Practice Management

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has found a further 17 firms that have still not secured professional indemnity insurance, taking the current total facing closure next week to 117.

The Law Society has delayed the launch of its paralegal accreditation scheme, Legal Futures has learned. The scheme – aimed at non-qualified staff working in organisations regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – was scheduled to go live in autumn 2013.

Reformed HMRC rules dealing with the taxation of partnerships will obstruct “innocent” firms trying to invest in their businesses and force them to modify their profit-sharing arrangements, according to a leading firm of accountants.

A “substantial” number of law firms have failed to tell the Solicitors Regulation Authority whether or not they have professional indemnity insurance, the regulator admitted today. The SRA would not reveal how many had not declared their insurance position.

The academic who earlier this year angered criminal defence practitioners when he revealed research suggesting the firms he shadowed had mistreated their clients, has warned that the legal aid cuts planned by the Ministry of Justice will only make things worse.

A UK legal process outsourcing company has obtained an equity investment of double the amount it was seeking to fund ambitious expansion plans, using the ‘crowdfunding’ method of appealing to investors.

Specialisation in the legal profession has narrowed to the point where it is possible for a barrister to become a Queen’s Counsel without ever having cross-examined a witness, according to Mr Justice Rabinder Singh.

Chancellor George Osborne yesterday confirmed that the government is pushing ahead with plans to “ensure the tax advantages of partnerships aren’t abused” – but the immediate introduction of anti-avoidance rules has been dubbed “shocking”.

A ‘virtual network’ of law firms that claims to be the first of its kind is gearing up to launch in February, aimed at giving smaller higher street firms a national reach and helping them compete with larger firms.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to investigate the likely impact of criminal legal aid fee cuts on the viability of law firms amid warnings that the cost to the profession of collapses could spiral.

Slater & Gordon’s series of acquisitions is set to topple the likes of Irwin Mitchell and Thompsons and gain it the leading position in the hugely competitive online personal injury market, an analysis seen exclusively by Legal Futures has found.

Half of partners do not fully understand the potentially “catastrophic” personal consequences of their firm getting into financial difficulty, new research has warned. Baker Tilly said individual partners in firms “can no longer expect that being a good lawyer is good enough”.

Alternative business structure Brilliant Law has scored a major affinity deal by teaming up with leading broker network Keychoice. Meanwhile, a law firm has received a £50,000 grant from the Welsh government to launch a legal e-commerce service.

Law firms are facing thousands of claims for professional negligence over their involvement in ‘right to buy’ work, it has emerged. Last week the judiciary issued a new right-to-buy practice direction to deal with the potential deluge of cases.

Much of the red tape around the training of solicitors would be swept away if proposals before the Solicitors Regulation Authority are adopted, including abandoning a ceiling on the number of trainees firms are allowed to take on.