Legal Services Act

Many claims management companies have shown “a poor understanding of, and sometimes attitude to, their regulatory obligations”, the Financial Conduct Authority said this week.

The new way of qualifying as a solicitor, including passing a centralised, two-part examination, will go live from 1 September 2021 after the Legal Services Board approved the reforms.

Law firm mergers and acquisitions are increasingly based on net assets rather than a multiple of income or profits, as many do not have any inherent goodwill, an adviser has said.

The number of solicitors on the roll has topped 200,000 for the first time, with 150,000 now practising. Meanwhile, the proportion of solicitors working in private practice has fallen to an all-time low.

The proportion of road traffic accident victims who would be prepared to submit personal injury claims themselves has hit more than half for the first time, a report has found.

Co-operative Legal Services has been fined nearly £144,000 for recovering more costs in personal injury claims than it was entitled to – the largest fine the SRA has ever handed out to an ABS.

The Legal Ombudsman is set to make its first ever in-year call for supplementary budget, seeking an extra £344,000 to make up in part for previous miscalculations, Legal Futures can reveal.

A solicitor has launched a second law firm regulated by the Bar Standards Board – this time an alternative business structure with a letting agent client.

Consumers of legal services apply “relatively limited criteria” when shopping around, research has found – which 46% of those polled did, while 27% went to the first adviser they looked at.

Two leading personal injury law firms have recorded contrasting results that take lockdown into account, while Minster Law has launched its first national TV advert to promote its PI work.

An increasing number of family law specialist teams are joining with other disciplines and professionals to offer clients a wider range of services that do not involve the court process, it has emerged.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is considering a new push to regulate reserved legal activities, three years after its last attempt was knocked back.

Talks between listed companies Frenkel Topping Group and NAHL Group about a reverse takeover of the latter have been extended by another four weeks.

Lawyers have identified reduced client budgets for legal work as the biggest threat to the profession from the pandemic in a new report.

The private equity investor who set Keystone Law on the road to listing is on the look-out for a new legal venture – but is not interested in traditional law firm partnerships.