News

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There are concerns about the outstanding level of complaints at the outgoing Legal Services Ombudsman, Legal Futures has learned. Zahida Manzoor’s personal contract comes to an end on 2 March, and her office in Manchester will close on 31 March, with a number of cases likely to be outstanding – although Ms Manzoor says her office has been performing to a high standard in difficult circumstances.

Patent attorneys have litigation rights in a wider range of cases than previously thought, including disputes over license agreements and related intellectual property, the High Court has ruled in what is believed to be the first judgement on the scope of patent attorney litigators’ rights.

More information to help consumers select a solicitor, freedom to choose a lawyer under legal expenses insurance, and the regulation of contingency fees are all areas where the profession and the public should work together, a leading consumer champion claimed last week.

The Legal Services Board is pushing ahead with preparations to regulate alternative business structures itself because of fears that the Law Society council will next month block the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s plan to become an ABS regulator, Legal Futures has learned.

Law firms are facing an escalating level of accusations over financial misconduct, with claims on the Solicitors Compensation Fund also doubling in a year to £163m, figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority have revealed.

In an embarrassing last-minute u-turn, government lawyers have blocked bodies including the Judicial Appointments Commission, QC Appointments and Legal Services Commission from receiving sensitive data on complaints against lawyers, Legal Futures has discovered.

A temporary extension of cover should replace the pooled liability insurers have for struggling law firms, the Law Society has proposed. The extension of existing cover should be for a minimum of three months and its cost based on the current premium.

Solicitors have no need to investigate an elderly person’s capacity to contract without good reason and any such duty on them would be “insulting and unnecessary”, a High Court judge has said. Mrs Justice Sharp said the claimant had failed to establish that a lack of capacity “would have been evident to a reasonably competent solicitor”.

Ethics training could become a compulsory element of solicitors’ continuing professional development as part of a fundamental review to be conducted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Legal Futures has learned. The review – described by the SRA as “overdue” – will look to ensure that CPD “works in the new world of alternative business structures and outcome-focused regulation”.

Solicitors in private practice undertook pro bono work in 2010 estimated at £475m, a rise of 19% on the year before, Law Society research has found. The figure represents 2.3% of the total gross fee income for private practice last year.