Solicitors

A solicitor involved with failed claims handler The Accident Group is to appeal against a High Court order to strike him off, after it ruled that a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal decision to impose a fine was too lenient.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has used its power to fine solicitors for the first time, Legal Futures can reveal. A sole practitioner was given a written rebuke and fined £1,000 for failing to comply with an undertaking.

New consumer research from the Solicitors Regulation Authority has strengthened the case for stringent controls of law firms and alternative business structures which seek to hive off unreserved legal work to an unregulated business.

MPs today called on insurers to be much more transparent with policyholders about the “merry-go-round” of referral fees in their motor business – and for the government to step in if the industry fails to take action by the end of next year.

Sole practitioners are set to requisition a special general meeting of the Law Society and a postal vote of all solicitors in a bid to overturn Chancery Lane’s support for alternative business structures (ABSs) and wreck the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become an ABS regulator, Legal Futures can reveal.

Our latest round-up of other news of interest to Legal Futures readers includes a survey of among larger firms about ABS intentions, a lay majority on the BSB, women lawyers convinced male colleagues are paid more, good news for a big LPO provider and much more.

Solicitors have repaid nearly £10m to miners who had sums wrongly deducted from their damages, Legal Futures can reveal. The Legal Complaints Service has now closed the last complaint arising from the miners compensation scandal ahead of its formal shut-down this month.

Alternative business structures (ABSs) “may not be as big a threat” to small firms as some fear, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has suggested. A draft impact assessment also argued that ABSs could help equality and diversity in the legal profession by breaking the traditional partnership model that has held it back.

Removing financial institutions from compulsory professional indemnity insurance cover will cause “serious detriment to clients and solicitors” if it is forced through this year as planned, mortgage lenders have warned.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will rebuff any efforts to restrict its ability to regulate alternative business structures (ABSs) that are 100% owned by non-lawyers, its chief executive has said. There are suggestions of a compromise on its ABS licensing application that would mean the SRA not regulating ABSs that are wholly externally owned, at least initially.

Excluding claims by financial institutions from compulsory professional indemnity insurance cover will harm consumers and smaller law firms, cut access to justice and do little to reduce conveyancing claims, the Law Society has said.

A car accident claims manager has revealed its intention to become an alternative business structure, Legal Futures can report. Hampshire-based Vamco, which specialises in repair management and credit hire, is planning to take over a branch office of Nesbit Law Group, which is currently located in the same building under the name Kingsley Law.

The Legal Services Board is pressing ahead with plans to make the new regulatory chamber of the First-tier Tribunal the sole venue for appeals against decisions made over ABSs, despite strong objections from solicitors. It is a move that could damage hopes that the Law Society council will next month approve the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become an ABS licensing authority.

Some 342 law firms have applied to join the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) since it opened last month, the Law Society has revealed to Legal Futures. A spokesman said the number is growing rapidly, with around 20 new applications a day at the moment.

Implementation of the Jackson reforms could have an impact on the number of complaints against solicitors, the Legal Ombudsman has told the government. It said ending recoverability could cause consumers “to take more of an interest in their lawyers’ fees”.