Appeal court upholds strength of privilege in claim by insurer to see client files
Solicitors’ insurers are not entitled to obtain confidential and privileged documents from the Law Society on files where no claim has been made against their insured, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
PII – why a large number of firms will be seeking a new insurer
When the profession ditched the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF), a compelling reason for the move was that many good firms were paying for the failures of the few. Now, a decade later, solicitors are back in exactly the same position. Only, the ‘few’ could become substantially more over the next few months.
Trafalgar comment: Can lawyers be led?
Patricia Wheatley Burt of Trafalgar looks at the demands on managing partners and how to avoid placing law firm leaders too much at the whim of the partnership.
In a fix
Accountant Nigel Reynolds explains why law firms need to bring back fixed fees in a bid to secure future success in business.
Law Society unveils paralegal study
The Law Society has announced plans for a preliminary scoping study into whether the Law Society should develop or endorse qualifications for paralegals.
LSB sets out plans for levying its £25m running costs for 2010/11 on profession
The Legal Services Board has set out its plans to recoup its running costs, and those of the Office for Legal Complaints, based on a per capita basis and of complaints against each part of the legal profession.
Costs draftsmen set up regulatory subsidiary
The Association of Law Costs Draftsmen has created a regulatory subsidiary and unveiled plans to streamline its membership as it shapes up as the smallest of the approved regulators.
Legal training system failing law students
The government’s decision last week to scrap training grants for would-be legal aid lawyers was as inevitable as it was sad, and was all the more pointed for coming the day after the Association of Graduate Recruiters named law firms as the highest-paying graduate employers.
More than a third of barristers keen to join new business structures, BSB survey finds
More than a third of barristers are likely to join a new business structure in the next five years, research has shown, and this number is likely to increase as understanding of the opportunities under the Legal Services Act improves.
Pressure grows on SRA to find alternatives to “sledgehammer” of intervention
Pressure is growing on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to find alternatives to marching in and shutting down law firms in trouble, Legal Futures has discovered. A blueprint to reduce the number of interventions – which cost around £100,000 a time – has been put forward.
