Legal Services Act

The fourth edition of the SRA Handbook in less than 10 months was published yesterday. It includes the delay in the introduction of the compliance officer regime, and the SRA has guaranteed that there will be no further hold-ups.

Seven alternative business structures in more than five months does not seem to be a great achievement on the part of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and increasingly Legal Futures has been hearing complaints about delay and a lack of transparency in the process.

The role of the Legal Services Board is to get involved and intervene – not to sit, watch and react – its chairman said yesterday, hitting back at critics of its activism. David Edmonds said the phrase “oversight regulator” does not appear in the Legal Services Act.

The Legal Services Board has urged regulators and professional bodies to engage with comparison websites for the benefit of consumers, including providing access to their registers, Legal Futures can reveal.

Co-operative Legal Services has accused some solicitors of hiding extra charges in the small print of their quotes. The warning to consumers is the first sign of an aggressive push now it has its ABS licence.

The recent spate of Anglo-Scottish mergers will not be the last as Scotland gears up for its own alternative business structure regime going live, it has been predicted. There has been a “surge in M&A activity in the Scottish legal market”.

Our regular round-up of news snippets features another acquisition by ABS-in-waiting Quindell Portfolio, a solicitor’s TV ad winning a Royal Television Society award, a firm donating referral fees to charity, and ABS compensation fund arrangements.

Mid-market private equity business August Equity has become the latest to outline its intention to invest in the legal market, Legal Futures can reveal. It typically invests between £10m and £30m in equity.

The current limit of compensation that the Legal Ombudsman can award complainants should increase five-fold to £150,000, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has recommended. It also called for abolition of the two ‘free’ complaints every firm/lawyer is allowed each year without incurring a case fee.

The impending ban on referral fees in personal injury could result in a “steep increase” in the number of financial failures amongst small law firms – but may not actually discourage spurious claims – the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.

Staffordshire law firm Knights has struck a deal to accept investment from the private equity company owned by former Dragon’s Den star James Caan in a bid to attract work away from the City.

Insurance companies could buy law firms and use them as conduits to sell their products to consumers if the Solicitors Regulation Authority changes the rules on referring clients to financial advisers, it has been warned.

The Legal Services Board has told the Solicitors Regulation Authority that it needs to complete its review of in-house practice as soon as possible because the current regulatory arrangements are not sustainable.

The Internet revolution has “yet to reach legal services”, new Legal Services Board research has found, meaning consumers jump at the idea of an ‘official’ online resource to help them resolve their legal issues.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has rejected calls for it to have greater powers to fine ABSs than traditional law firms. It has also dismissed suggestions by the Law Society that it should not have substantial fining powers at all.