The Victoria Legal Services Board Australia, has launched a new campaign to help build trust between lawyers and those seeking legal advice. The ‘Your Right to Ask’ campaign will help those seeking legal advice to better understand their lawyer’s ethical obligations. The campaign encourages people to ask their lawyers questions to better understand their rights…
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland has set out its strategic plan 2022-2025
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland has published its strategic plan 2022-2025. This strategic plan represents its third plan since inception in 2016. The plan sets out three strategic priorities: Strategic priority 1: We will enhance operational efficiency to deliver our core regulatory operations and services effectively and independently and to identified and benchmarked…
Law Society of Scotland publishes initial AML attestation findings
The Law Society of Scotland has published its initial findings from its new AML attestation process. This is the first step in a new regime and involved selected firms to complete the new attestation document. The Law Society has found the first set of responses has highlighted some interesting points: R.21 requirements appear to be…
American Bar Association publishes bar exam pass data by ethnicity and gender
The Managing Director’s Office of the ABA Section of Legal Education has released the newest set of bar exam pass data aggregated by race, ethnicity and gender. The data from ABA approved law schools provides ultimate and first time pass grades. The charts, which are incorporated into the section’s Legal Education Statistics, include aggregate data in nine…
The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales is consulting on rules to restrict excessive fees in financial mis-selling claims
The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales is running a consultation on the wording of new rules being brought in to restrict excessive fees when claiming compensation for clients in cases of financial mis-selling. The consultation comes in the wakes of an obligation under the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 to prevent excessive…
The profession(s) engagements with LawTech: Narratives and archetypes of future law
This article argues that there are three narratives to technology’s role in augmenting, disrupting or ending the current legal services environment—each of which gives life to particular legal professional archetypes in how lawyers react to LawTech. In tracing these influential narratives and associated archetypes, we map the evolving role of LawTech, the legal profession and…
The regulation of lawyers in compliance
The field of compliance has exploded in interest, attention, and growth over recent years. It has emerged as a popular career path for those trained in the law, giving rise to an influx of job opportunities for new law school graduates and seasoned attorneys alike. Additionally, compliance has tightened the essential interplay between business and…
Legal Sector Affinity Group of the Law Society of Scotland implements updated AML guidance
The Legal Sector Affinity Group has implemented it’s updated guidance on anti-money laundering. The guidance has been approved by HM treasury. The updates reflect changes in the Money laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017. These include: Guidance on the new requirement to carry out proliferation financing risk assessments, either as part of…
State Bar of California holds public comment period for new rule on attorney misconduct reporting
The State Bar of California will hold a public comment period on the proposed new rules which would see California join the rest of the US in obligating attorneys to report misconduct by other attorneys. The State Bar has previously consulted on a rule to implement misconduct reporting, Amendment 8.3, which was returned after a…
The General Council of the Netherlands Bar presents vision on future supervision
The General Council of the Netherlands Bar has presented its vision for lawyer supervision to the Minister for Legal Protection. The General Council has proposed a national supervisory authority for the legal profession (LTA) to guarantee quality of supervision and independence from the state. The board would consist of both lawyers and lay members independent…