Claims tide to trigger 10% premium hike for 2010 indemnity renewal, warns broker
A rising tide of claims against solicitors and a huge increase in the number of firms falling into the assigned risks pool means law firms should prepare for a 10% jump in professional indemnity premiums this year, broker Lockton has warned.
Report: LPO industry to triple in size by 2015
The legal process outsourcing (LPO) market is set to triple in size over the next five years, driven almost exclusively by US and UK lawyers, it has been predicted. Research and analytics firm Evalueserve said the need to become more efficient because of the Legal Services Act and specifically alternative business structures “is expected to boost the LPO industry” in the UK.
City solicitor completes new MoJ line-up
The ministerial line-up at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been completed with the appointment of a solicitor and non-lawyer as parliamentary under-secretaries. Jonathan Djanogly, until last year a partner of City law firm SJ Berwin, has been joined by one-time soldier Crispin Blunt as the MoJ’s junior ministers.
Susskind backs Camerons’ £600m outsourcing deal
Legal process outsourcing reached a new level today after City firm CMS Cameron McKenna signed a 10-year, £583 million deal with Integreon for its “middle office” services, which it claims is the largest ever deal in the legal market and has received the endorsement of Professor Richard Susskind.
Solicitor banned over boiler room adverts
The Financial Services and Markets Tribunal has upheld a Financial Services Authority (FSA) decision permanently banning a solicitor from working in any capacity in financial services and fining him and the FSA-regulated law firm of which he is senior partner, £400,000.
Big rise in solicitors struck off and firms shut
There has been a sharp increase in the numbers of law firms closed and solicitors struck off, Legal Futures has discovered. Figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority show it intervened in 31% more firms in the year to 31 March 2010, while there was a 58% jump in strike-offs by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
The ethical lawyer
Anna Buttimore, administrator of lawyers’ support charity LawCare, considers the stresses that finding yourself in an ethical dilemma – such as blowing the whistle on possible wrongdoing at your firm – can cause and where to seek help.
Doing your duty
This week’s Question of Ethics from the Solicitors Regulation Authority looks at whether there are circumstances in which you can decline to comply with your client’s instructions.
SRA given green light to fine solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will be able to formally rebuke solicitors and fine them up to £2,000 from next month, it has been confirmed. However, the potential conflict between the civil standard of proof that will be applied in such cases and the criminal standard used by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal – which will hear appeals against SRA decisions – has not yet been resolved and is likely to require further work.
Exclusive: Law Society to bridge pay gap for complaints staff to join ombudsman
The Law Society is offering staff at its Legal Complaints Service (LCS) financial incentives to join the new Legal Ombudsman service, Legal Futures can reveal. The Society has pledged a year’s worth of “bridging payments” to those who move over, which will go some of the way to making up the difference between their current salary and the lower wage the ombudsman is offering.
