ABI blasts “timid” SRA for inadequate indemnity insurance reforms
Proposals from the “timid” Solicitors Regulation Authority to reform the market for professional indemnity insurance are inadequate and will only worsen already fears for the future of the market, the Association of British Insurers has warned. However, the SRA’s blueprint has been welcomed by the Law Society and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Government consumer strategy calls for openness on complaints and other data
The government has strongly supported the publication of complaints and other data as a way for consumers to hold businesses to account, in a move likely to put further pressure on the Legal Ombudsman to name law firms that are subject to complaints.
Bott: “dumbed down” ABSs can be quick and wrong, lawyers can be quick and right
New “dumbed-down” entrants to the personal injury market will be “quick and wrong”, whereas lawyers can be “quick and right”, the new president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has claimed. David Bott said claimants might prefer to deal with a “new breed of dumbed-down, legal ‘light’ adviser” – at least at first.
LSB chief defends right to step in and push regulators – it's not "mission creep"
The Legal Services Board has an “absolute right” to intervene whenever it believes frontline regulators are dragging their heels, such as acting to improve diversity, the Legal Services Board chairman, David Edmonds, told the Legal Futures conference.
Susskind: lawyers think they’re immune to impact of technology
Too many lawyers believe they are “somehow immune” from the effects of technology that are profoundly impacting the rest of society, Professor Richard Susskind has warned. He also highlighted how the profession has embraced legal process outsourcing.
Djanogly unable to confirm 6 October as ABS day
Doubts over whether alternative business structures (ABSs) will start on 6 October persist after justice minister Jonathan Djanogly today refused to confirm that they will happen on that day. “Quality is paramount and I will not shortcut a complicated process involving no less than a dozen parliamentary orders,” he said.
Revealed: end to common renewal delayed as solicitors face ARP bill of up to £30m
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has radically reworked its reforms of professional indemnity insurance, delaying the end of common renewal for two years and kicking the question of compulsory cover for financial institutions into the long grass. Solicitors will also be liable to pay up to £30m of claims arising from the ARP during its final year.
Susskind: ABSs give UK first mover advantage if firms are up to the challenge
Lawyers around the world are watching to see how alternative business structures (ABS) work, giving UK law firms a possible competitive advantage if they can meet “unprecedented” client demand for value, Professor Richard Susskind told the Legal Futures Conference. He also said it was “unimaginable” that investors and entrepreneurs would ignore the opportunities presented by legal market.
QS set to eject member as Hudson questions its appropriation of “quality” term
QualitySolicitors is preparing to eject a member firm for failing to meet the network’s quality standards, its chief operating officer told the Legal Futures Conference yesterday. Law Society chief executive Des Hudson also questioned QS’s use of the word “quality” in the brand.
Plant lays bare SRA/Law Society tensions caused by “defective” Legal Services Act
The legal regulatory system is “defective” and in time it might be right for a single regulator to replace the eight frontline regulators, the chairman of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Charles Plant, told yesterday’s Legal Futures Conference.
