News

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The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped charges against 11 solicitors and doctors who were accused of a £4m referral fee fraud involving after-the-event legal expenses insurance. The lawyers may instead be referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

America last week moved a major step closer to introducing a version of legal disciplinary practices (LDPs), while ruling out multi-disciplinary practices. The American Bar Association has noted the “remarkable” growth of LDPs in England and Wales.

The Legal Ombudsman should have jurisdiction over non-lawyer employment advisers as part of work to improve consumer protection in the field, employment judges have suggested. Their primary concern was the lack of consistency in the redress available to claimants.

The Bar Standards Board is set to remove two key restrictions that fetter more members of the public instructing barristers directly, after a record number of barristers took the public access training course this year.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will begin accepting licensing applications for alternative business structures from 3 January 2012, with the first successful ones announced within around six weeks, it announced today.

The Law Society is considering whether any law firm which recruits trainee solicitors should have to undergo mandatory training in equality and diversity, Legal Futures can report. It may also work with the largest City law firms to help them recruit more black and minority ethnic lawyers.

The recent case of a Scottish advocate’s stolen, unencrypted laptop raises some important questions regarding data controller responsibility, portable media (not just laptops) and the options available for securing such media, explains Matt Torrens.

The first business to announce its intention to invest in law firms has already spoken to more than 25 interested practices, it has revealed. However, In-Deed’s half-year results have revealed a very slow start to its online conveyancing business, with only 120 instructions in four months.

The third-party litigation funding market received another boost yesterday after a funder raised a new tranche of money to put into cases. However, the SRA has told Legal Futures that solicitors are not under a requirement to choose funders that comply with the new voluntary code of conduct.

The Legal Services Board is joining forces with the Ministry of Justice and the Law Society to ask 2,000 high street law firms how ready they are for the introduction of alternative business structures. It will form part of what is likely to be the largest ever survey of high street legal provision.