Tag Results
Consumer panel backs separate business rule with dig at the Co-op
Wednesday, 19 January 2011Law firms and alternative business structures should not be allowed to dodge regulation by establishing separate businesses to handle unreserved work, the Legal Services Consumer Panel said this week. The panel also appeared to rebuke Co-operative Legal Services – whose stated intention is to be one of the first ABSs – for calling for freedom in how businesses choose to provide unreserved work.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Consumer Panel, reserved legal activities, separate business rule, Solicitors Code of Conduct, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Consumer panel, News, Solicitors
Keeping control – managing the regulatory risks of outsourcing
Monday, 17 January 2011In the first of a two-part article, Duncan Finlyson of Legal Futures Lawyers Defence Group investigates the reasons for law firms to outsource certain functions and the regulatory issues that they throw up.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, legal process outsourcing, outsourcing, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in News, Outsourcing
The themes of 2011, part 1
Friday, 14 January 2011It is hard to resist the journalist’s natural inclination at this time of the year to fill space with predictions for the year ahead. But 2011 is a hard year to predict – 6 October is unlikely to be the big bang so beloved of headline-writers over the years (myself included), although undoubtedly some organisations will seek first-mover advantage by making announcements that day.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, bar standards board, equality and diversity, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
ABSs to face fines of up to £150m
Friday, 24 December 2010Alternative business structures face a fine up of to £150 million for misconduct or non-compliance, with a figure of £50 million for individuals working within them, under plans released by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The LSB said such large figures “will have strong deterrence in the market and avoid situations where any entity or individual may consider ‘pricing in’ non-compliance”.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News
The challenge for QualitySolicitors
Wednesday, 22 December 2010The news that QualitySolicitors (QS) had bought 10,000 TV advertising slots in November was met with disbelief by my marketing director: ‘In one month? Impossible – there’d be no room for the programmes!’
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, QualitySolicitors
Posted in Blog
BSB to give barristers greater media freedom, and introduce “unregistered barristers”
Monday, 20 December 2010Barristers should be allowed to give their own opinions to the media in cases in which they are involved, the Bar Standards Board is to recommend. It is also set to introduce the term “unregistered barrister” to denote a barrister without a practicing certificate who is providing unreserved legal services to the public or small businesses.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Bar Council, bar standards board, Barristers, reserved legal activities
Posted in Barristers, News
How not to bury bad news
Thursday, 16 December 2010I’m not sure how the Law Society Gazette was hoping to reassure solicitors with its recent story “Consumers unattracted by non-legal brands”. The headline may sound promising, but as the statistics unfold it becomes quite clear this was not a good news story for the legal profession.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures
Posted in Blog
ABS beneficial owners to be public, but those with “material interest” may not be
Monday, 13 December 2010Details 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.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News
Lessons from Australia
Monday, 13 December 2010Before we all get too excited by the thought of law firms floating next year (and I’m as bad as the next hack – I would donate a non-essential organ in return for breaking the story of the first firm here to do it), it took Slater & Gordon seven years from starting to look at its options to reach the point of listing. That doesn’t mean every firm would take so long, but it does indicate how deeply firms need to examine it. Has anyone being doing that for nearly enough time to allow them to push the button in the next year?
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, private equity, Slater & Gordon, stock market listing
Posted in Blog
No decision on will-writer regulation until 2012
Wednesday, 8 December 2010A 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.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, conveyancing, equality and diversity, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, reserved legal activities, will-writing
Posted in Consumer panel, Legal Services Board, News, Regulation