Tag Results
Good news day for solicitors: both strike-offs and negligence claims fall
Monday, 9 July 2012The number of solicitors struck off in the year to March dropped by 43%, while the number of negligence claims against solicitors reaching the High Court has also fallen, a flurry of new figures have shown.
Tags: professional negligence, Solicitors Compensation Fund, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, Latest news, Solicitors
SRA board warned over financial advice confusion
Monday, 9 July 2012Controversial proposals by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to end the requirement on practitioners to refer clients to independent financial advisers risk being misunderstood, a member of the SRA board warned last week.
Tags: financial services, Financial Services Authority, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
An open and shut case
Friday, 6 July 2012I’m feeling a rant coming on, so bear with me. In the two-plus years of this website, I have had cause to complain about the lack of transparency of many of the bodies involved in the regulation of the legal profession. I have ample cause to do so again, unfortunately. First up is the Legal Services Board, whose approach to the publication of papers and to holding open board meetings is frustrating to say the least. Well, yesterday I got the limited satisfaction of knowing that it’s not just me.
Tags: bar standards board, Council of the Inns of Court, Law Society, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
SRA: nearly half of firms began COLPs and COFAs process in first month
Friday, 6 July 2012Nearly half of all law firms have so far “engaged with the process” of appointing their COLPs and COFAs, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has revealed. Separately it laid out its imminent plans to survey every law firm about staff diversity.
Tags: COFA, COLP, compliance officer for finance and administration, compliance officer for legal practice, diversity, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Cost of practising as a solicitor to rise well above inflation
Friday, 6 July 2012The cost of practising as a solicitor will rise well above inflation this year, mainly to ensure the Law Society has the funds to compensate the victims of fraud, but also to make up the cost of IT project overruns.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Board, practising certificate fee, Solicitors Compensation Fund, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
LSB gets clean bill of health but idea of ‘super regulator’ remains on the horizon
Thursday, 5 July 2012The Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints were today given a clean bill of health by the government, although it acknowledged that in the long term transforming the LSB into a ‘super regulator’ is an option.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, bar standards board, Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Office for Legal Complaints, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board
Law Society budgets for £10m deficit as Hudson receives 6.8% pay rise
Thursday, 5 July 2012IT project “cost overruns” have contributed to the Law Society budgeting for a £10m deficit this year, it has emerged. The 2011 accounts also reveal that chief executive Des Hudson received a 6.8% pay rise last year to £407,000 in total.
Tags: Law Society, practising certificate, practising certificate fee, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
SRA grants waivers to three ABSs and warns applicants over timetable for approval
Tuesday, 3 July 2012Three of the seven ABSs so far approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority have been granted waivers as part of their applications, it has emerged. It also warned applicants who may have tight timescales for approval that it will not guarantee to meet them.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Co-op, separate business rule, Solicitors Code of Conduct, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Latest news
SRA mulls dropping requirement on solicitors to refer clients to IFAs
Tuesday, 3 July 2012The Solicitors Regulation Authority is set to recommend dropping the controversial ban on practitioners referring clients to tied financial advisers. Solicitors would instead have to ensure that the client is involved in the decision-making process that goes into any referral.
Tags: code of conduct, financial services, Financial Services Authority, OFR, outcomes-focused regulation, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Law Society to be spared annual internal governance check – because it is bound to fail
Tuesday, 3 July 2012The Law Society will not be required to certify its compliance with the rules on internal governance because it is bound to fail the test, the Legal Services Board has decided. The board said the new governance arrangements are “somewhat fragile”.
Tags: internal governance rules, Law Society, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Legal Services Board, Solicitors