Minimum salary finally to go as LSB approves training deregulation
The Legal Services Board has approved wide-ranging plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to deregulate training, including the delayed demise of the minimum salary.
Parliamentary inquiry calls for renewed wills push in bid to increase charitable giving
A parliamentary inquiry has called for a push to encourage people to make wills and that will-writers should inform all clients that they are able to leave money to charity in them.
Non-lawyers may be gentlemen – but they can’t be officers
The distance between reform in the UK and US has been shown up starkly by a Texan ethics ruling that prohibits non-lawyers working in law firms to have the word ‘officer’ in their job titles.
Government to ban inducements in latest insurance fraud crackdown
The government announced over the weekend that it is to ban lawyers from “encouraging people to make claims” by offering them upfront incentives like cash or iPads. It forms part of a new wave of reform in personal injury targeted at insurance fraud.
SRA whittles down diversity data non-compliers to hardcore 100
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has cut the number of law firms failing to hand over data on the diversity of their staff from 1,106 to 108. The regulator said it had made it “very clear” to the remaining firms that they would face enforcement action.
Division of claims complaints costs unfair, says First4Lawyers
The Ministry of Justice proposals on how the Legal Ombudsman’s costs for handling complaints against claims management companies are recovered disproportionally penalises those working in personal injury, a leading marketing collective has argued.
"Door is open" on regulation of will-writing, Kenny says
The government may look again at the question of whether to regulate will-writing, the chief executive of the Legal Services Board has indicated. Justice minister Shailesh Vara has left open the door “for further consideration”, Chris Kenny said.
CML warns on indemnity reforms: “Lenders will cut their panels”
Small firms and sole practitioners could be removed from conveyancing panels if the Solicitors Regulation Authority goes ahead with its indemnity insurance reforms, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has warned.
SRA slashes ABS licensing backlog
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has slashed its backlog of ABS licensing applications from 142 in January 2013 to 52 in April this year, it has emerged. The average age of work-in-progress ABS applications is now three months.
Grayling tells LSB to work towards its own abolition
The Lord Chancellor has set the Legal Services Board the task of working towards its own abolition as part of a push to reduce the burden of regulation on the legal profession, he revealed yesterday.
