Regulation

The Bar Standards Board has approved 15 new businesses as it enters the world of entity regulation – but they remain unnamed as they have first to confirm that they have professional indemnity insurance in place.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel has strongly attacked plans by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers to cut the size of grants from its compensation fund from £1m to £500,000 – a quarter of the amount clients of solicitors can claim.

Jenner & Block has not become the first US law firm licensed as an alternative business structure, it has emerged – rather it was an error by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Plus, call for QC to be open for all, and new members of LeO’s board.

The High Court has upheld a decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) to strike off solicitor Timothy Schools, but said that evidence about the state of his health should not have been rejected.

A report for the Bar Council on the future of criminal justice and advocacy has recommended that legal executives are kept out of the Crown Courts, while solicitors should only be granted rights of audience if they have undergone the same level of training as barristers.

The legal community has mixed feelings about the ‘equivalent means’ route to qualification as a solicitor, with even those who like the idea fearing the consquences of greater competition and consequently lower wages, according to a survey.

The government has reduced the scope of regulation for law firms involved in consumer credit work, such as debt collection. It has also increased the ability of firms to offer payment by instalments.

The Bar Standards Board has finally published a consultation on changes to the standard contractual terms and the cab-rank rule – almost eight months later than it had originally promised.

A member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives who specialises in conveyancing has become the first to receive independent practice rights. A probate specialist and a legal executive who runs his own immigration firm were also granted independent rights.

A former solicitor and non-practising barrister who was convicted of a string of offences – including assaulting two police officers and defrauding the Law Society of £23,000 while a member of its council – has been disbarred two months after she was struck off the roll of solicitors.