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The Law Society has called on the Legal Services Board to reject changes to the cab-rank rule in the latest stage of the long-running saga over standard contractual terms between barristers and solicitors. The society said they would have an “anti-competitive effect.

The last week has seen both a victory and a defeat for lawyer lobbying, and perhaps the most fearsome legal lobbying machine – the Bar – crank into action. The victory came in the surprise climbdown by HSBC over its restricted conveyancing panel. A global banking giant felled by a campaign spearheaded by the Law Society but with strong support from the likes of the Bold Group. It was pursued at a national level, with coverage in several national newspapers, and also at a local level, with solicitors talking to their estate agent contacts.

Would-be lawyers in New York will have to undertake 50 hours of pro bono work before they can qualify, the profession’s regulator has decided in a landmark move. It comes as 6,000 lawyers walked around London yesterday to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for legal charities.

HSBC has today caved into pressure from the Law Society and estate agents, and agreed that the 1,400 law firms operating under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme mark can act for the bank – and they will not have to work under its fixed-fee regime either.

The Legal Services Board is likely to survive the government’s triennial review of its functions largely unscathed, despite a series of attacks from those it oversees, it has emerged.