News

A large majority of law firms believe they need to devote resources to social media because clients will increasingly be influenced by the strength of their presence in the sector, according to a survey.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has compromised on aspects of its application to become an alternative business structure regulator, it emerged last night. Agreement was reached between the society and its regulatory arm on various changes to the application which the SRA’s board agreed last week.

The Law Society council has today approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a regulator of alternative business structures. It means the SRA should be ready to start taking applications from prospective ABSs from 6 August.

The Solicitor Sole Practitioners Group could decide tomorrow whether to seek a special general meeting of the Law Society that would authorise a profession-wide poll on solicitors’ opposition to alternative business structures.

An ambitious bid to build a coalition of claimant personal injury interests to offer the government a compromise on the Jackson report has failed, Legal Futures can reveal. Those involved included the Law Society, APIL and TUC.

There has been a rise in the number of female QCs, but a massive mismatch with the number of women at the Bar remains, figures released today have shown. The “Bar Barometer also shows the extreme difficulties black and minority ethnic (BME) students have in securing pupillages.

Barristers are increasingly instructing “fairly litigious” solicitors and other counsel to defend them in disciplinary proceedings, but to little effect, the Bar Standards Board has said. The BSB was still successful in 91% of cases referred for disciplinary action in 2010.

Alternative business structures (ABSs) will pay less to practise than traditional law firms, under proposals released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. A consultation on the fees structure for ABSs recommends that they should not have to contribute to the Law Society’s representative activities, as law firms do.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has substantially reworked its new rule on conflicts of interest, which will come into force later this year. Legal Futures has had advanced sight of the 563-page SRA Handbook ahead of its publication on 6 April, although the new Code of Conduct is just 54 pages.

Regulators of alternative business structures could expose consumers to risk if they demand an overly high standard of proof in disciplinary hearings, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has warned. Meanwhile, the Bar Standards Board is to consider switching to a civil standard of proof.