Other lawyers

Claims management companies that want to advise clients, rather than just find and refer claims to others, will have to show that they are competent to do so when regulation is transferred to the Financial Conduct Authority, it has emerged. It could have significant implications for CMCs eyeing up the chance to run personal injury small claims.

The government has agreed to further talks with the Labour opposition about the nature of the proposed ban on cold-calling by claims management companies. The Financial Guidance and Claims Bill had its report and third reading earlier this week with the two sides yet to agree on whether the government’s proposed ban goes far enough.

A claims management company has failed to overturn the cancellation of its authorisation, which was found to have been “rented” to a marketing company which operated a call centre to generate personal injury leads. A judge said it was conducting “no business of its own” when the Claims Management Regulator intervened.

A business specialising in trade mark advice and registration must stop claiming to be the “UK’s no.1 trade mark service”, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. It said Trade Mark Direct made the claim on the basis that it believed it had registered more applications than any other firm in the last three years.

Legal regulators have urged the Legal Services Board to use its review of the internal governance rules to give them greater independence from their representative bodies. The Solicitors Regulation Authority said the rewrite of the rules should allow it to become a “separate legal entity” from the Law Society.

There has been a “significant decrease” in unauthorised businesses operating in the holiday sickness market, the Claims Management Regulator has reported. It comes as MPs debate the government’s surprise u-turn late last year to legislate for a ban on cold-calling.

More than half of firms of licensed conveyancers expect their workloads to increase over the next year, according to their regulator. Some 53% of firms expected volumes of work to increase over the next year, with only 10% anticipating a fall.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is set to become the second accountancy body that enables its members – 90,000 of them in the UK – to provide probate services. If approved by the Legal Services Board, it will follow the lead of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

One of the two paralegal bodies which developed the Professional Paralegal Register (PPR) to act as a voluntary regulator for the sector, has decided to pull out after only two years, it has emerged. The National Association of Licensed Paralegals withdrew this summer, citing “irreconcilable differences” over the values and purpose of the PPR.

The Legal Services Board has rejected a call from its consumer panel to consider a centralised regime of financial protection for clients to replace what the panel called the “fragmented” nature of insurance and compensation arrangements across the different legal regulators.

A claims management company has failed to overturn a £50,000 fine imposed by the Claims Management Regulator last summer for breaching the rules relating to third-party referrals, misleading information and keeping proper records.

A “steady stream of disagreements” between legal regulators and representative bodies means the rules governing their relationships may need to be rewritten, the Legal Services Board said yesterday. The oversight regulator said it had been notified of 30 disputes over the past three years.

A ban on estate agents charging solicitors referral fees along with loosening the restriction on conveyancers acting for both seller and buyer were suggested by the government yesterday as possible reforms to improve the home-buying process. It also said it wanted to look at how competition in the conveyancing sector could be improved.

The Claims Management Regulator has stepped up its focus on businesses operating without authorisation, particularly those in the holiday sickness market, after receiving more than 200 complaints in just three months. It prosecuted one company earlier this month, resulting in a £40,000 fine.

The Legal Services Board has approved a rule change by the Solicitors Regulation Authority which will make it easier for law firms to switch regulators. In a move which is likely to see more firms leave the SRA than join it, the requirement that they must obtain six years of run-off cover before switching to another regulator will be removed.