Legal Executives
LSB chief calls for training review to be radical
The Legal Education and Training Review needs to be radical and permanently separate authorisation to practise from professional titles, the chairman of the Legal Services Board said this week.
Divisions over advocacy scheme harden as regulators face battle to keep it alive
Divisions over quality assurance for advocates have deepened after solicitors were advised not to take part in a Bar Standards Board survey on the issue, while specialist Bar associations have been urged to oppose QASA as well.
Quality scheme risks independence of advocates, leading judge warns
The proposed Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates threatens the independence of advocates, a senior judge claimed yesterday. Lord Justice Moses argued that quality of advocacy is best assured through compulsory training and more active reporting of poor advocates by judges.
Goodbye Fellows, hello Chartered Legal Executives
The Institute of Legal Executives was formally presented with its Royal Charter yesterday, transforming Fellows of the Institute into Chartered Legal Executives. The charter protects the title of ILEX members for the first time.
News in brief: SRA renewals delay, referral fee “ignorance”, and much more
Our regular round-up of news you need to know includes the appeal court quashing an ILEX disciplinary ruling, delays for solicitors renewing practising certificates, a survey of young drivers on referral fees, a survey finding support for outsourcing and much more besides.
Education and training review “may not report until 2013”, Potter admits
The legal education and training review, commissioned by the three main frontline legal regulators in November 2010, may not produce its final report until some point in 2013, it has emerged. Meanwhile, the academic body contracted to provide research has shut down, but the work will continue.
QASA set for April as regulators prepare for judges not doing their bit
The controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) will now go live in April 2012, it emerged last week. We can also reveal that contingency plans have been drawn up for the judiciary not playing its expected role in QASA.
Queen grants ILEX historic Royal Charter
The Queen has granted the Institute of Legal Executives a Royal Charter, meaning that in future Fellows of ILEX will have a protected title – ‘chartered legal executive’. It will also change its name to the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
Controversial advocacy scheme now faces delay, regulators admit
The launch of the controversial quality assurance scheme for criminal advocates is likely to be delayed, the Joint Advocacy Group has announced. “Some adjustments” to the scheme are likely “to ensure that there are not unintended consequences”.
QASA under pressure with sudden move to pilot scheme and barristers up in arms
The controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates may now be subject to a full pilot, it has emerged, at the same time as criminal barristers are up in arms at Legal Services Commission plans to use the scheme to end payments for QCs, which they say threatens its whole future.
ILEX is first to receive LSB clean bill of health on regulatory independence
The Institute of Legal Executives is the first approved regulator to receive a clean bill of health for its internal governance arrangements for 2011. The Legal Services Board is currently reviewing the regulatory independence certificates submitted by each approved regulator where there is also a linked representative body. There is no news yet on either the Law Society or Bar Council’s certificates.
Barristers and solicitors continue battle over role of judges in advocacy assessments
The Bar has launched a last-ditch bid to focus the criminal advocates’ quality assurance scheme on judicial evaluation and steer it away from the alternative assessment centre route favoured by solicitors. Despite lobbying from solicitor groups, the SRA has confirmed its support for the scheme.
A single regulator for all lawyers post-ABS is “logical and plausible”, says LSB report
A single regulator for all legal services is “logical and plausible”, but not inevitable, a report for the Legal Services Board has concluded. Former Ministry of Justice official Nick Smedley argued that the existence of multiple regulators “focused on the differences of individual practitioners” is unlikely to be relevant in a post-alternative business structures market.
Avoiding judicial evaluation under QASA will cost advocates dear – literally
Magistrates’ court advocates who choose an assessment centre route to progress under the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) could pay as much as 15 times more than those who undergo judicial evaluation.
Treasury confirms plan to decriminalise minor money laundering rule breaches
The Treasury is set to abolish more than two dozen money laundering offences that can penalise lawyers for minor rule breaches, it has confirmed, but they could be replaced with extra powers for regulators. Very small businesses could even be exempted from the rules altogether.
Blog
Amplifying reach through employee-driven thought leadership
Nine in 10 executives believe thought leadership is critical to building authority, yet only a quarter feel they have implemented a robust strategy.
Divorce escrow: asset sales before final settlement
When significant matrimonial assets are sold before a final financial order is agreed, holding the proceeds safely and neutrally can present real practical challenges.
AML lacks clarity – and standards are suffering
If firms are buckling under the pressure of AML regulations, subject to ever-increasing fines, then something is clearly not working as it should be.
