Minister “interested in aptitude tests” as survey reveals lawyers’ public school bias
Universities minister David Willetts has expressed interest in aptitude testing as a way to address “inequities in earlier educational experience” for those looking to enter the professions, it has emerged. The news comes as a survey released today shows that having a public school education makes it seven times more likely you will become a legal professional than if you are state-educated.
Focus on assigned risks pool forces SRA to cut down other monitoring visits
The focus on law firms in the assigned risks pool has led to a significant fall in the number of other monitoring visits conducted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Legal Futures can report. The SRA says the move is an example of its shift towards risk-based regulation.
Consumers welcome quality assurance for advocates but say scheme has big failings
Mandatory quality assurance for criminal advocates is welcome but the scheme currently proposed by the legal profession falls short in several significant ways, the Legal Services Consumer Panel said today. Among the problems are a failure to consider consumer needs, weaker standards than had been consulted on, and allowing advocates to choose which cases they are assessed on.
Inexorable growth of solicitors’ profession as number on roll tops 150,000
The number of solicitors has grown by nearly 50%, and the number of firms by a third, in the past decade, Legal Futures research has discovered. According to SRA figures, for the first time the number of solicitors on the roll has topped 150,000 (it is now 153,971), and the number of practising solicitors has gone over 120,000 (120,917).
Consumer panel calls for five-yearly “MOT” for lawyers
There is a strong case for some lawyers facing periodic reaccreditation and for creating a single badge to help consumers distinguish between regulated and unregulated providers, the Legal Services Consumer Panel said in a report published today. Responding to a request from the Legal Services Board for consumer perspectives on quality, the panel drew on consumer research it commissioned and found support for lawyers undergoing “a regular MOT”.
QualitySolicitors hits the shopping centres as 54 new branches open, with 50 more to come
National law firm group QualitySolicitors (QS) is opening 54 new branches across England and Wales on Thursday, including what it says is the first ever legal store in a shopping centre. Claiming the store will be “the start of a revolution in legal services”, QualitySolicitors Freeman Harris in Lewisham shopping centre, south London, will offer free initial consultations, late-night opening on Thursdays as well as weekend opening, and fixed-priced services, including “instant wills” drafted while clients finish their shopping.
Lenders “dislike” separate representation of borrowers but investigate guidance
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has launched an investigation into the impact of more borrowers and lenders having separate legal representation as lenders continue to restrict their panels, it has emerged. It has also given a cautious welcome to the Law Society’s new conveyancing quality scheme and sounded a warning over suggestions that the requirements of solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance will be relaxed.
Up to 60 "seriously risky" firms in the ARP
Some 240 of the 336 law firms in the assigned risks pool (ARP) are new to the insurance safety net, with 10-20% of the total thought to pose a “serious risk”, it has emerged. Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) papers show that 30-60 firms are in the serious risk category and face immediate SRA investigations, with referrals for regulatory action to be made where appropriate.
SRA backs alternatives to “sledgehammer” of intervention in troubled law firms
A Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) committee has approved a range of alternatives to the “sledgehammer” of intervention in troubled law firms, even though they pose a greater risk of default or increased loss. The SRA’s compliance committee backed approaches such as targeted practising certificate conditions and giving firms limited time to correct breaches, transfer or close altogether. In some circumstances, pre-packaged administration might be appropriate.
Kenny defends plan to make firms and chambers publish staff diversity statistics
The chief executive of the Legal Services Board (LSB) has issued a robust defence of its plans to require every firm and chambers to carry out and publish an annual workforce diversity survey. Chris Kenny confirmed that the LSB was not talking about imposing quotas or targets, nor publishing a sector-wide league table, but said such information “will enable individuals and researchers to better hold firms to account through highlighting the best and worst performers – and the nature of the gap between them”.
