Consumer panel
Regulators “need to sustain” social welfare law training
The government, legal regulators and others need to come together to ensure that the next generation of lawyers have the chance to study social welfare law or face even more ‘advice deserts’.
Panel questions future of underperforming regulator
The position of the smaller legal regulators has been thrust into the spotlight, with the chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel suggesting that one may be at risk of losing its right to regulate.
Consumer panel attacks BSB over price transparency
Access to justice includes information about lawyers’ fees, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has told the Bar Standards Board. It also called for more focus on barristers’ communication skills.
LSB told to share responsibility after SRA Handbook decision
The Legal Services Board has been told by its own consumer panel that it has to share the responsibility for ensuring that consumers do not suffer at the hands of solicitors working for unregulated firms.
LSB: Regulators making “good progress” on publishing prices
The frontline regulators are making “very good progress” in improving price transparency, the Legal Services Board has said – but its consumer panel was far less impressed.
Conveyancing clients “not as satisfied as surveys suggest”
A member of the Legal Services Consumer Panel has questioned the findings from its own research that showed consumer satisfaction with conveyancing is high.
Panel blasts ICAEW’s approach to probate prices
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has strongly criticised the “insufficient” plans of the second largest probate regulator to introduce new requirements on publishing prices.
Consumer panel will tell government “uncomfortable truths” over legal aid
The Legal Services Consumer Panel is ready to tell the government some “uncomfortable truths” about legal aid, its new chair has said. Legal aid was a “priority” for her tenure.
Exclusive: “Competition in law is fierce but not working for consumers”
The fact that there is a lot of competition in the legal market does not mean it is working well for consumers, the chair of the Legal Services Consumers Panel has said.
Consumer satisfaction with lawyers reaches new high
Consumers are happier with the service they receive from lawyers than any other time this decade, according to new research.
Competition hotshot takes helm at Legal Services Consumer Panel
A former senior servant with substantial experience of competition law has been named the new chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel. Sarah Chambers replaces Dr Jane Martin, who resigned after just a year in post to become a member of the Office for Legal Complaints, the body that oversees the Legal Ombudsman.
Legal market “inept” at dealing with vulnerable consumers, says watchdog
The legal market has proven “inept” at responding to the needs of vulnerable consumers and its regulators are not coming up with a strategy to tackle the problem, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said. The watchdog said it was also concerned that regulators were not thinking about consumer confusion sufficiently as they looked to make the market more flexible.
Break your silence on legal aid cuts, lawyers tell Legal Services Board
If the Legal Services Board is serious about promoting access to justice it must end its silence on the legal aid cuts, lawyers’ organisations have said. The Bar Council accused the oversight regulator of acting like “another department of government” by refusing to comment.
Consumer panel chair jumps ship to Legal Ombudsman after just a year in post
The Legal Services Consumer Panel is on the hunt for a new chair after the incumbent jumped ship after just a year to become a member of the Office for Legal Complaints, the body that oversees the Legal Ombudsman. Meanwhile, the Law Society has named the members of its new main board, a key part of its new governance structure.
LSB rejects call to harmonise indemnity insurance and compensation rules
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.