Legal Services Act

Large law firms are damaging their profitability by poor scoping of work and under-pricing it, and are also set to penalise lawyers who offer clients overly large discounts, a survey has found.

Merger activity among law firms continues apace, with deals done across the country – including a leading criminal legal aid practice that has completed two in rapid succession and is on the hunt for more.

The Law Society and Bar Council have strongly attacked plans by the Legal Ombudsman to extend its publication of information about complaints, arguing that it would not help consumers.

An alternative business structure owned equally by two law firms and an accountancy practice has recorded a 1,200% surge in post-tax profits.

Lawyers in the US capital Washington DC are the latest in America to try and remove the ban on ABSs, while the president of the American Bar Association is backing efforts to rethink regulation.

Law firms, chambers and other legal services providers could be forced to sign up to comparison websites so that clients can let others know about the quality of service they received.

Shares in NAHL plc – owner of National Accident Helpline – crashed today after it said uncertainty in the personal injury market would significantly affect its performance in 2020.

Knights has unveiled its second acquisition this year – and seventh in little over 18 months as a listed company – with a £2.8m deal to buy a housing industry law firm in Manchester.

Ministers remain committed to whiplash reform but are considering whether the new portal can actually go live on 6 April, a senior Ministry of Justice official admitted yesterday.

The Buying and Selling Property Information – the “single source of truth” that contains all the information about a property before it goes on the market – is set to be piloted in the coming weeks.

Any significant change to the expected rules governing the new personal injury portal will make its introduction in April unlikely, the man charged with building the system has warned.

Listed firm DWF has again leveraged its new purchasing power by spending £14.2m to acquire a US-based legal and managed services business, adding 360 people to its staff complement.

The owner of a commercial law firm based on a ”dramatically different” approach to pricing has said he believes the firm can enter the top 100 without buying other firms.

The role of the conveyancer is undoubtedly going to change as much of the administrative side of the role becomes automated over the coming years, a new report has predicted.

Two listed legal businesses have unveiled positive trading updates, with the founder of City firm Rosenblatt to receive £1m in return for extending his lock-in with the business.