Other lawyers

The Scottish government has decided to push ahead with regulating non-lawyer will-writers, it has emerged. In a move that will intensify pressure on the Legal Services Board in England and Wales, the government plans to apply a set of regulatory rules, enforcement measures and sanctions to ensure non-lawyer will-writers conform to acceptable industry practice.

The Institute of Professional Willwriters today became only the tenth trade body to receive Office of Fair Trading (OFT) approval for its code of practice. This means that the OFT is satisfied that the code provides consumers with protection and offers a higher level of customer service.

The new president of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys has highlighted the challenges of the legal profession’s new regulatory structure as a key challenge facing her as she takes up office. ITMA is one of the eight approved regulators under the Legal Services Act and it has combined its regulatory function with that of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has unveiled consumer champion Anna Bradley as its new chairwoman. Ms Bradley currently chairs Ofcom’s independent consumer panel.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is set to apply to the Legal Services Board for the power to grant rights of audience and rights to conduct litigation to licensed conveyancers. It is part of a package of measures aimed at putting the CLC in the position to apply to become an alternative business structures licensing authority.

The Association of Law Costs Draftsmen is calling for the title of ‘law costs draftsmen’ to be protected as part of a modernisation push at the smallest of the approved regulators.