Reform of in-house lawyer regulation could improve consumer access to justice, says LSB
The removal of regulatory restrictions on in-house lawyers could provide greater access to justice for consumers, the Legal Services Board has said. It also warned the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board that the reviews of the rules for in-house lawyers they are starting “will need to be far reaching”.
Public interest duty makes corporate lawyers “more than mere service providers”
The lack of guidance on the phrase ‘public interest’ in the context of legal regulation potentially makes it meaningless and wastes an opportunity to remind corporate lawyers they are not “mere service providers”, according to an academic.
Bar Council chairman calls for online training revolution
Alistair MacDonald QC, chairman of the Bar Council, has called for a revolution in the training of barristers to cut what he described as “astronomical” costs and increase the chances of successful students getting a pupillage. He also raised questions about the non-lawyer ownership of law firms.
Regulators report no evidence for Bar’s attack on family law solicitor-advocates
Barristers’ call for a review of the standards of solicitor-advocates’ work in family cases has been received coolly by regulators, who have told Legal Futures they have seen no evidence of the kinds of problems that would justify an investigation.
SRA issues warning notice to criminal lawyers over legal aid boycott
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a ‘warning notice’ to criminal law firms involved in the legal aid boycott. The notice questions whether two key aspects of the protocol issued last week, effectively limiting the boycott to the Crown Court, are within the rules.
Law firm faces £5.1m breach of contract claim
London commercial property law firm Maples Teesdale is facing a claim for up to £5.1m for repudiatory breach of contract after losing a bid in the High Court to have the case thrown out. The claimant argued that the firm became a party to the deal to buy a £20m property after it emerged that the company on whose behalf it signed the contract was not incorporated.
Kent County Council narrows down potential ABS joint venture partners to one
Kent County Council, which tendered for a joint venture partner to set up alternative business structure last autumn, has narrowed the list of potential candidates to one, it has emerged. The bidder will make a presentation to Kent’s commissioning advisory board in early September.
“Compelling case” for reform of regulation, says LSB, as focus on independence intensifies
There is a “compelling case to introduce a new regulatory settlement” for the legal market in the medium term, the Legal Services Board told the government today. A report said it was “increasingly clear” that the absence of full separation between the representative bodies and legal regulators is proving “a strong impediment to progress”.
Fresh blow to Slater & Gordon as major Quindell contract comes to premature end
The agreement between Slater & Gordon’s professional services division (PSD) and the country’s biggest high street insurance broker has come to an end just months after it signed a multi-year renewal.
‘List of defaulting solicitors’ to be ditched but cab-rank rule set to survive
The Bar Standards Board is to dispense with its ‘list of defaulting solicitors’ and replace it with a new rule allowing barristers to refuse work under the cab-rank rule where there is an “unacceptable risk” that they will not get paid.
