Solicitors

Half of charities have experienced a poorly drafted will from a will-writer, a new survey has revealed – but a third have also seen shoddy work from a solicitor. A survey of over 50 charities by Remember A Charity found unanimous support for regulation of the will-writing sector.

The Legal Services Board has unveiled plans to ‘mystery shop’ solicitors and will-writers as part of its research into the market – and is looking for a panel of both to assess the quality of what is produced.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is seeking to establish a £3 million contingency fund to cover the cost of redundancies among its 600 staff, Legal Futures can reveal. Implementation of a new IT system and the introduction of outcomes-focused regulation next year are the reasons why the SRA has requested the Law Society to put the money aside.

Solicitors Regulation Authority plans to exclude financial institutions from the requirement for compulsory professional indemnity insurance will drive some conveyancing firms out of business, the Law Society has claimed. The longer-term move to remove work for all commercial clients from the scope of the minimum terms and conditions of cover would be short-sighted, it adds.

The Law Society is preparing for a government push to make law firms which engage in lobbying work breach confidentiality by making them disclose details of their clients. Last month Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed the Coalition will legislate in 2011 to introduce a statutory register of lobbyists.

Allowing the exclusion of claims by financial institutions and an end to every law firm renewing its professional indemnity insurance (PII) on the same day and are at the heart of Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) plans to shake up client financial protection arrangements next year. In a consultation being published today, the SRA also floats the idea of removing all corporate clients from the scope of compulsory PII cover from October 2012.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will start pilots for desk-based supervision and risk-based visits to law firms next month as the run-up to the launch of outcomes-focused regulation steps up. A new policy statement explains that “high intensity” supervision does not mean a firm is necessarily in trouble.

The Law Society is considering a scheme to shore up the position of compliance officers who could find themselves personally exposed under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) proposed handbook. Chief executive Des Hudson also raised concerns over the SRA’s progress towards outcomes-focused regulation.

The Law Society is to carry out a complete review and overhaul of every aspect of its accreditation schemes after admitting that “little or no attention” has been paid to them for “some considerable time”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will next year conduct ‘thematic reviews’ on its approach to conveyancing, the financial viability of law firms, and both English firms’ overseas practice and foreign lawyers working over here, it has emerged.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has outlined the steps that law firms are able to take under the current rules in preparing to become an alternative business structure. It has updated its July 2009 guidance that just highlighted what solicitors should not do.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) is set to probe how independent the Solicitors Regulation Authority truly is from the Law Society. In letters to both bodies, LSB chief executive Chris Kenny said its focus would be on ensuring that “independent regulation is being delivered in practice”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is set to launch a “thematic review” of legal process outsourcing next year, Legal Futures can reveal. The review would seek to identify whether there are any particular issues or risks that require changes to the current regulatory requirements or whether certain outsourcing arrangements need particular attention in the supervision process.

Professional indemnity insurers are to provide guidance for solicitors on the way the risk they pose is assessed as part of a push to ensure there is no discrimination in the renewal process. Following a meeting called by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Association of British Insurers also agreed to work with its members to review their proposal forms and the underpinning criteria used to assess risk, and review and report on the equality and diversity work undertaken by their members.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched an audit of professional indemnity insurers to check they have correctly declared the amount of premium income they received during the recent renewal.