Legal Services Act

The Legal Services Board has rejigged and expanded its legal advisers panel, although its two previous main sources of external advice – City firm Hogan Lovells and London chambers 39 Essex Street – have retained their places on it.

Leading north-west firm Stephensons is seeking external investment as part of its plans to expand beyond the region after receiving its alternative business structure licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Other new licencees include a firm looking at MDPs and one mulling trade union tie-ups.

Brilliant Law has become what it says is “the first true pure bred alternative business structure (ABS) start-up” and is offering to help other ABS applicants on a fixed-price basis. Meanwhile, a debt recovery business has received an ABS licence so that it can now offer the associated legal work.

Three more alternative business structures (ABSs) have been licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, with external investment, an employee share scheme and a non-lawyer partner the drivers behind them.

Some of the frontline regulators have hit back at the Legal Services Board’s assessment of their performance. A detailed report on the “smaller” regulators found a wide range of competence, both across the different regulators and within each of them individually.

‘Advice deserts’ that appear as a result of competition brought about by alternative business structures cannot be dealt with effectively by regulators operating under the Legal Services Act, an academic study headed by Professor Stephen Mayson has argued.

Lawyers are a little happier with the service provided by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) than complainants, new research has revealed. It also showed that just 27% of consumers were told about LeO by their lawyer, despite the mandatory signposting requirements.

Accountants could start offering reserved probate services to the public as soon as next autumn, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales said yesterday as it submitted its application to become a regulator of probate services and alternative business structures.

Quindell Portfolio has finally received its alternative business structure (ABS) licence and also predicted that it will be able to operate profitably within the new fixed fees and small claims structure put forward by the government.

The Legal Services Board has no agenda for fundamental reform of the profession and would like to see a new era of co-operation between frontline regulators on matters of common interest, its chair David Edmonds told barristers last week.

Regulators should explore alternatives to conveyancers holding client money in a bid to tackle the risks of fraud, the Legal Services Board has recommended. However, it found regulators are working hard at the issue and that it need not intervene any further.

Innovations in legal practice are coming more from traditional law firms than from ABSs, the SRA said last week. Meanwhile, it will this week clarify the position of firms that have submitted COLP and COFA nominations but have not yet received approvals.

Introduction of the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) has been delayed, it was announced today. It was meant to start at the end of January, but no new date has now been set as more details are worked out.

The investigation of whether ‘general legal advice’ should become a reserved legal activity will begin next year, the Legal Services Board has revealed. It has also given a strong steer on what it hopes to see come out of the Legal Education and Training Review

Just 8% of recent home-buyers would seek out a big brand such as the Co-op to handle their conveyancing the next time they move, a consumer survey has found as Conveyancing Association launched customer service ‘pledges’ that it says are a first for the industry.