RTA portal extension cannot be done by April 2013, government told
It will be impossible to extend the RTA portal either to larger claims or to employer’s and public liability claims by the target date of April 2013, the Ministry of Justice has been told by the company that runs the portal.
QASA finally agreed after Bar Standards Board gives in over plea-only advocates
The Bar Standards Board has given way on the final outstanding issue on the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates and it is now to begin in the summer. Plea-only advocates, who had been at the centre of a major disagreement, will not have to undergo judicial assessment.
Validity of bar disciplinary decisions in question after major oversight
The validity of a large number of disciplinary findings against barristers is in question as a result of errors over the appointment of disciplinary tribunal members, it has emerged. It could allow those who have been disbarred, suspended or reprimanded to reopen their cases.
Mills & Reeve to start selling online package to help other family lawyers compete
Regional law firm Mills & Reeve will next month launch a fixed-price online know-how and training package for family lawyers that it claims will enable practitioners to compete in a shrinking market.
SRA: trainees could be paid £2.60 an hour in first year if minimum salary is scrapped
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to consider retaining the minimum salary for trainee solicitors at the level of the national minimum wage after discovering that without it trainees would be classed as apprentices and so could be paid just £2.60 an hour in their first year – less than £5,000.
Revealed: groundbreaking barristers’ chambers launches as SRA-regulated partnership
Six criminal law barristers have set up a chambers structured as a partnership and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Artesian Law is already looking to expand due to the number of instructions it has received.
New York lawyers told they cannot run the Big Apple operation of an ABS with external investors
New York lawyers are banned from running the Big Apple office of a UK alternative business structure with non-lawyer owners, the New York State Bar’s committee on professional ethics announced yesterday.
News round-up: financial stresses hit lawyers, slander case struck out, and much more
Our latest round-up of news in brief has a breakdown of calls in 2011 to legal support charity LawCare, better news on PII, a defamation battle between two employment law consultancies, developments over conveyancing panels, and SIFA launching a consultancy.
Bid to make referral fees a crime fizzles out
The prospect of paying referral fees in personal injury becoming a criminal offence seemingly disappeared last night, while the government defeated a bid to exempt not-for-profits from the ban and outlined its plans to crack down on unsolicited PI marketing.
Third of conveyancing firms “considering ABS conversion”
More than a third of conveyancing firms are considering becoming an alternative business structure, new research has found. The survey also revealed predictions of large-scale closures of traditional law firms as a result of new competition.
