Big firms will “push non-reserved work into unregulated businesses”
Major law firms will soon “eschew the solicitor brand” in favour of conducting non-reserved legal business in the unregulated sector, the compliance officer at a top City firm has predicted.
Coroner turned crook is referred to SDT
William John Owen, a former coroner for Carmarthenshire, has been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Mr Owen, 79, was jailed for theft in November last year for five years.
Regulate lawyers by “competence not title”, chair of CILEx Regulation says
Alan Kershaw, chair of CILEx Regulation, has said lawyers should be regulated “by competence, not by title” and urged the different branches of the profession not to give up on common training.
Mayson: updated Legal Services Act needed to “finish the job”
A successor to the Legal Services Act 2007 is urgently required to build on the Act’s successes and to iron out the problems that have emerged since, according to a leading market commentator.
SRA to focus on individual regulation and professionalism, Philip says
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will focus more on individual regulation and less on firms in the year ahead, chief executive Paul Philip has said.
Welsh government launches review of legal sector
The former head of client relations at Eversheds has been commissioned by the Welsh government to review the legal sector in the principality. Solicitor Kevin Doolan has been tasked with identifying opportunities to increase investment and employment
Solicitor who is not an advocate sets up one of first BSB entities
A firm set up by Mark Johnson, a solicitor and former partner at Geldards, is among the first dozen entities to be named today as regulated by the Bar Standards Board. He did it because of access to Bar Mutual indemnity insurance and the Bar’s “simpler and more transparent” rules.
Second time lucky for top accountants after “hell” of dealing with SRA over ABS bid
Sir Michael Snyder, senior partner of top 20 accountants Kingston Smith, has welcomed a change of approach to multi-disciplinary practices at the Solicitors Regulation Authority after describing the “sheer hell” of the firm’s first attempt to become an alternative business structure.
Court of Appeal warns solicitors over standards of ‘commoditised’ services
Economic pressures forcing solicitors to ‘commoditise’ their advice “throw into sharp focus the need for standard form letters of advice to be clear in their exposition”, the Court of Appeal warned yesterday.
Hopper roasts SRA over its tendency to assume the worst in solicitors
The leading specialist solicitor in regulation matters yesterday urged the Solicitors Regulation Authority not to approach law firms with the worst possible assumptions and warned it was driving a wedge between the regulator and the profession.
