Tag Results

Well done to First Title Insurance for taking the plunge and entering the professional indemnity insurance (PII) market for solicitors. I say this not because the company is a Legal Futures Associate, but because there has been considerable doom and gloom about the prospect of new entrants to the market in the wake of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s decision to hold off abolishing the assigned risks pool until 2013. First Title is an interesting insurer because of its role in offering title insurance, which has always struck me as rather appealing for solicitors.

There is a strong consumer protection justification for making the whole conveyancing process a reserved legal activity, Professor Stephen Mayson has argued in the final version of his influential report on the case for reservation. He said the “guarantee” of title registration is incomplete.

The UK’s property owners face potential liabilities of more than £11.5bn as they could be held liable for cleaning up contaminated land. According to research by property search experts and Legal Futures Associate SearchFlow, 3% of all properties in the UK are affected by land contamination. Given that there are 25.6 million separate dwellings in the UK, this means 768,000 properties could be affected.

The great majority of consumers who have used legal services are satisfied with the outcome, although many do not feel they received good value for money, a survey has found. Worryingly for lawyers likely to face competition from trusted brands after October, however, it suggested significant public distrust of lawyers.

Put six lawyers in a room and you may well get nine different points of view on referral fees. But could the end be nigh for this fierce debate, which has split the profession asunder for many years? As the Legal Services Board recognised in its decision last week – and secretly probably hopes – the advent of alternative business structures could render the issue irrelevant.