Solicitors

The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is to show its claws for the first time by seeking a court order to force a solicitor to provide access to documents, it has emerged. It will be the first use of LeO’s powers under the Legal Services Act.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority urgently needs to provide more guidance on the role of the compliance officer for legal practice (COLP), which every law firm will be required to have from October, a leading legal regulation specialist has warned.

Former Law Society president Ed Nally was today appointed to the Legal Services Board (LSB) to fill a vacancy that has been open for more than a year. Meanwhile, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is to cut around 80 jobs as it prepares for outcomes-focused regulation and the licensing of alternative business structures from 6 October 2011.

Our weekly round-up of other news takes in further expansion at Co-operative Legal Services, two innovations on the paralegal front, “virtual” firms piloting the SRA’s relationship management, and a tricky decision for LSB chairman David Edmonds

Conveyancing, immigration advice, preparing wills and powers of attorney, and estate administration should all become reserved legal activities, a leading thinktank has recommended. However, the report from the Legal Services Institute – headed by Professor Stephen Mayson – says this work should not be the sole preserve of the legally qualified.

There are concerns about the outstanding level of complaints at the outgoing Legal Services Ombudsman, Legal Futures has learned. Zahida Manzoor’s personal contract comes to an end on 2 March, and her office in Manchester will close on 31 March, with a number of cases likely to be outstanding – although Ms Manzoor says her office has been performing to a high standard in difficult circumstances.

More information to help consumers select a solicitor, freedom to choose a lawyer under legal expenses insurance, and the regulation of contingency fees are all areas where the profession and the public should work together, a leading consumer champion claimed last week.

Law firms are facing an escalating level of accusations over financial misconduct, with claims on the Solicitors Compensation Fund also doubling in a year to £163m, figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority have revealed.

A temporary extension of cover should replace the pooled liability insurers have for struggling law firms, the Law Society has proposed. The extension of existing cover should be for a minimum of three months and its cost based on the current premium.

Ethics training could become a compulsory element of solicitors’ continuing professional development as part of a fundamental review to be conducted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Legal Futures has learned. The review – described by the SRA as “overdue” – will look to ensure that CPD “works in the new world of alternative business structures and outcome-focused regulation”.

The miners’ compensation scandal shows that a maximum fine of £150m for misconduct or non-compliance by alternative business structures is too low, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned. With new entrants set to enter the legal market after 6 October, it was “perhaps dangerous to rely too heavily upon turnover figures in the current market to assess appropriate fining powers”.

Law firms should search the Internet regularly to ensure their identities have not been “cloned” by fraudsters, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has advised. The SRA issued the warning after recent fraudulent activity where bona fide firms and solicitors have had their identities cloned by criminals particularly operating advance-fee frauds.

Rules governing law firms’ ability to acquire the case loads of failing firms should both be relaxed and made more certain for the benefit of the profession and clients, insolvency and legal experts have argued.

Lord Justice Thomas is heading a new expert group to advise the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board and ILEX Professional Standards on developing and operating the controversial quality assurance for advocates scheme, it has emerged. Meanwhile, the BSB has hit out again at the Legal Services Board’s “unhelpful and ill-timed” intervention over the scheme.

The timetable for bringing in outcomes-focused regulation is too tight to understand the full consequences, and risks a breakdown in the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s relationship with the profession, the Law Society has warned.