Other lawyers

Regulators should consider making diversity training mandatory for senior partners and line managers in law firms, say academics after research uncovered a complex web of barriers between minorities and women, and the upper reaches of the legal profession. The findings will be backed up by a forthcoming study into pay disparity by the Law Society that has uncovered “a kind of structural inequality”.

Chartered accountants are set to compete with lawyers for probate work after the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) signalled its intention to apply for the right to undertake reserved probate work. An ICAEW survey of 2,500 small practices found that around a quarter were interested in offering the service.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has confirmed that it does not back reinstating the ban on referral fees but said that instead all agreements between lawyers and their introducers should be published. As first reported on Legal Futures last month, the LSB said today that there is insufficient evidence to make the case for a ban, but that transparency and disclosure need to be improved. It also said there should be the same rules for the different parts of the regulated legal market so far as possible.

Volume conveyancers are reaching out to all “serious” conveyancing practitioners in a bid to form a new representative body for the sector. The Conveyancing Association – which has grown out of the Direct Conveyancing Association – launches today with a rallying call against restricted lender panels and for conveyancers to respond to the impending challenge of alternative business structures.

The will-writing debate moved towards the end-game today after the Legal Services Consumer Panel launched its investigation into whether the industry should be regulated. However, the Legal Services Board is currently trying to secure £110,000 in funding for the panel to undertake market research.

The controversial prospect of publishing law firms’ complaints records will be put firmly back on the agenda with a consultation by the Legal Ombudsman, Legal Futures can report.

The Legal Services Board is pushing ahead with plans to require law firms and chambers to publish comprehensive diversity and class information about their staff from next year, Legal Futures has learned.

The property slump has had a major impact on the ranks of licensed conveyancers, with the number of students more than halving in just two years. But they are starting to take up their new probate rights.

The Fellowship of Professional Willwriters and Probate Practitioners has joined forces with the National Association of Licensed Paralegals in the latest bid to take the lead in both the will-writing and paralegal markets.

Licensed conveyancers are to be the latest section of the legal profession to move to outcomes-focused regulation, as its regulator prepares to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures, meaning would-be ABSs will have a choice of regulator.

The Legal Services Board is to fast-track a decision on whether to regulate will-writers, it has emerged, with its consumer panel launching a formal investigation as a first step.

The Legal Services Board is on a collision course with the Law Society and Bar Council after demanding that both introduce lay majorities on the boards of their regulatory arms sooner than planned, Legal Futures can reveal.

The Law Society has announced plans for a preliminary scoping study into whether the Law Society should develop or endorse qualifications for paralegals.

The Legal Services Board has set out its plans to recoup its running costs, and those of the Office for Legal Complaints, based on a per capita basis and of complaints against each part of the legal profession.

The Association of Law Costs Draftsmen has created a regulatory subsidiary and unveiled plans to streamline its membership as it shapes up as the smallest of the approved regulators.