“In Jeffrey Jones v SoS for Energy and Climate Change [2012] EWHC 2936 (QB) the High Court considered the use of credit agreements between a law firm and its clients.”
New Law Journal, 13th May 2013
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
Khans Solicitors (a firm) v Chifuntwe and another [2013] EWCA Civ 481; [2013] WLR (D) 167
“The court would intervene to protect a solicitor’s claim on funds recovered or due to be recovered by a client or former client if the paying party was on notice that the other party’s solicitor had a claim on the funds for outstanding fees.”
WLR Daily, 8th May 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“Family lawyers offering ‘pay as you go’ legal services are warned of the risks they carry and how to avoid them in a practice note published today by the Law Society. The note has been published to assist solicitors seeking to offer a more affordable service by allowing the client to deal with some aspects of their case themselves. It deals particularly with family law cases, following the removal of legal aid for most private law family matters on 1 April and is aimed primarily at those offering face-to-face client work.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 1st May 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The Law Society’s chief executive has urged super-regulator the Legal Services Board to delay implementation of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA), in recognition of the ‘profound shifts and uncertainties’ afflicting criminal practitioners.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 1st May 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The LexisNexis Bellwether Report, Survive or Thrive?, takes the temperature of independent lawyers, sole practitioners and owner/lawyers in smaller law firms, to see how they are dealing with the current financial, regulatory and legal climate.”
Legal Week, 17th April 2013
Source: www.legalweek.com
“The Legal Ombudsman (‘LeO’) publishes brief summaries of its decisions on its website. Where awards have been made against lawyers to date the amounts have usually been very modest: hundreds rather than thousands of pounds. There has not been much for lawyers or their insurers to worry about. But things could be about to change.”
Full story (PDF)
4 New Square, 21st March 2013
Source: www.4newsquare.com
“While there is little public sympathy for solicitors the truth is that people will soon find it harder to claim compensation.”
The Guardian, 21st March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“What many personal injury (PI) firms have long feared is finally upon us, and there is no turning back.”
Legal Futures, 14th March 2013
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
“The 1 April Jackson reforms start date is creating a ‘hump’ of conditional fee agreement (CFA) cases that will take years to clear the courts, a leading clinical negligence barrister has predicted.”
Litigation Futures, 7th March 2013
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
“A professional indemnity (PI) insurer was wrong to reject a law firm’s blanket notification of possible claims, the High Court has decided in what is believed to be the first ruling of its kind.”
Legal Futures, 5th February 2013
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
“Stephensons Solicitors, a leading legal aid firm in the north-west, secured approval as an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) early in the new year, and has already appointed its first non-lawyer partner.”
LegalVoice, 17th January 2013
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
“A report setting out findings from a survey of solicitors’ firms commissioned jointly by the Law Society, Legal Services Board and Ministry of Justice.”
Ministry of Justice, January 2013
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“City law firms are exploring ways to remove barriers that prevent students from lower-income backgrounds pursuing a career in law.”
The Guardian, 5th January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Controversy still rages over whether the Jackson reforms are a coherent set of proposals that will rebalance a system where claims and costs are out of control, or if they represent an assault on access to justice for people whom ‘no win, no fee’ represents the only hope of redress for a wrong inflicted on them.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 13th December 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.gov.uk
“Lawyers could be disciplined for not disclosing ‘all material facts’ in legal bids to halt removal of asylum seekers, a senior judge has said.”
BBC News, 19th November 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A former Court of Appeal judge earlier this week called for lawyers who pay or receive ‘corrupt’ referral fees to be reported to the police. Lord Justice Hooper told the bar conference that the growth of referral fees, which ‘corruptly’ influence the choice of trial advocate, is the most pernicious consequence of the government’s ‘savage’ legal aid cuts.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 15th November 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“A survey shows that most law firms have not planned to change their pro bono activity to respond to the cuts in legal aid.”
The Guardian, 6th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The tough economic climate, coupled with the threat to frontline advice agencies from local authority and legal aid cuts, has dramatically increased demand for free legal help. National Pro Bono Week, which starts on 5 November, will focus attention on the question ‘is something better than nothing?’ as law firms of all sizes explore how they can best respond, and in-house counsel press for regulatory change so they can offer more pro bono support.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 25th October 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
