Solicitors

The Law Society has squeezed a minor concession out of the unnamed professional indemnity insurer to whom it complained about giving solicitors just seven days to accept quotes.

The Legal Services Board’s initial reaction to the Law Society of Ireland’s threat of legal action over the new rules for overseas lawyers requalifying as solicitors was that it might just be a “negotiating ploy”, Legal Futures can reveal.

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) complaints two years ago about the way some conveyancing law firms were advertising their prices led the Law Society to issue guidance last week on “headline pricing”, Legal Futures has discovered.

There is no sign of a resolution to the Law Society of Ireland’s threat to judicially review the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), meaning that from tomorrow Irish solicitors will no longer benefit from the automatic exemption that they do now. The judicial review started by the Law Society of Ireland has been stayed until 30 September.

The claims management regulator has launched a crackdown on companies that are cold-calling consumers and taking up-front fees without giving clients a reasonable period to consider the agreement they are signing.

A pilot of how the Solicitors Regulation Authority could supervise law firms through dedicated relationship managers will begin this autumn, it has emerged. Permanent relationship management could be for large commercial firms and ABSs, with temporary arrangements for the likes of new firms and those in the assigned risks pool.

The Legal Ombudsman has rejected suggestions from the Law Society that the new complaints-handling service will not prove any cheaper for solicitors, Legal Futures can reveal.

The Legal Services Board has fired a warning shot across the bows of the Law Society over the way the practising certificate fee is divided up after expressing concern that some money is being applied to “non-permitted purposes”.

High street law firms need to do more to build their local profile to capture the 70% of people who say they do not have a local lawyer they could call on if needed, a new report has concluded. The research also found pessimism among sole practitioners, with 87% fearing for the future of their practices.

The boss of the Legal Complaints Service has expressed frustration and disappointment at the low number of her staff who have got jobs at the new Legal Ombudsman service, Legal Futures can reveal. This is despite the fact that it was the previous government’s expectation that around 80% of LCS staff would move over.

The high cost of the new regulatory regime for solicitors will ultimately be passed on to clients, raising questions over whether the system is “truly in the public interest”, a partner at a top-20 law firm has warned. Joe Bryant said recent increases in practising fees “may be the tip of the iceberg” given the indirect costs associated with the new regime.

The Law Society of Ireland has instigated judicial review proceedings against the Legal Services Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority over the introduction of the new regime for overseas lawyers who want to requalify as solicitors in England and Wales, it has emerged. The proceedings have, however, been stayed pending urgent discussions between the society and the SRA.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s proposed new handbook to govern the regulation of the profession is “a missed opportunity to deliver fully cultural change within firms” and that it could learn from the Financial Services Authority, the leading voice of legal consumers has claimed.

Common advocacy standards for criminal law specialist barristers, solicitors and legal executives should be in place by July 2011, it has been announced. Judges will play a major role in assessing top advocates and in the ‘traffic light’ system that will identify poorly performing advocates.

The value of compensation claims lodged as a result of dishonesty by solicitors has more than trebled to an astonishing £157 million, Legal Futures can reveal. The rise goes hand in hand with a continuing rise in the number of law firms closed down, which was 90 in the year to June, a rise of 22%.