Tag Results
Friends in high places
Monday, 18 October 2010The appointment of Nick Eastwell as the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) first City law firm adviser is “the missing link” in its approach to the City, according to SRA board chairman Charles Plant (see story) – part of the SRA’s story of evolution, I guess. This is all well and good, I suppose, but is the SRA suffering from a huge shortage of advice on how to negotiate the issues around the City? Just look at how many City solicitors are on its board.
Tags: Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
Law Society strikes deal with LSB to expand SRA board and produce solicitor/lay parity
Monday, 18 October 2010The Law Society is to enlarge the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority so as to introduce parity between the number of solicitor and lay members in a deal struck with the Legal Services Board. It follows a similar agreement between the LSB and Bar Standards Board, whose offer to introduce parity on the road to a lay majority has been accepted.
Tags: Bar Council, bar standards board, internal governance rules, Law Society, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Barristers, Legal Services Board, News, Solicitors
SRA hires former Linklaters partner as first ever City law firm adviser
Monday, 18 October 2010Former Linklaters partner Nick Eastwell was today announced as the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) first ever chief adviser on City law firms. Mr Eastwell, who spent 29 years with Linklaters, 21 as a partner, will act as a “bridgehead” between the SRA and City law firms, providing expert advice to the SRA executive and board.
Tags: Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in News, Solicitors
Consumers “shocked” to discover not all legal services providers are regulated
Sunday, 17 October 2010There is widespread ignorance of the differences between legal services providers and consumers are shocked to discover not all of them are regulated, research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found. Consumers expect “all legal service providers to be appropriately skilled, qualified and regulated” and so distinguish between providers on such things as customer service and the quality of relationships.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, reserved legal activities, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Marketing & PR, News, Regulation, Solicitors
SRA bids to hold firm line against firms doing deals that pre-empt ABSs
Monday, 11 October 2010Solicitors should not be allowed to enter into any binding contracts for the sale of a law firm to a non-lawyer investor ahead of 6 October 2011, the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority will be told this week. Certain conditional contracts should be off-limits too because they threaten the independence of law firms.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
SRA fires warning shot over uninsured firms as 47 practices close after time in ARP ends
Thursday, 7 October 2010Some 37 law firms in the assigned risks pool have closed since August, with a further 10 in the process of shutting their doors, the Solicitors Regulation Authority reported today. The firms have come to the end of the two years they were allowed to be in the pool.
Tags: assigned risks pool, professional indemnity insurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, News, Solicitors
Breaking news: hundreds of firms face ARP but not as many as expected
Monday, 4 October 2010The anticipated deluge of law firms entering the assigned risks pool has not materialised, but the numbers are still large, Legal Futures can reveal. But they will fall over the next month as firms can backdate their insurance if they find it by the end of October.
Tags: assigned risks pool, professional indemnity insurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, News, Solicitors
Who’s crazy? The LSB or me?
Thursday, 30 September 2010Is it me, or is the Legal Services Board’s suggestion that regulators should collect and publish all agreements between introducers and lawyers slightly barmy? Can you have too much transparency?
Tags: Legal Services Board, outcomes-focused regulation, referral fees, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
Law Society calls in Equality Commission to bring indemnity insurers into line
Friday, 24 September 2010The Equality and Human Rights Commission is host a meeting between the Law Society, black and minority ethnic solicitors, and professional indemnity insurers in a bid to agree a plan of action to improve insurers’ equality practices. It was called in after the Law Society judged insurers’ response to examples of alleged discrimination in the 2009 renewal process to be “wholly inadequate”.
Tags: Association of British Insurers, equality and diversity, Law Society, professional indemnity insurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, News, Solicitors
Out of the shadows, part 4
Thursday, 23 September 2010The latest part of my series looking at who is making the decisions for the legal profession reaches the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The second iteration of the board, the 16 members took over in January this year and the make-up was seen as very City-heavy to compensate for the previous board, which was thought to be too light on City understanding and representation. It has arguably gone too far the other way now.
Tags: Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog, Solicitors