Dreamvar reaction: Conveyancers face insurance premium hikes
Conveyancers are facing higher professional indemnity insurance costs – and their clients higher fees as a result – due to yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling in Dreamvar, experts have predicted. One said the judgment “will provide greater protection to buyers, but will shake up the conveyancing industry with much greater risk of liability”.
Law firm finances creaking as falls in PI and conveyancing work take their toll
Small and mid-sized law firms need to accept that lower levels of profitability are becoming the “new normal”, it was claimed yesterday. Their income is also falling, with firms of 11-25 partners recording the biggest drop last year – 11% – compared to only 1% for sole practitioners.
High Court refuses to strike out £1.2m family law negligence claim
“Very real obstacles” faced by a family law client in bringing a negligence action against a Cheshire law firm did not mean that the claim should be struck out in its entirety, the High Court has ruled. The claimant argued that, but for the firm’s negligence, he would have had to pay a third of the lump sum ordered by a district judge on his divorce.
Dreamvar: CA finds seller’s solicitor liable for imposter fraud – but buyer’s conveyancer still on hook too
Solicitors acting for the buyer of a property purportedly ‘sold’ by an imposter were liable for the losses suffered by their client, the Court of Appeal has ruled by a majority in the long-awaited decision in Dreamvar However, the court also found that seller’s solicitors liable, meaning that the other solicitors could sue them for a contribution.
Exclusive: Barrister ABS offers couples ‘single joint expert’ approach to divorce
Two family law barristers have set up what is believed to be the first service allowing separating couples to obtain advice from a single legal expert at any point in the process. They are launching The Divorce Surgery as an alternative business structure regulated by the Bar Standards Board later this week.
Notaries lose confidence in regulator’s ability to oversee probate and conveyancing work
The Notaries Society is calling on the profession’s regulator, the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to abandon its oversight of the “extremely high risk” activities of probate and conveyancing given the cost needed to do it properly. The society said its ruling council decided last month with “a degree of reluctance” to call for the pull-out.
Exclusive: Rocket Lawyer receives waiver to employ solicitors
Unregulated online legal services company Rocket Lawyer has received a waiver to allow practising solicitors to advise its clients, Legal Futures can reveal. Peninsula – the business services giant that owns Croner – has its own waiver, and is highlighting to potential customers the benefits of privilege that come with it, we can also report.
Former City partners challenge legal directories with online rival
Two former partners of leading City law firms have launched an online legal directory venture that they hope will replace the traditional printed directories. Top3legal enables client recommendations to be linked to an existing database of 156,000 lawyers, assembled from publicly available information.
Call for “emotional competency” push as Mental Health Awareness Week kicks off
Training law students in emotional competency, and a change in culture, led from the top, in law firms and chambers are among the shifts needed to combat the growing problem of stress in the legal profession, according to a roundtable held in the run-up to Mental Health Awareness Week, which begins today.
Slater & Gordon looks to turn page with £30m investment – but two more offices to close
Slater & Gordon announced today that it will invest over £30m on new technology and broadening its services over the next three years – with volume conveyancing a target – as the firm looks to put the troubles of the past behind it. Legal Futures was given the first trade interview with the firm’s CEO about his vision for the future.
