Tag Results
The lessons of will-writer regulation
Friday, 15 July 2011Yesterday’s report on will-writing by the Legal Services Consumer Panel was more proof, if any were needed, that the Legal Services Act 2007 is anything but a deregulatory measure. Even the deregulation of business structures is hedged by a raft of new regulation. There are several points worth picking out of the report. First, it emphasises once more how critical reserved legal activities are to the future shape of the legal market.
Tags: Legal Services Consumer Panel, reserved legal activities, will-writing
Posted in Blog
LSB launches formal probe into regulating will-writing, probate and estate work
Thursday, 14 July 2011The Legal Services Board today launched its first statutory investigation into whether to extend the scope of regulation, after its consumer panel recommended making will-writing a reserved activity. It goes further, however, by looking at what measures are required to protect consumers in the probate and estate administration markets as well,
Tags: Institute of Professional Will-writers, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, reserved legal activities, will-writing
Posted in Consumer panel, Legal Services Board, News, Solicitors
LeO: regulation struggling to keep up with online legal services and other innovations
Wednesday, 29 June 2011The overlap between regulated and unregulated legal services is causing consumer confusion, with online services emerging as a particular problem, the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has warned. LeO said it needs more clarity about the limits of its jurisdiction as the market is already changing and innovating.
Tags: Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board, LeO, Online Legal Services, reserved legal activities
Posted in Legal Ombudsman, News, Regulation
Trying to make sense of reserved legal activities
Friday, 3 June 2011One benefit, such as it is, of being a self-confessed legal regulation nerd is that I was invited to attend a Legal Services Board/Legal Services Institute discussion on reserved legal activities the other week. It wasn’t entirely clear whether I was there as a journalist or simply as someone who has shown more interest in the topic than is strictly healthy. The event was part of the early stages of the LSB’s major project to rationalise the scope of regulation.
Tags: Legal Services Board, reserved legal activities
Posted in Blog
Top employment law advisers found to have unfairly dismissed legal staff
Friday, 27 May 2011A leading supplier of outsourced employment law services to thousands of businesses has itself been found to have unfairly dismissed three legal staff after failing to follow proper redundancy procedures.
Tags: Legal Services Board, reserved legal activities
Posted in hrtraining, News
Council for Licensed Conveyancers wins approval to become first ABS regulator
Wednesday, 11 May 2011The Legal Services Board yesterday approved the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ application to become the first licensing authority for alternative business structures, despite the opposition of the Lord Chief Justice.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, Legal Serivces Consumer Panel, Legal Services Board, Office of Fair Trading, reserved legal activities
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News, Other lawyers
Judge upbraids bank and its debt collection agency for conducting reserved activity
Tuesday, 10 May 2011A judge has criticised a Manchester debt collection agency and the bank instructing it for conducting litigation in breach of the Legal Services Act 2007, after pursuing an investigation on his own initiative.
Tags: litigation rights, reserved legal activities
Posted in News, Regulation
SRA poised to mystery shop conveyancing firms over fees and publicity
Thursday, 21 April 2011The Solicitors Regulation Authority could “mystery shop” conveyancing firms to check whether their costs information and publicity about charges are misleading, it has revealed. At the same time, the Legal Services Board announced that it is to consider a major review of conveyancing.
Tags: conveyancing, Legal Services Board, mortgage fraud, referral fees, reserved legal activities, Solicitors Regulation Authority, will-writing
Posted in News, Solicitors
LSB chief defends right to step in and push regulators – it's not "mission creep"
Friday, 15 April 2011The Legal Services Board has an “absolute right” to intervene whenever it believes frontline regulators are dragging their heels, such as acting to improve diversity, the Legal Services Board chairman, David Edmonds, told the Legal Futures conference.
Tags: ABS, advocacy, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, referral fees, reserved legal activities
Posted in Legal Services Board, News, Regulation
Panel to launch "annual health check" on success of legal services reforms
Monday, 11 April 2011A groundbreaking assessment of the progress in delivering the legal services reforms from a consumer perspective is the centrepiece of the Legal Services Consumer Panel’s plan for the forthcoming year, delegates at today’s Legal Futures Conference will hear. The idea of a “single regulatory badge” will also be floated, along with good practice standards for legal comparison websites
Tags: consumer interest, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, price comparison, reserved legal activities
Posted in Consumer panel, News