News

Lawyers complaining about the Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Bill have not considered the impact of ABSs in changing the way the legal profession works, justice minister Lord McNally said yesterday. However, the second reading of the bill raised the possibility of a concession over removing clinical negligence from legal aid and of further regulation of third-party funding.

Barristers are facing a 5% increase in the cost of practising as the Bar Council looks to raise an extra £365,000 to balance its budget next year. That means QCs in private practice would pay a core fee of £1,026, while those at the employed Bar would pay £728.

Lisa Dixon from the Institute of Legal Finance & Management argues that firms should consider issuing separate terms and conditions with their client-care letters that deal specifically with the issues around client funds.

HighStreetLawyer.com (HSL) has added five new firms to its nascent national legal network after its successful pilot phase, Legal Futures can reveal. HSL is also relaunching its website today as part of the ambition of founder Gary Yantin to reach 100 branches by the end of 2012.

The High Court has ordered a law firm to disclose the details of its funding arrangements with two clients so the successful defendants can work out whether the solicitors financially supported the cases and could be pursued for a third-party costs order.

The first law firm launched in direct response to the government’s decision to ban referral fees in personal injury cases is set to go live. Acorn Law is pledging not to pay referral fees or charge them to other suppliers.

An aptitude test that indicates whether Bar students will pass their exams is “the best single predictor of course outcomes”, a pilot study has concluded. The Bar Standards Board is pressing ahead with plans to introduce the test formally in autumn 2012.

Investec has become the first UK bank to offer litigation funding to clients, with more than £5m already invested in cases following pilot transactions. It said it had acted in response to “increasing demand” from law firms and their clients.

The final legislative obstacle to the Solicitors Regulation Authority licensing alternative business structures was removed on Tuesday when the House of Lords approved secondary legislation on non-lawyer owners’ disclosure of criminal convictions and appeals against ABS licensing decisions.

New figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority indicate that the long-predicted wave of claims against solicitors over mortgage fraud is fast becoming a reality. There are now 770 open claims against the Solicitors Compensation Fund relating to mortgage fraud.