned for launching claims without checking that the details he received from a claims management company were correct. Taher Zia Shad has accepted a rebuke and £2,000 fine, the most the Solicitors Regulation Authority can do without referring him to a tribunal.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service has launched a new consultation on flexible operating hours pilots which accepts the possibility that extending the hours of courts, although desirable, might not be possible. It presented a range of options to be trialled, including double shifts and mixed Crown Court and magistrates’ court sittings.