Legal Executives
Another barrier falls as Government Legal Service opens doors to chartered legal executives
The Government Legal Service has decided to open its lawyer job vacancies to fellows of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives for the first time. The first job being advertised is a £53,196 position as lawyer at HM Revenue & Customs.
Quayle u-turn leaves CILEx Regulation searching for new chair
CILEx Regulation – the regulatory arm of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives – is searching for a new chairman after the man who was due to take over last week decided against doing so. In February, CILEx announced that Quinton Quayle, a former British ambassador to Thailand, had been appointed.
Lawyers urged to play it cool with litigants in person
Solicitors, barristers and legal executives have been told by their professional bodies to be polite and non-judgemental when dealing with litigants in person (LiPs), and take “extra care to avoid using inflammatory words or phrases”.
Regulate lawyers by “competence not title”, chair of CILEx Regulation says
Alan Kershaw, chair of CILEx Regulation, has said lawyers should be regulated “by competence, not by title” and urged the different branches of the profession not to give up on common training.
Huge rise in number of lawyers disciplined for money laundering, Treasury reports
There has been a massive increase in the number of lawyers disciplined by their professional bodies for breaking the rules on money laundering, a Treasury report has found.
Regulation round-up: the first US law firm ABS that wasn’t – thanks to SRA error
Jenner & Block has not become the first US law firm licensed as an alternative business structure, it has emerged – rather it was an error by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Plus, call for QC to be open for all, and new members of LeO’s board.
Keep legal executives out of the Crown Court, Rivlin report demands
A report for the Bar Council on the future of criminal justice and advocacy has recommended that legal executives are kept out of the Crown Courts, while solicitors should only be granted rights of audience if they have undergone the same level of training as barristers.
First legal executives granted historic independent practice rights
A member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives who specialises in conveyancing has become the first to receive independent practice rights. A probate specialist and a legal executive who runs his own immigration firm were also granted independent rights.
Regulation round-up: consumers to have 12 months to complain to LeO, plus SRA, LSB and IPS news
The six-month time limit for clients to complain to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is to be doubled from this summer, it has announced. The new time limit, which takes effect from 9 July, runs from the date of receiving a final response from the lawyer.
Lawyers grumble about PC fees without knowing what they’re paying for, survey reveals
Many lawyers, particularly solicitors and barristers, complain about their practising certificate (PC) fees, but there are high levels of ignorance about what they are paying for, a major cost of regulation survey has found.
Blog
Five key issues to consider when adopting an AI-based legal tech
As generative AI starts to play a bigger role in our working lives, there are some key issues that your law firm needs to consider when adopting an AI-based legal tech.
Bulk litigation – not always working in consumers interests
For consumers to get the benefit, bulk litigation needs to be done well, and we are increasingly concerned that there are significant problems in some areas of this market.
ABSs, cost and audits – fixing regulation after Axiom Ince
A feature of law firm collapses and frauds has sometimes been the over-concentration of power in outdated and overburdened systems of control.
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