News

The regime for training and supporting solicitor-advocates is not fit for purpose, a major Law Society report leaked to Legal Futures has claimed. The report by Nick Smedley sets out a comprehensive new approach to advocacy, including a full-time course of two to six months for solicitors who want to gain higher rights, and creation of an Academy for Solicitor Advocates. Practitioners with higher rights would have a title such as “Fellow of the Solicitor Advocate Academy”.

Details of investors in alternative business structures that will be made public should include the beneficial owner but might exclude the names of people with a “significant influence” over the business, the Legal Services Board has proposed.

Half of charities have experienced a poorly drafted will from a will-writer, a new survey has revealed – but a third have also seen shoddy work from a solicitor. A survey of over 50 charities by Remember A Charity found unanimous support for regulation of the will-writing sector.

Nearly half of solicitors are impossible to get hold of after 5pm, a poll of 2,000 clients has found. The survey of consumers who had recently used a solicitor, carried out by solicitors’ network Contact Law, found that 47% considered it impossible, while 15% said they could rarely reach their lawyer after 5pm. Just 38% said their legal adviser could be easily contacted after that time.

The recession has encouraged in-house lawyers to make more use of what they see as a new, business-minded Bar by instructing them directly, research has revealed. The report, commissioned by Hardwicke Chambers and conducted by Legal Futures Associate Jures, found greater expertise and better value for money than solicitors were also factors.

The Legal Services Board has unveiled plans to ‘mystery shop’ solicitors and will-writers as part of its research into the market – and is looking for a panel of both to assess the quality of what is produced.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is seeking to establish a £3 million contingency fund to cover the cost of redundancies among its 600 staff, Legal Futures can reveal. Implementation of a new IT system and the introduction of outcomes-focused regulation next year are the reasons why the SRA has requested the Law Society to put the money aside.

A decision by the Legal Services Board (LSB) on whether will-writing should become a regulated activity will not be made until 2012, it emerged today. The LSB’s draft business plan 2011/12, published today for consultation, revealed that the board is also considering what it calls a “deep dive” investigation of conveyancing.

Solicitors Regulation Authority plans to exclude financial institutions from the requirement for compulsory professional indemnity insurance will drive some conveyancing firms out of business, the Law Society has claimed. The longer-term move to remove work for all commercial clients from the scope of the minimum terms and conditions of cover would be short-sighted, it adds.

A campaign to expose the Coalition government’s “hidden agenda” in pursuing Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms of personal injury (PI) costs was launched in London today. The Access to Justice Action Group – which is being co-ordinated by former Labour MP and claimant PI lawyer Andrew Dismore – highlights that the the reforms will cut the number of law firms in the field and thus reduce access to justice.