Tag Results
Regulators “failing consumers” by not cracking down on bad pricing practices
Wednesday, 25 July 2012Frontline legal regulators have failed to involve consumers when designing their policies and must in future target resources on improving “bad pricing practices”, according to the Legal Services Consumer Panel.
Tags: conveyancing, fixed fees, Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, LeO, probate, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Consumer panel, Latest news
Cracking the whip
Tuesday, 24 July 2012It has been gratifying that both the national and legal media have at last caught up with the series of revelations that Legal Futures has been reporting on since March over problems with the Bar’s disciplinary regime. Last week, suddenly, it featured on the Today programme, as well as in The Times, which in turn woke up some legal rags to what has been happening.
Tags: bar standards board, COIC, Council of the Inns of Court, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
Government u-turn on scrapping criminal sanctions for breaches of money laundering regulations
Friday, 20 July 2012The government has changed its mind over scrapping more than two dozen money laundering offences that can penalise lawyers for minor rule breaches, but has emphasised that minor failures should not lead to prosecution.
Tags: anti-money laundering, Law Society, money laundering, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
File reviews – are they really necessary?
Thursday, 19 July 2012Since the introduction of the SRA Handbook, firms have been asking whether they should introduce or improve a file review system. Corinne Staves, a senior associate at Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, considers the issues.
Tags: authorisation rules, COLP, compliance officer for legal practice, OFR, outcomes-focused regulation, Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA Handbook
Posted in Features, Latest news, Solicitors
Compliance officers – lambs to the slaughter?
Tuesday, 17 July 2012Anthony Townsend, chief executive of the SRA, is quoted as saying that “compliance officers cannot be sacrificial lambs. You can’t just shuffle off responsibility for compliance”. ‘You’ here means the management and it begs an obvious question: if management can’t shuffle off its responsibilities for compliance, why have compliance officers at all?
Tags: COFA, COLP, compliance officer for finance and administration, compliance officer for legal practice, Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA Handbook
Posted in associate news
LSB "putting too much weight" on solicitors' poor score in will-writing mystery shopping
Tuesday, 17 July 2012Concerns over the standard of will-writing by solicitors are based on limited evidence and the Solicitors Regulation Authority should not have to prove its ability to regulate such work, the Law Society has claimed.
Tags: estate administration, Law Society, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, probate, reserved legal activities, Solicitors Regulation Authority, will-writing
Posted in Latest news, Legal Services Board, Solicitors
QASA consultation reveals youth court shift as solicitors express continuing concerns
Friday, 13 July 2012A final consultation on the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates has been amended at the last minute to take into account objections raised by the board of the Bar Standards Board.
Tags: advocacy, bar standards board, Barristers, Joint Advocacy Group, Law Society, QASA, Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, solicitor-advocates, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Barristers, Latest news, Solicitors
In brief: ABS-in-waiting unveils strong results, barrister libel ruling, and much more
Thursday, 12 July 2012Our latest news round-up reports on big turnover and profit increases at Quindell, a High Court ruling on the absolute privilege of correspondence with a regulator, new equality rules for chambers and much more.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, bar standards board, equality and diversity, joint representation, Legal Services Consumer Panel, separate representation, Solicitors Regulation Authority, will-writing
Posted in Latest news, News In Brief
Judges “warming up” to QASA as row over solicitor-advocates rumbles on
Monday, 9 July 2012There are more positive messages from the judiciary that they will take part in the new Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, and they are relaxed about the prospect of assessments being used for appeals against conviction, it was claimed last week.
Tags: bar standards board, ILEX Professional Standards, QASA, Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Fancy joining the SRA board? Recruitment starts to introduce lay majority for first time
Monday, 9 July 2012The introduction of a lay majority on the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority moved a step closer yesterday after an advertisement for four new lay members and two solicitor members was published.
Tags: internal governance rules, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors