Practice Management

Commercial law firms have a limited “window of opportunity” to adopt new delivery models which is unlikely to “remain open forever”, a report has warned. Jomati Consultants also revealed that four City firms are on course to receive almost £8m in government grants as a result of opening low cost centres.

Law firms are “in good shape financially”, with median income increasing by 5.4% last year, according to Law Society research. The survey found the median fee income for a partner had reached almost £620,000 and a solicitor almost £118,000 – but more partners than last year are drawing too much.

Small law firms have the most to lose if a Solicitors Qualifying Examination is introduced as it may downgrade the value of being part of the profession, a leading legal academic has warned. Professor Anthony Bradney said the exam could be a way for solicitors to “very rapidly lose their reputation”.

Elite Insurance, one of only three unrated indemnity insurers of law firms and the only one based in Britain, announced yesterday that it is leaving the market. Elite cited increased risks of client account fraud and the government’s planned increase to the small claims limit as reasons for the move.

A barrister’s advice to a claimant to settle her case at the doors of the court after a key witness failed to appear was not negligent, the High Court has ruled. It has been described as good news for the profession given “a climate of post-settlement remorse” among claimants.

The Court of Appeal has reduced by almost two-thirds the balance awarded to the seller of a law firm by the High Court, after ruling that – among other things – the trial judge had been wrong not to award the buyer damages for a misrepresentation of the firm’s finances.

The chief executive of a Devon private client firm is bringing a leading Canadian lawyer referral service to the UK this spring. The UK version of LawyerLocate will operate on “exactly the same model” as the Canadian – which became Google’s first Canadian legal industry partner last year.

Lord Dyson has launched an extraordinary attack on the Ministry of Justice over the introduction of enhanced court fees. The Master of the Rolls described the research carried out by the MoJ as “hopeless”.

It would be wrong to assume that it is “inherently more improbable” that a professional person will be dishonest than anyone else, the High Court has said. In his ruling, HHJ Saffman said the sole practitioner involved had misrepresented “the true position” in an attendance note.

More than three quarters of general counsel lack separate budgets for process and technology services, despite exactly the same percentage identifying a “compelling need” for them, a survey has found. “To have a compelling need, but have no budgetary control is potentially ‘creek, canoe, no paddle’ territory”, it said.

Three solicitors from East London have been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for failing to secure or check that indemnity insurance was in place for their firm, and continuing to accept new clients when they should have been closing it down.

Free2Convey, which began as a free rival to failed conveyancing portal Veyo, is to formally launch to all conveyancers at the start of next month. Matt Lancaster, chair of Legal Software Suppliers Association, said the aim was to “create a trusted community”.

The bill for the Law Society’s failed conveyancing software project Veyo is likely to be £7m, its chief executive has revealed. Catherine Dixon said she and president Jonathan Smithers pulled the plug because “the amount of time and further investment needed to get Veyo to a successful launch was too great”.

A student who set up a DIY website to help consumers challenge parking tickets, and claim compensation for delayed travel or missold PPI, has added a natural-language ‘robot lawyer’ to draft documents. It has been welcomed by the solicitor who created a ground-breaking automated website aimed at helping people charged with motoring offences.

An ambitious new firm of licensed conveyancers has developed its own case-tracking app in a bid to become the biggest conveyancing business in the country. Managing director Simon Bath said the firm had funding from individual investors and private equity.