Market monitor

The government yesterday fought off efforts in the House of Lords led by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf to remove the new compensation tariff that will govern whiplash injuries, although it has agreed that the Lord Chancellor should consult the Lord Chief Justice when setting it, in one of a series of relatively minor concessions.

Insolvencies in the legal sector are set to double this year if trends seen in the first quarter of 2018 continue, indicating a possible downturn in the fortunes of law firms, it has been claimed. The figures also indicate that law firms may be waiting too long before seeking help.

Opposition peers and leading legal figures will today try and curb the government’s whiplash reforms as the Civil Liability Bill enters its crucial report stage. Following last month’s committee stage, during which amendments probed the government’s thinking but were not pushed to a vote, this is the day when peers will make changes to the bill, if at all.

The criminal Bar has narrowly voted to accept the government’s offer of £15m additional funding for the advocates’ graduated fee scheme, a result described as “neither a defeat nor a victory”. Some 1,566 (51.55%) barristers voted to accept and 1,472 (48.45%) voted to reject.

The chairman of the Bar Council said yesterday that he would support the £15m deal being offered by the Ministry of Justice to end the action over criminal legal aid fees, as barristers began voting on whether to accept it. It came amid sharply divergent views from others about whether barristers should be standing shoulder to shoulder with solicitors.

Four in five motorists do not think it is likely that their insurer will cut premiums after saving more than £1bn under the government’s personal injury (PI) reforms. A similar number would not know what to do if the reforms forced them to pursue a PI claim on their own.

Numeracy skills will be “massively more important in the new world of legal services delivery”, the co-founder of “legal engineers” Wavelength Law has predicted. He said there would be more solicitors in the future, as new technology and automation generated new kinds of disputes.

Incopro, an online brand and IP protection business co-founded by media law firm Wiggin, has raised $21m (£16m) from a leading growth equity investor. Incopro – founded in 2012 – is one of a series of ancillary businesses created by Wiggin, the Cheltenham and London-based alternative business structure.

Pioneering alternative business structure Knights is the latest law firm to announce its intention to float on AIM, pledging to make three acquisitions in the next two years as part of its continuing growth strategy. Once it begins trading in late June, it will become the fifth law firm to list, hot on the heels of City firm Rosenblatt.

Over a third of home movers would be prepared to pay more for a “premium customer service” from their conveyancer, according to new research that also charts how local solicitors have lost ground to licensed conveyancers and online operations. It said that many conveyancing firms were not responding quickly enough to “21st century mindsets”.

Criminal defence solicitors have questioned the unity in the profession to reform the justice system after highlighting how the Bar has asked for solicitors’ support in its fee dispute without reciprocating or involving them in the discussions.

LOD – the flexible lawyers business previously known as Lawyers On Demand – has become the latest legal business to take private equity after Bowmark Capital, which specialises in investing in growth companies, became its principal shareholder.

A shared office space in London that aims to give barristers around the country a physical presence in the capital on a pay-as-you-go basis will open shortly, Legal Futures can reveal. The venture, Barrister Hub, is a joint venture between Clerksroom and barrister-focused recruitment and consultancy business Chambers People.

A fast-growing personal pension provider has set up an alternative business structure (ABS) to provide legal services for its portfolio of more than 6,000 commercial properties. Gemma Millard, director of Rivergate Legal, said Curtis Banks had added the ABS to its panel of law firms but “ultimately” the new business could work for anybody.

A Cheshire claims management company (CMC) is training law firms on how to handle mortgage mis-selling claims, it has emerged. The ME Group, set up by non-lawyer managers from Liverpool law firm High Street Solicitors, opened for business in September last year with only five staff. It has already expanded to 110.