Legal Services Act

The Legal Services Consumer Panel has called into question the existing minimum indemnity cover limit of £500,000 for barristers and called for more research before the limit was extended to firms regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

In his first interview since taking over as chairman of the Legal Services Board, Sir Michael Pitt has cooled talk of a single regulator for all legal services. Sir Michael also praised the Solicitors Regulation Authority for its current programme of reform.

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is not expecting the introduction of entity regulation to lead to many barristers joining forces in a single business, it has emerged.

The Legal Services Act has presented “a unique opportunity to create more competitive consumer offerings”, according to the company that bought national law firm Simpson Millar earlier this year.

Dr Vanessa Davies, director of the Bar Standards Board (BSB), has made it clear that the regulator will push for more independence in the future.

More needs to be done to reduce the cost of legal services to meet the needs of small businesses and people who are neither wealthy nor eligible for legal aid, the chairman of the Legal Services Board has said in his first public speech.

Outsourcing giant Quindell has claimed victory in a libel action against Gotham City Research, an American company which triggered a collapse in Quindell’s share price by publishing a highly critical report.

The “flaws and limitations” of the Legal Services Act are “all too apparent” and, as every year goes by, it is moving closer to “the regulatory equivalent of the knacker’s yard”, Professor Stephen Mayson has said.

Slater & Gordon has unveiled the next stage of its expansion, targeting the East Midlands after its latest acquisition enabled it to open an office in Derby.

The Legal Services Board is to hire an external accountant to examine how the Law Society and other regulators spend money raised through compulsory practising certificate fees.

Pioneering alternative business structure NewLaw has made “an encouraging start” to life under the ownership of accident management business Redde plc, the company said yesterday, with profits of £2.1m in its first four months.

Falling revenue from personal injury work is the reason for the £5.1m loss announced by Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) yesterday, managing director Matt Howells has said.

Turnover is up by two-thirds in the two years since James Caan invested in Staffordshire-based Knights, the firm has announced. The firm, which has offices in Stoke, Chester and Cheltenham, has seen turnover go from £9m to £15m.

Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) has announced an operating loss of £5.1m in the first half of 2014, a 70% increase on last year. However, there is no sign of the Co-operative Group selling it off.

The Legal Services Board said yesterday that it supports recognition of fee-charging McKenzie Friends as a “legitimate feature of the evolving legal services market”, but also called for safeguards.