Legal Services Act

A boutique law firm catering only for “sophisticated” capital funders is offering what is believed to be the first combined legal, commercial and political advisory service.

Most people know very little about how the law works in the UK, research has found, with 44% admitting that they did not know the difference between a solicitor, lawyer or barrister.

Communications giant BT has handed over ownership of its alternative business structure to listed law firm DWF, it has emerged. Meanwhile, an Italian law firm has set up a BSB-regulated ABS.

The Competition and Markets Authority has ramped up the pressure on the Bar Standards Board over its decision to stop funding the cross-regulator Legal Choices website.

The Welsh government has pledged rapid action on a major report that recommended substantial reform to the way the law is administered and legal profession supported in Wales.

Transferring the ownership of law firms to employee ownership trusts (EOTs) boosts staff loyalty by giving them more security if the firm is sold, the chief executive of the latest firm to create an EOT has said.

There has been a spate of merger and acquisition activity among law firms across the country over recent weeks, with listed firm Knights yesterday entering Birmingham in a £4.7m deal.

The Legal Services Board has issued a thinly veiled warning to the Bar Standards Board over the need to invest “substantially” in consumer information after withdrawing from funding Legal Choices.

The English arm of international law firm Reed Smith has become an alternative business structure as it looks to “future proof” its practice by offering non-legal services and hiring non-lawyer partners.

The Ministry of Justice has refused to give way to the concerns of claimant groups that children who suffer whiplash injuries lasting less than nine months will be denied access to justice under next April’s reforms.

The Ministry of Justice is continuing to work towards April 2020 to implement the whiplash reforms despite the upcoming election, it has confirmed.

The Legal Services Board is looking for a person with experience of “turn-around situations” to become the new chair of the Office of Legal Complaints, the board which oversees the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Services Board has heard calls for regulators to take a more “hands-on” approach to ensuring that lawyers remain competent through their careers.

A “single source of truth” that contains all the information about a property before it goes on the market is in the works as part of plans to speed up the home buying and selling process, it has emerged.

The largest legal needs survey ever run in England and Wales shows what a difference professional advice and ‘legal confidence’ among consumers makes to the outcome of their matters.