Law Society battle over in-house lawyers and sole practitioners
The Law Society council will this week receive conflicting recommendations about the future representation of in-house lawyers and sole practitioners among its number. The future representation of the Commerce & Industry Group, Solicitors in Local Government and Sole Practitioners Group hangs in the balance.
War of words between solicitors and lenders over separate representation
A war of words has broken out between the Law Society of Scotland and Council of Mortgage Lenders over the former’s decision to ban joint representation of borrower and lender, subject to formal rule changes later this year.
‘Save the Legal Industry’ campaign reports 2,500 personal injury job losses
The new ‘Save the Legal Industry’ campaign has reported the loss of 2,500 jobs among personal injury law firms as they prepare for next month’s civil justice reforms. It has launched a ‘Job loss counter’ aimed at making the government see the “direct effect” of its policies.
Niche practices eye expansion opportunities after gaining ABS licences
Two niche law firms have outlined their hopes for expansion after receiving their alternative business structure licences from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. One specialises in family law – and owns the divorcesolicitor.com domain – and the other operates in health care.
Yorkshire firm launches ‘Pay as You Go’ service for family clients as unbundling movement grows
The trend towards ‘unbundling’ legal services is gathering pace, with a Yorkshire law firm launching a ‘Pay as You Go’ service for family law clients who will no longer be eligible for legal aid after 1 April.
Co-operative Legal Services unveils big rise in turnover
The biggest brand name to enter legal services and one of the country’s first alternative business structures, Co-operative Legal Services, has announced strong revenue growth for 2012. It would place CLS at 76th in The Lawyer magazine’s table of the top 100 law firms by turnover.
Budget crackdown on misuse of partnership structure to avoid tax
HMRC is set to scrutinise the status of law firm partners after measures announced in the Budget. The Treasury is to consult on removing the presumption of self-employment for LLP partners and on countering the “artificial allocation of profits to partners”.
The “noisy minority” of barristers opposed to QASA hit back at BSB claims
The Bar Standards Board chair’s description of opponents of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates as “a noisy minority of dissenters” received an immediate high-powered response from criminal law barristers.
LSB chairman warns MPs of "unintended consequences" of referral fee ban
Banning referral fees in personal injury may have unintended consequences that will be worse than the current situation, Legal Services Board chairman David Edmonds told MPs yesterday. He also said the current regulatory regime could move rapidly to a single over-arching regulator.
SMEs “deeply unhappy” with legal services as lawyers warned they risk going the way of HMV
Just one in eight small businesses believe that lawyers provide a cost-effective solution to legal problems, new research has found. The finding suggests far larger unmet legal need among SMEs than among the general public.
