News

The role of price comparison and customer review websites are set to come under scrutiny from the Legal Services Board as part of efforts to help consumers judge the technical quality of the legal advice they receive. It will also consider whether a “badge” would distinguish regulated and non-regulated providers.

The growth of property fraud means that lenders’ open panels of conveyancing firms are at an end, the director-general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned. Michael Coogan added that lenders remain unsure about the impact of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme.

Solicitors dispensing legal advice on a fixed-fee retainer should take care to clarify the terms and ensure the service they provide is the same as if it were paid for by the hour, following a High Court ruling.

Allan Carton of Inpractice UK argues that achieving Lexcel and CQS are essential but can only take you so far. Adopting the Investors in People philosophy will add genuine competitive advantage.

Smaller law firms have halted the decline in fee income, while partner profits rose significantly last year, Law Society research has found. They saw an average increase of 0.2% in practice fee income in 2010, following a reduction of 6.5% the previous year.

The Legal Services Board yesterday approved the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ application to become the first licensing authority for alternative business structures, despite the opposition of the Lord Chief Justice.

A former Court of Appeal judge and the one-time senior partner of City law firm Simmons & Simmons have been appointed joint chairs of a new consultation panel to advise on the fundamental education and training review – now known as “Review 2020″.

The Legal Services Board is considering whether to consolidate the disciplinary regimes run by all the different legal regulators, it has emerged. Recent events “suggest we should explore the feasibility of rationalising existing mechanisms sooner rather than later”.

A judge has criticised a Manchester debt collection agency and the bank instructing it for conducting litigation in breach of the Legal Services Act 2007, after pursuing an investigation on his own initiative.

The Law Society is set to examine the future direction of pro bono work in the wake of legal aid cuts, Legal Futures can reveal. It will also look at the role of pro bono in helping distinguish solicitors from post-Legal Services Act competitors and how corporate clients can better understand their legal advisers’ pro bono activity.