Consumer panel

There is no evidence of online divorce leading to regulatory risks, joint research by the Legal Services Board and Legal Services Consumer Panel has found. The report found high levels of satisfaction with face-to-face legal advice (79%) and online (83%).

QC status should be available to all advocates appearing in the higher courts, whether or not they are barristers or solicitors, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said. It also reiterated its call for re-accreditation and ongoing competence checks for those with the mark.

MPs have called on the government to consult on whether there should be formal regulation of McKenzie Friends, whether or not they charge fees. They said encouraging the use of McKenzie Friends “may in some circumstances amount to a counsel of despair”.

The Law Society has told the Legal Ombudsman that solicitors’ practising certificate fees should not be used for ‘thought leadership’ exercises that extend beyond legal services.

Lawyers are increasingly using threats of libel action to intimidate clients into taking down negative reviews from comparison websites, it was claimed yesterday by a member of the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel has given “qualified support” to plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to rewrite the separate business rule. The panel said the existing rule had “fallen into disrepute”.

There is scope for the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) to offer redress to third parties, as long as the complaints involved could be “clearly and tightly defined”, a report by a LeO working party has found.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel today expressed concerned that “the recent emphasis on deregulation… is being taken too far”, while also praising the innovation seen to date through alternative business structures.

The potential for unbundling legal services to help consumers – and particularly litigants in person – is to be examined in a research project being commissioned by the Legal Services Board and Legal Services Consumer Panel.

The Ministry of Justice has finally published a report it commissioned on litigants in person – more than a year after it was submitted. The report criticised the Legal Services Consumer Panel for calling for greater recognition for paid McKenzie Friends.