Tag Results
SRA uses new power to publicly rebuke and fine solicitor for first time
Monday, 14 March 2011The Solicitors Regulation Authority has used its power to fine solicitors for the first time, Legal Futures can reveal. A sole practitioner was given a written rebuke and fined £1,000 for failing to comply with an undertaking.
Tags: Solicitors Code of Conduct, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in News, Solicitors
Consumer confusion boosts case for strict controls over unreserved work
Monday, 14 March 2011New consumer research from the Solicitors Regulation Authority has strengthened the case for stringent controls of law firms and alternative business structures which seek to hive off unreserved legal work to an unregulated business.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, reserved legal activities, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority, unregulated providers
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Revealed: solicitors set for poll in last-ditch bid to derail SRA as ABS regulator
Thursday, 10 March 2011Sole practitioners are set to requisition a special general meeting of the Law Society and a postal vote of all solicitors in a bid to overturn Chancery Lane’s support for alternative business structures (ABSs) and wreck the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become an ABS regulator, Legal Futures can reveal.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Solicitors repay £10m to miners as compensation scandal nears end
Monday, 7 March 2011Solicitors have repaid nearly £10m to miners who had sums wrongly deducted from their damages, Legal Futures can reveal. The Legal Complaints Service has now closed the last complaint arising from the miners compensation scandal ahead of its formal shut-down this month.
Tags: complaints, Legal Complaints Service, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in News, Solicitors
SRA: impact of ABSs on small firms may not be as bad as feared
Monday, 7 March 2011Alternative business structures (ABSs) “may not be as big a threat” to small firms as some fear, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has suggested. A draft impact assessment also argued that ABSs could help equality and diversity in the legal profession by breaking the traditional partnership model that has held it back.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, equality and diversity, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Ombudsman criticises insurance exclusion approved by the LSB last year
Friday, 4 March 2011The Legal Ombudsman has criticised changes to the minimum terms and conditions for solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance that were approved by its parent Legal Services Board just last year.
Tags: Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board, professional indemnity insurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Board, News
Lenders tell SRA: it’s too late to exclude our claims this year
Thursday, 3 March 2011Removing financial institutions from compulsory professional indemnity insurance cover will cause “serious detriment to clients and solicitors” if it is forced through this year as planned, mortgage lenders have warned.
Tags: professional indemnity insurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, News, Solicitors
Better the ABS devil you know?
Thursday, 3 March 2011“Better the devil you know” is the phrase I keep hearing on the subject of whether the Law Society council will approve the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become an alternative business structure licensing authority.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
SRA will reject restrictions on its ability to regulate ABSs, says Townsend
Wednesday, 2 March 2011The Solicitors Regulation Authority will rebuff any efforts to restrict its ability to regulate alternative business structures (ABSs) that are 100% owned by non-lawyers, its chief executive has said. There are suggestions of a compromise on its ABS licensing application that would mean the SRA not regulating ABSs that are wholly externally owned, at least initially.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News, Solicitors
Board hikes maximum ABS fine to £250m
Tuesday, 1 March 2011The maximum fine for misdemeanours by alternative business structures should be £250m, the Legal Services Board has decided, having considered the amounts of money made by some law firms out of miners’ compensation claims.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News