Signs of recovery as smaller firms halt income slide and boost partner profits
Smaller law firms have halted the decline in fee income, while partner profits rose significantly last year, Law Society research has found. They saw an average increase of 0.2% in practice fee income in 2010, following a reduction of 6.5% the previous year.
Council for Licensed Conveyancers wins approval to become first ABS regulator
The Legal Services Board yesterday approved the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ application to become the first licensing authority for alternative business structures, despite the opposition of the Lord Chief Justice.
Potter, Gaymer and team of top academics join fundamental training review
A former Court of Appeal judge and the one-time senior partner of City law firm Simmons & Simmons have been appointed joint chairs of a new consultation panel to advise on the fundamental education and training review – now known as “Review 2020″.
Goodbye SDT? Legal Services Board sets sights on “rationalising” disciplinary regimes
The Legal Services Board is considering whether to consolidate the disciplinary regimes run by all the different legal regulators, it has emerged. Recent events “suggest we should explore the feasibility of rationalising existing mechanisms sooner rather than later”.
Judge upbraids bank and its debt collection agency for conducting reserved activity
A judge has criticised a Manchester debt collection agency and the bank instructing it for conducting litigation in breach of the Legal Services Act 2007, after pursuing an investigation on his own initiative.
Law Society to review pro bono policy in face of legal aid cuts and Legal Services Act
The Law Society is set to examine the future direction of pro bono work in the wake of legal aid cuts, Legal Futures can reveal. It will also look at the role of pro bono in helping distinguish solicitors from post-Legal Services Act competitors and how corporate clients can better understand their legal advisers’ pro bono activity.
Consumer watchdog gives SRA’s ABS application green light – with reservations
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a licensing body for alternative business structures has been endorsed by the Legal Services Board’s consumer watchdog, but with reservations. The Legal Services Consumer Panel expressed disappointment that some recommendations it made during consultations were not adopted.
Should I tell my client she’s dying?
The latest Question of Ethics from the Solicitors Regulation Authority looks at whether a solicitor should pass on information in a medical report that their client’s cancer is terminal when the doctor says it should not be disclosed.
News in brief: solicitors, barristers and referrers link up, conveyancing boost and more
This week’s news in brief includes details of London law firm EDC Lord & Co, barristers’ chambers 6 Pump Court and referral agency Contact Law launching an online fixed-fee legal advice scheme, ClickLaw24.com.
ABA ethics commission outlines beefed-up outsourcing rules
Plans to clarify the ethics of outsourcing work to lawyers and non-lawyers, and the circumstances in which outsourcing would be wrong, are to be put to the American Bar Association (ABA). The “initial draft proposals” go further than an initial draft published last year.
