Legal Services Act

The government has pledged in Parliament to “make every effort” to end the impasse and enable complaints against claims management companies to be handled by the Legal Ombudsman, more than a year after it committed to the move.

Slater & Gordon will have more than 5% of the UK personal injury market, and number one or two market share position in most consumer law practice areas, it claimed today after announcing details of its long-awaited acquisition of Manchester firm Pannone.

A north west personal injury law firms plans to more than double in size, invest in a new £7m landmark office building as part of its employee retention policy, and open branch offices in the Middle East and Asia.

Alternative business structure Brilliant Law has scored a major affinity deal by teaming up with leading broker network Keychoice. Meanwhile, a law firm has received a £50,000 grant from the Welsh government to launch a legal e-commerce service.

The Bar Council has accepted that breached the independence of the Bar Standards Board by interfering in controversial changes to the cab-rank rule, it emerged today. The Legal Services Board has however agreed to an informal resolution, having considered a censure.

The Legal Ombudsman compares well with similar schemes on case resolution speeds, client satisfaction and perceptions of fairness, but many complainants reject its findings and its cost per complaint is high, according to a study.

A former Conservative MP and practising barrister has said he is certain the planned headline criminal legal aid fee cuts will go ahead unaltered, and will this week launch a ‘virtual chambers’ in anticipation.

A multi-discipinary financial services group has obtained an ABS licence to complete its broad-based professional advice offering by bringing legal services in-house. Meanwhile, a specialist fertility law practice is considering using its licence to introduce employee ownership,

The Legal Services Board wants to impose lay chairs on the frontline regulators so that they will “do more of what [it] wants”, the Bar Council has claimed. The Bar Standards Board and Law Society have also come out strongly against the proposal.

HB Public Law, the merged legal teams of the London boroughs of Barnet and Harrow, is to seek an alternative business structure as a defence against outsourcing. Meanwhile, Kent Legal Services, the first council legal team to express ABS ambitions, has its plans on hold.

The Legal Services Board’s consumer body has come out strongly in favour of making it compulsory that the chairs of the frontline regulators are not drawn from the profession, saying it would help counter conservatism in liberalising the legal market.

The economic recovery is set to benefit lawyers with new research finding that two-thirds of businesses expect their spending on legal services to increase over the next year. The research found that there will be quite a battle for this work, however.

Alternative business structure (ABS) Quindell Portfolio Plc has raised £200m through a share placement to fund “significant growth opportunities” amid other ABS news that has seen the first failure formally consigned to history.

Small and medium-sized law firms are looking to external investment to counter growing concerns about the impact of alternative business structures, new research has found, even though they are recovering well from the effects of recession.

Irwin Mitchell has made its first major move in the personal injury market since rival Slater & Gordon began its acquisition spree by taking over well-known Manchester firm MPH Solicitors, Legal Futures can reveal.