Legal Services Act

Legal regulators will have to explain more clearly how they spend their practising certificate fees under revised rules proposed by the Legal Services Board.

Solidarity – or not – between legal aid lawyers is under the spotlight this week, with solicitors from 200 law firms coming together to force a change to immigration fees, but criminal firms falling out.

The chairman of the world’s largest law firm, Dentons, has outlined a future of continued expansion, merging with both law firms and in time non-legal businesses around the world, including the UK.

The Legal Ombudsman has warned that if its poor performance over the last few months continues, it could take more than a year to process even the simplest complaints.

Consumers of legal services are more likely to shop around and to make a formal complaint if they do not get what they want than in previous years, new research has found.

Barristers may be keen to get back to work but they are not going back to chambers, and nearly a third of sets have given or are considering giving partial notice on their leases.

A judge has failed in his claim that he suffered discrimination, harassment and victimisation due to his race over how a complaint against him by a litigant was dealt with.

The company formerly known as Quindell has served a £63m claim against accountancy firm PwC for allegedly using confidential information to reduce the amount Slater & Gordon paid.

The Covid-19 pandemic may reverse the trend towards consolidation in the SME legal market, with start-ups emerging as effective competition, according to the former boss of Cartwright King.

An alternative business structure has been launched by a hedge fund-backed business that finances commercial debt recovery litigation, with ambitious plans for expansion.