Legal Services Act

The Lord Chancellor is to launch an independently led review of the criminal legal aid system with the aim of improving its sustainability, but denied that it discriminates against BAME and women lawyers.

The Law Society has spoken out against a government clarification sought by Bar Council that means anyone self-isolating after returning from abroad can break quarantine to attend court.

A global law firm has launched what it believes is the legal industry’s first offering focused on behavioural science, aimed at helping clients make better decisions in areas like compliance.

West Midlands referral network Hub.Legal has reported that referrals of work from its 125 member firms have recovered to their pre-Covid level – but several are looking to merge.

The charity Law for Life, which specialises in public legal education, has created a film for Roma families in their own language as part of work to improve understanding of the child protection system.

A law firm and its owner are suing a former client for slander and malicious falsehood over comments allegedly made explaining why the firm was removed from its legal panel.

Investment in alternative legal services providers stepped up yesterday after a US private equity company took a majority stake in Factor, the managed services firm that used to be part of Axiom.

The prospects of creditors of what was Ince & Co have improved modestly over the past year, but they still face losing most of their money, according to joint administrators Quantuma.

Utah has become the first US state to embrace alternative business structures in response to what has been described as an access-to-justice crisis exacerbated by Covid-19.

The impact of Covid-19 on the justice system and the government’s response has led a mid-sized London set to announce its closure, saying members are not prepared to take the financial risk they are facing.

Legal regulators will have to explain more clearly how they spend their practising certificate fees under revised rules proposed by the Legal Services Board.

Solidarity – or not – between legal aid lawyers is under the spotlight this week, with solicitors from 200 law firms coming together to force a change to immigration fees, but criminal firms falling out.

The chairman of the world’s largest law firm, Dentons, has outlined a future of continued expansion, merging with both law firms and in time non-legal businesses around the world, including the UK.

The Legal Ombudsman has warned that if its poor performance over the last few months continues, it could take more than a year to process even the simplest complaints.

Consumers of legal services are more likely to shop around and to make a formal complaint if they do not get what they want than in previous years, new research has found.