Practice Management

Little more than few hundred yards away from Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, where England play Algeria tonight, are the offices of Exigent, the company at the forefront of proving that business and legal process outsourcing (BPO/LPO) is not a purely Indian phenomenon.

Many conveyancing law firms are ill-prepared to comply with anti-money laundering obligations despite property being the number one target of criminals seeking to invest the proceeds of crime, a leading expert in the field told an AML conference in London last week.

High street solicitors must adopt an attitude of suspicion and paranoia to avoid becoming “collateral damage” in police efforts to clamp down on fraud, an anti-money laundering (AML) conference in London heard last week.

Thames Valley law firm Harris Cartier and south-west solicitors Stones have become the latest practices to switch to SOS Connect from Solicitors Own Software.

At a time when firms need to move forward if they are not going to be left behind, fast-growing west country law firm Everys outlines the benefits of integrating case and practice management systems since going live with SOS Connect last year.

The growing interest in so-called virtual law firms has led to one technology provider seeing a 200% increase in customers over the past year. Virtual Practices says it now has hundreds of users for its product, with London start-up Matrix Legal the latest.

Regional law firm Woodfines and Jackson Brierley Hudson Stoney (JBHS) in Rochdale have both selected SOS Connect from Solicitors Own Software to standardise their software, citing the need to prepare for the post-Legal Services Act landscape.

Suspicious activity reports submitted by solicitors have led to the successful prosecution of frauds worth millions of pounds, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Complaints against conveyancers are on the rise, but complaints against personal injury lawyers have fallen dramatically, figures from the Legal Complaints Service have shown.

The move from regulating individuals to regulating entities means threatens to make undertakings less effective than in the past and so recipients need to take extra care, explains Iain Miller of Bevan Brittan.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will this week ask the Law Society Council for around £22 million to invest in a new IT system, Legal Futures can reveal. The ‘Enabling Programme’ will also offer benefits to the wider Law Society but has come in at more than 50% more than estimated a year ago.

Dominic Cullis, chairman of the Legal Software Suppliers Association, considers what alternative business structures mean for high street firms that want to retain their current model and the role IT has in the new legal landscape.

Later this year, the Legal Ombudsman will take over the handling of complaints against all lawyers. But as chief ombudsman Adam Sampson explains to Legal Futures Editor Neil Rose, it is as much about helping lawyers as clients.

Martin Gregory of Solicitors Referrals questions whether paying referral fees is actually the most sensible business model for law firms, despite the appeal of an increased workload.

The Law Society has issued further reassurance to the 2,911 law firms insured by Quinn that there is no reason to fear for the strength of their cover. It came on the same day as the society also issued a practice note on the position if a qualifying insurer goes insolvent.