Regulation
Legal regulators urge government to ease burdens on ABSs
Legal regulators have called on the government to make a series of changes to the Legal Services Act that will make it easier to approve and regulate alternative business structures. The move is part of the first output from joint work being done by all of the legal regulators to identify opportunities for deregulation.
Family law solicitors and barristers at war over advocacy competence
Barristers’ complaints about the quality of solicitor-advocates in family law cases are really about concerns over falling workloads, solicitors have said. Law Society president Jonathan Smithers accused the family Bar of “denigrating solicitor colleagues under the guise of a concern for quality”.
Cost of borrowing may rise if law firms abandon client accounts, regulators warn
Banks may charge law firms more for borrowing if they abandon their client accounts, the legal regulators have warned. A report submitted to justice minister Shailesh Vara highlighted both the dangers and benefits of allowing choice on whether to handle client money directly.
The danger of instant e-mail replies as SDT reprimands solicitor who called opponent “a plonker”
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has reprimanded a solicitor for calling his opponent in litigation, among other things, a “complete plonker” – conduct which it said would diminish the trust of the public in the profession
Barristers call for government review of inadequate advocacy by solicitors in family cases
Barristers have called on the Ministry of Justice to conduct a review of advocacy in publicly funded family cases, arguing that solicitors are letting down their clients and causing injustice by handling cases without counsel.
ABS applicants asked to use BARCO for client money, SRA says
Two firms applying to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become alternative business structures asked to keep their client money with the Bar Council’s third-party escrow account, BARCO, it has emerged.
A thousand more law firms exempted from submitting accountants’ reports
A thousand more law firms will no longer be required to submit accountants’ reports, the Solicitors Regulation Authority decided at yesterday’s board meeting. The change is set to be introduced on 1 November 2015.
Gove announces review of Legal Services Act
There will a review of the Legal Services Act 2007 during this Parliament, the Lord Chancellor Michael Gove announced today. Giving evidence to the justice select committee, he also addressed legal aid, the importance of the criminal Bar, court transformation and court fees.
SDT blames mySRA problems as it rejects misconduct charges against solicitor
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has rejected misconduct charges against a solicitor who said he was the victim of technology problems with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s online system, mySRA, that meant he was not aware of conditions attached to his practising certificate.
SRA to ask solicitors what they think about misconduct offences
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to ask solicitors how they judge the seriousness of misconduct offences in a new initiative on professional standards. The move will result in a policy statement and decision-making framework for the regulator’s staff.
Blog
The cost of systemic failure and childbirth injuries
Recent reports show that the NHS has paid almost £3.5bn in medical claims around childbirth injuries over the past six years.
Mazur: when regulators make simple things complicated
What the last six months have shown is that supervision cannot be treated as a background compliance obligation quietly managed somewhere in a firm’s operational processes.
How unstoppable AI is reshaping UK legal practice
At a time when most technology innovation still flows from the US and China, UK lawtech is attracting growing international attention and capital.
