News

The Law Society is preparing for a government push to make law firms which engage in lobbying work breach confidentiality by making them disclose details of their clients. Last month Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed the Coalition will legislate in 2011 to introduce a statutory register of lobbyists.

Lawyers working alone in ‘silos’ present serious potential risks to law firms, but limiting partners’ autonomy can harm your practice’s bottom line, a conference heard last week.

The Land Registry is to change land registration legislation to ensure that alternative business structures can compete effectively with traditional law firms. It says the prospect of increased competition is potentially good for consumers.

Allowing the exclusion of claims by financial institutions and an end to every law firm renewing its professional indemnity insurance (PII) on the same day and are at the heart of Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) plans to shake up client financial protection arrangements next year. In a consultation being published today, the SRA also floats the idea of removing all corporate clients from the scope of compulsory PII cover from October 2012.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will start pilots for desk-based supervision and risk-based visits to law firms next month as the run-up to the launch of outcomes-focused regulation steps up. A new policy statement explains that “high intensity” supervision does not mean a firm is necessarily in trouble.

The Law Society is considering a scheme to shore up the position of compliance officers who could find themselves personally exposed under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) proposed handbook. Chief executive Des Hudson also raised concerns over the SRA’s progress towards outcomes-focused regulation.

The Law Society is to carry out a complete review and overhaul of every aspect of its accreditation schemes after admitting that “little or no attention” has been paid to them for “some considerable time”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will next year conduct ‘thematic reviews’ on its approach to conveyancing, the financial viability of law firms, and both English firms’ overseas practice and foreign lawyers working over here, it has emerged.

Lawyers have warned the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) that some clients will end up unrepresented if he adopts a complaints process that involves ‘naming and shaming’. Fear of reputational damage would have a chilling effect on taking on clients perceived to be ‘risky’ and adversely impact on lawyers whose social conscience led them to offer help, they said.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has outlined the steps that law firms are able to take under the current rules in preparing to become an alternative business structure. It has updated its July 2009 guidance that just highlighted what solicitors should not do.