News


Managing the risks of outsourcing, part 2: the Solicitors Code of Conduct

18 January 2011

In the second part of his examination of the regulatory issues arising out of outsourcing, Duncan Finlyson of Legal Futures Associate Lawyers Defence Group outlines the relevant provisions in the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007.


New recruits move BSB closer to lay majority

18 January 2011

The Bar Standards Board has fulfilled its side of the deal struck with the Legal Services Board over its lay/professional composition, with four new members taking office this month. There is now an equal number of lay and professional members ahead of a lay majority being in place after further changes next year. Later this year the Solicitors Regulation Authority will also move to parity before a lay majority is appointed for 2013.


Keeping control – managing the regulatory risks of outsourcing

17 January 2011

In the first of a two-part article, Duncan Finlyson of Legal Futures Lawyers Defence Group investigates the reasons for law firms to outsource certain functions and the regulatory issues that they throw up.


“Bumper years” of negligence claims against solicitors on their way, warns top broker

17 January 2011

Solicitors are facing “bumper” years of claims for professional negligence as recession-driven legal actions start to bite, a leading broker has warned. The latest High Court figures indicate that negligence claims against solicitors rose from 80 to 210 in 2009, which is more than any other type of professional indemnity claim, and Lockton has predicted that the figure will continue to rise.


Looking to 2020: growth of global law firms “is just beginning”, says report

13 January 2011

International law firms face growing threats to their share of the global legal market over the next decade, with likely challenges from Chinese firms, future market crashes and protectionism high on the agenda, a major new report has predicted.


UK thought leaders join groundbreaking international legal education project

13 January 2011

Some of the UK’s leading legal brains – including Professor Richard Susskind and Legal Services Board chief executive Chris Kenny – are teaming up with six law schools in England, the US and China to launch a groundbreaking international legal education project in London this weekend. LawWithoutWalls claims to be the first global venture designed to tackle the problems facing legal education and practice by bridging law schools, students, legal and business professionals, and entrepreneurs.


More firms sign up to SRA relationship management pilot

12 January 2011

Seven law firms have joined the second wave of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) relationship management (RM) pilot. RM may be one of the ways the SRA supervises firms according to its assessment of the risks the firm poses as part of outcomes-focused regulation, which goes live in October.


Pay of top Legal Services Board staff revealed

12 January 2011

Senior managers at the Legal Services Board (LSB) earn between £80,000 and £120,000, it has emerged in data released under the government’s transparency agenda. The LSB is funded by a levy on the eight legal professions it oversees, and the top-paid senior managers under chief executive Chris Kenny are general counsel Bruce Macmillian, paid between £115,000 and £120,000, and strategy director, Crispin Passmore (£110,000 and £115,000).


Solicitors on the hook for £15m in unpaid ARP premiums

11 January 2011

Solicitors have had to cover £15m in unpaid premiums of law firms that have been in the assigned risks pool (ARP) during its first 10 years, it has emerged. Of that, £6.1m is for run-off cover for firms that closed without insurance, and the figures reveal that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has collected just £500,000 in run-off premiums since the ARP was set up in 2000.


Internet revolution gathers pace with online legal answers and a Twitter “law firm”

10 January 2011

Alternative ways of delivering legal services continue to grow with the launch of two web-based, fixed-fee Q&A services, and what is claimed to be the first Twitter “law firm”. The two websites – www.expert-answers.co.uk and www.questiontheexpert.com – both use panels of qualified lawyers to answer questions put by users, while @thelegaloracle is the brainchild of the founder of personal injury referral network Loyalty Law.

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