Latest news – Page 686
-
News
Pannone may spin off Affinity
Manchester firm Pannone may spin off its white label legal services arm when alternative business structures are permitted and allow companies using the service to invest and share profits in the business. Pannone launched Affinity Solutions in May, providing a ‘seamless’ consumer law service to non-legal ...
-
News
Survey: UK cheapest for international arbitration
The UK is the cheapest and most popular venue for international arbitration, according to an authoritative survey published this week. Some 74% of party costs in international arbitrations are accounted for by external legal costs, and external fees are 26% higher in the rest of Europe, ...
-
News
Fixed fees to be 'renegotiated’ after referral ban
Claimant lawyers’ legal fees under the Road Traffic Accident portal scheme will have to be renegotiated as a result of the forthcoming ban on referral fees, the Ministry of Justice confirmed to the Gazette today. An MoJ spokesman said the fees, which were calculated including an ...
-
News
As a profession we are falling for the false perception that solicitors are inaccessible
The letter from Viv Williams of the 360 Legal Group (22 September) repeats the assumption that legal services need to be more accessible and friendly 'and that firms failing to adapt will get left behind'. I run a very small high street firm. We obtain constant ...
-
News
Pots and kettles
I read Guy Platt-Higgins' comments about referral fees with interest (see [2011] Gazette, 22 September, 13). I should set out my stall. I am absolutely opposed to referral fees as I consider them incompatible with a profession that holds itself out as adhering to the highest ethical standards.
-
News
IFA independence
The Financial Services Authority is in the process of adopting a new definition of independent financial advice. It has written to all of the designated professional bodies (DPBs), including the Solicitors Regulation Authority, inviting them to adopt different definitions for their own purposes if they consider this to be appropriate.
-
News
Cashflow solution?
I read in the Gazette (news, 8 September, 4) that four high street banks have agreed to help law firms that are experiencing cashflow difficulties resulting from ongoing delays in payment from the Legal Services Commission. As a partner in a niche family law practice in ...
-
News
Straw confident PI referral fees will be criminalised
Jack Straw is confident he will succeed in his high-profile bid to criminalise personal injury referral fees. The former justice secretary believes the government will amend its reforms of civil litigation to incorporate the sanction. The MP for Blackburn said yesterday that Labour’s legalisation of ...
-
News
Income rises at top 100 but ‘nervousness’ remains
Fee income at the UK’s top 100 law firms increased by 4% in the first quarter of the financial year compared with the same period in 2010, according to figures from Deloitte. But the business advisory firm warned that the figures mask continuing weakness in the ...
-
News
India's legal market set for reform
India’s £2.6bn legal services market moved a step closer to full liberalisation this week when professional bodies agreed a 'road map' for reform. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, the Law Society and the Bar Council spent three days in Delhi speaking with Indian lawyers, ministers and officials, ...
-
News
Greenwich law centre on the brink
Greenwich Community Law Centre is facing closure after the local council axed its funding. The London borough’s cabinet decided last week to discontinue an annual grant of nearly £200,000. Cash will instead be set aside for the provision of legal advice by Citizens Advice, Greenwich Housing ...
-
News
Watchdog’s warning on trading standards
Deep funding cuts to Trading Standards could see legal services neglected and leave consumers exposed to rogue operators, watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel has warned. The ‘level of detriment’ that could result and the impact on consumer confidence would make savings from slashing funding ...
-
News
Cohabitants should have scope for financial redress, says Chancery Lane
The Law Society has called for legislation to provide financial redress for cohabiting couples in the event of relationship breakdown. President John Wotton expressed disappointment at the government’s refusal to consider changing the law to protect cohabitants in the current parliamentary session. ...
-
News
Chancery Lane criticises bar’s ‘special pleading’
The Law Society has voiced concern about the Criminal Bar Association’s intention to approach the judiciary with its fears about the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). A Law Society spokesman said: ‘It is surprising that the bar should seek to involve the senior judiciary ...
-
News
High street should embrace ABSs, says regulator
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has urged high street firms to be proactive and take advantage of opportunities presented by alternative business structures. The regulator’s executive director of supervision, risks and standards, Samantha Barrass, said the SRA hopes to start registering ABSs in December. ...
-
News
‘First credible framework’ to analyse legal market
The Legal Services Board today unveiled what it described as the ‘first credible framework’ to analyse the changing legal services market. Consultancy Oxera was commissioned to help the board evaluate the impact of the Legal Services Act 2007 and the LSB itself. Its approach considers the ...
-
News
Barristers get green light to take ‘direct action’
The Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association believe it would be lawful for them to take direct action to protect members’ interests, it has emerged.
-
News
Solicitors can take technology into police custody areas
Solicitors have been given permission to take mobile phones and laptop computers into police custody areas, under an agreement reached between the Law Society and Association of Chief Police Officers. New guidance adopted by all forces in England and Wales provides that: ‘Unless there is good ...
-
News
New M&A support service for law firms launches
360 Legal Group, which has over 700 UK law firm members, has joined forces with legal recruiters Jepson Holt Consulting to launch new venture 360 Jepson Holt. The latter will offer what it claims to be the first comprehensive legal M&A support service, from pre-merger assessment ...
-
News
Dowler family urges PM to halt ‘no win, no fee’ reforms
The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler has written to David Cameron urging him to block ‘unjust and unfair’ civil justice reforms. In an open letter to the prime minister and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the family said the reforms would ‘significantly weaken’ the ‘no ...