New SRA transfer scheme

The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme for foreign lawyers seeking admission to the profession was launched this week. It includes an English language requirement.

Gloomy ABS forecast
Sixty per cent of law firms expect their businesses to suffer when alternative business structures are introduced, research by law firm comparison website LawyerLocator has found.

Transatlantic merger?
City firm Hammonds and US firm Squire Sanders
& Dempsey are in talks over a merger that would create a 1,300-lawyer transatlantic practice with combined revenues of more than £400m.

OPG seeking deputies
The Office of the Public Guardian is seeking applications from solicitors for its new approved Court of Protection Deputies panel. For more information, go to the forms and booklets page on the Office of the Public Guardian site.

Law firm network unveils TV campaign
Law firm network QualitySolicitors launched a television advertising campaign last week. It claimed the commercial was the first national primetime advertisement for general legal services, as opposed to daytime personal injury advertisements.

ILEX appointment
Ian Ashley-Smith has become the first fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives to be appointed to judicial office. He will sit as a deputy district judge on the South Eastern Circuit.