Tag Results
SRA in “serious discussions” with 15 would-be ABSs
Thursday, 27 October 2011The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is in “serious discussions” with just 15 potential alternative business structures (ABSs), it has emerged. According to the SRA, six different types of organisation have so far shown official interest in becoming ABSs.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Market monitor, News
Indemnity insurers face obligation to keep quotes open and provide credit rating
Thursday, 27 October 2011Professional indemnity insurers will have to leave quotations open for at least five days and provide information about their credit ratings under plans being considered by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Voiding policies is also back on the agenda.
Tags: assigned risks pool, professional indemnity insurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, News, Solicitors
SRA to roll out relationship management to all big firms
Monday, 24 October 2011The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to roll out supervision of large City and national law firms through relationship management after a successful pilot. The year-long pilot also highlighted outsourcing as an issue to which the SRA needs to pay particular attention.
Tags: outsourcing, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in News, Outsourcing, Solicitors
News in brief: SRA renewals delay, referral fee “ignorance”, and much more
Monday, 24 October 2011Our regular round-up of news you need to know includes the appeal court quashing an ILEX disciplinary ruling, delays for solicitors renewing practising certificates, a survey of young drivers on referral fees, a survey finding support for outsourcing and much more besides.
Tags: fixed fees, ILEX, ILEX Professional Standards, Law Society, Legal Services Board, outsourcing, professional indemnity insurance, qualified lawyers transfer scheme, referral fees, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Legal Executives, Legal Services Board, News, News In Brief, Outsourcing, Solicitors
“Inexcusable” ABS delay could cost law firms dear, corporate finance expert warns
Friday, 21 October 2011The “inexcusable delay” in enabling the Solicitors Regulatory Authority to start licensing alternative business structures could make private investors think twice about entering the legal sector, the Legal Futures conference heard this week.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, external investment, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News
Government rejects profession’s call for convictions check on all ABS partners
Thursday, 20 October 2011The government has rejected a call from the legal profession that partners in alternative business structures should have to disclose all convictions and cautions, even if spent. But the SRA is still on track to start licensing ABSs in early 2012.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, bar standards board, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, Law Society, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Regulation
Education and training review “may not report until 2013”, Potter admits
Monday, 17 October 2011The legal education and training review, commissioned by the three main frontline legal regulators in November 2010, may not produce its final report until some point in 2013, it has emerged. Meanwhile, the academic body contracted to provide research has shut down, but the work will continue.
Tags: bar standards board, ILEX Professional Standards, legal education and training review, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Barristers, Legal Executives, News, Solicitors
QASA set for April as regulators prepare for judges not doing their bit
Monday, 17 October 2011The controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) will now go live in April 2012, it emerged last week. We can also reveal that contingency plans have been drawn up for the judiciary not playing its expected role in QASA.
Tags: advocacy, bar standards board, ILEX Professional Standards, Joint Advocacy Group, Legal Services Board, Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Barristers, Legal Executives, News, Regulation, Solicitors
The ticking bomb of referral fees
Wednesday, 12 October 2011There is an interesting game of pass the parcel going on over referral fees right now – made more interesting by the fact that the parcel is ticking loudly. The Ministry of Justice wants paying referral fees to be a regulatory offence, while the regulators want it to be a criminal offence – nobody wants the blame when the ban proves impossible to enforce.
Tags: claims management companies, referral fees, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
Djanogly: paying referral fees to be a regulatory offence
Wednesday, 12 October 2011The ban on referral fees will not be a criminal offence and is to be enforced by the legal profession’s regulators instead, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly announced yesterday. Work is also underway to cut the £1,200 payable to solicitors under the RTA portal.
Tags: Alternative business structures, referral fees, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News