Interpreters set up free law firm panel to help non-English speakers
An interpreter company is set to appoint a huge panel of hundreds of law firms for a new Community Legal Helpline. Yorkshire-based translation firm Applied eXperts Ltd said it is responding to a rise in legal queries from non-English speaking individuals.
Government: we will toughen up referral fee ban if ABSs are being used to get around it
The government has pledged to revisit the terms of the personal injury referral fee ban if it looks as though alternative business structures (ABSs) and other arrangements are being used to get around it.
PI firm reprimanded for “irresponsible” radio spot as Law Society prepares £300k ad campaign
A personal injury firm has been reprimanded for an “irresponsible” radio ad which encouraged accident victims to claim compensation “irrespective of injury”. The news comes ahead of a £300,000 Law Society national advertising campaign that will promote PI lawyers.
SRA and Legal Services Board tussle over ABS application process
The Legal Services Board has been critical of the length of the time the Solicitors Regulation Authority has taken to approve alternative business structures, it has emerged.
Exclusive: QS launches R&D division, with new campaign and strategy imminent
QualitySolicitors is set to unveil a “new approach to delivering legal services”, Legal Futures can reveal. It comes as the company’s deal with WH Smith winds down and founder Craig Holt becomes president to focus on research and development.
1,300 law firms face emergency hunt for new indemnity insurer
The 1,300 law firms who have their professional indemnity insurance with Balva face the prospect of having four weeks to find new cover if the winding-up process the Latvian company started yesterday becomes an “insolvency event”, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.
AG rejects call to cap government-instructed lawyers’ rates at legal aid levels
The Attorney General has rejected a call to cap the pay of lawyers instructed by the state at legal aid rates, arguing that the work of government is “vastly more varied and complex than that for individuals and corporate”.
SRA will consider “fast-tracking” ABS applications aimed at price competitive tendering
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will consider fast-tracking alternative business structure (ABS) applicants who want to bid for the government’s proposed criminal legal aid contracts, Legal Futures can reveal.
Law Society kicks out committee members who failed to undergo E&D training
Eight members of Law Society committees have been kicked off for failing to undergo mandatory equality and diversity training, it has emerged. All members of boards and committees had a 30 April 2013 deadline to undergo the training.
Will-writers face jail as new code of practice scheme goes live
Members of the Institute of Professional Willwriters who fail to comply with its code of practice face fines or even imprisonment, as a new UK-wide scheme to strengthen self-regulation by setting standards for such codes goes live.
