Legal Services Act

The High Court has handed a suspended four-month sentence to a solicitor who failed to co-operate with an investigation by the Legal Ombudsman. The judge only held back from committing him to prison because of his personal mitigation.

National criminal law firm Tuckers could look to form consortia with other practices to bid for legal aid contracts, it has revealed. The firm has recently begun offering other criminal law firms access to its back-office services in a bid to generate income, and save costs for smaller practices.

A financial services group is to submit its stage two ABS licence application this week as it bids to add a legal practice to its portfolio, Legal Futures can reveal. It comes as the SRA reveals how many would-be ABSs have filed stage two applications.

Two lawyer-to-lawyer referral services have gone live. ReferMarket and Lawyer to Lawyer both aim to help firms realise the value of cases they cannot for whatever reason handle themselves, but do so in very different ways.

Personal injury firms need scale to survive in future, a Manchester law firm has warned as it gears up for a £3m investment into growing its practice. Express Solicitors is expanding ahead of ABSs, the referral fee ban and the extended RTA portal.

The Legal Ombudsman is to press ahead with bids to take over complaints against claims management companies, and also extend its jurisdiction to unregulated groups such as will-writers and employment advisers.

‘Buy and build’ private equity firm Sovereign Capital has become the latest to outline its intention to invest in the law, Legal Futures can report. It is looking for a legal business that can act as a consolidator in its part of the market.

A groundbreaking business law firm operating entirely on fixed fees and featuring a mix of leading barristers and solicitors opens today, aiming for a market that it claims has been “protected from real competition for too long”. LawVest also plans to become an ABS.

Our latest news round-up reports on an apology over the sudden change in the Legal Ombudsman’s address, which affects all lawyers, a unique agreement between a law firm and a barrister, a crucial ruling on interest on costs, and the exit of the CLC’s chief executive.

Debt recovery law firms Drydens Lawyers and Fairfax Solicitors, both created by spin outs from national firms, are to merge creating the UK’s largest debt recovery and debt litigation legal practice. It will have a workforce of around 300 and turnover of approximately £15m.

The claims management arm of telecoms giant BT has applied to become an alternative business structure, it has emerged. But it is not looking to enter the consumer market.

The private equity firm behind the UK’s first – and so far only – alternative business structure is beginning the hunt for another investment in the law, Legal Futures can reveal.

Large law firms are showing increasing interest in forming multi-disciplinary practices with non-lawyer professionals, according to new research. The survey of 126 of the top 250 firms by accountants Smith & Williamson found that a third are interested in joining with a non-legal practice.

The Legal Services Board has stepped into the controversy around the International Monetary Fund’s push to make countries receiving financial bailouts reform their legal professions as part of the deal.

Rocket Lawyer, the Google-backed US online legal document service, is on track to launch in the UK later this year, with lawyers set to be offered the chance to join its panel from next month, Legal Futures can reveal.