News

The four years since the Legal Services Act have seen “positive changes” for consumers, but many problems persist, the first ever assessment of the reforms has concluded. The consumer impact report, published today by the Legal Services Consumer Panel, says consumers usually get the outcomes they want and most are happy with the service they receive – although it points out that they have little experience against which to judge this.

Increases in tuition fees means the overall cost of a law degree is nearly £90,000 and only half of lawyers would have gone to university had it cost as much when they studied, a survey has found. Legal recruiter Laurence Simons argued that this shows UK universities are failing and need to adopt the controversial approach of the philosopher AC Grayling, who is setting up a new private university, and also embrace apprenticeships.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is investigating how it can license accountancy firms to become alternative business structures and provide legal advice to clients, Legal Futures can reveal. The ICAEW is set first to apply for the right to regulate its members to provide reserved probate activities.

A potential new professional indemnity insurer has blamed the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s failure to tackle the market’s problems more quickly as the reason it will not be offering cover to law firms this year.

There are a number of risks and dangers associated with using an aptitude test to select law students – particularly that it will favour those from privileged and certain class and ethnic backgrounds – a report commissioned by the Legal Services Board has concluded.

The government today dropped the idea of creaming off interest from solicitors’ client accounts to offset the cost of legal aid. The decision will come as a small consolation to legal aid law firms, which the Ministry of Justice impact assessment says will earn, along with barristers, £430m less from legal aid than they do now.

The great majority of consumers who have used legal services are satisfied with the outcome, although many do not feel they received good value for money, a survey has found. Worryingly for lawyers likely to face competition from trusted brands after October, however, it suggested significant public distrust of lawyers.

Complaints against barristers by litigants-in-person forced by legal aid cuts to represent themselves are rising fast, according to the Bar Standards Board. Many result from a misunderstanding of the role of opposition barristers. The Justice Bill, containing more cuts, should be published today.

There could be several benefits from using an aptitude test to exclude law students who are most likely to fail the legal practice course (LPC), according to a report for the Law Society. However, it said linking a test to the likelihood of gaining a training contract would be “more difficult” to justify.

Magistrates’ court advocates who choose an assessment centre route to progress under the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) could pay as much as 15 times more than those who undergo judicial evaluation.