ABS update: Clifford Chance buys would-be ABS, private client firm enters regulation, PE-backed firms expand
The plan by Carillion Advice Services to become an alternative business structure looks to be at an end after the business was bought by magic circle firm Clifford Chance. We also report on two private equity backed ABSs that have used their financial muscle to expand, and a private client firm that has decided to enter regulation with the CLC.
Conveyancers see workloads fall for first time since 2011
Conveyancers saw their first annual drop in workload since 2011 last year, with volumes down 12% to under a million transactions, according to new research. It also found that the number of conveyancing firms has dropped by 28% over the past decade.
SRA receives 300 complaints in two years about PI firms paying referral fees or cold-calling
The Solicitors Regulation Authority received nearly 300 reports of personal injury (PI) law firms either paying illegal referral fees or being involved in cold-calling, it has revealed. This is in the context of there being only 768 ‘specialist’ law firms, which the Solicitors Regulation Authority defines as generating at least half their turnover from PI work.
State-school educated lawyers more likely to go into criminal law than corporate
State-school education solicitors are far more likely to operate in criminal law than corporate, new figures published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority have shown. It also said that one-third of partners were women, although it was 29% for firms of 50 or more partners – both figures showing progress in recent years.
Carry on dining: Bar Council defends role of Inns in education and training
Making membership of the Inns of Court optional for barristers would disadvantage those with the least “social capital”, the Bar Council has warned. It strongly defended the role of the Inns, the minimum 12-month period for pupillages, and compulsory Inns of Court dinners for students.
Leading law firm joins forces with LSE professors to find ways to predict litigation
National insurance law firm BLM has teamed up with three professors from the London School of Economics in a two-year research project to create models that predict the cost, length and outcome of litigation. AI will be an “important part” of the partnership, but it aims to bled technology with actuarial knowledge and ‘decision science’.
Law firms secure 18-month indemnity deals in ‘soft’ insurance market
Law firms have taken advantage of a soft insurance market to secure 18-month professional indemnity insurance deals at a “very good” rate, a report has found. More firms were asking about additional cover to protect solicitors against defence costs in disciplinary proceedings, in the wake of the Leigh Day case.
Consumer panel chair jumps ship to Legal Ombudsman after just a year in post
The Legal Services Consumer Panel is on the hunt for a new chair after the incumbent jumped ship after just a year to become a member of the Office for Legal Complaints, the body that oversees the Legal Ombudsman. Meanwhile, the Law Society has named the members of its new main board, a key part of its new governance structure.
The countdown begins: Whiplash reforms to be introduced in April 2019
The government plans to introduce its whiplash reforms in April 2019, it emerged today. The Motor Accident Solicitors Society said it has today been told that ministers have agreed for the personal injury reforms to be implemented from that date, with an initial focus on RTA.
High Court: SRA should have held oral hearing before deciding not to admit would-be solicitor
The High Court has ordered the Solicitors Regulation Authority to make a fresh judgment of a would-be solicitor’s character and suitability to join the profession after finding that it had wrongly denied her an oral hearing to explain an issue that it decided showed dishonesty.
