Edinburgh, Wednesday, 25 March 2020 This conference will discuss the next steps for legal services in Scotland. Delegates will examine: Major proposals for regulatory reform; The sector’s international competitiveness going forward; and The impact of innovation in legal technology. The conference includes a ministerial contribution – and will be an opportunity to discuss the issues as…
The future of legal services in England and Wales – regulation, consumer protection and responding to innovation
Morning, Tuesday, 25th February 2020 Cavendish Conference Auditorium 22 Duchess Mews, Marylebone, London, W1G THIS EVENT IS CPD CERTIFIED This conference focuses on the future regulation of legal services in England and Wales. It will be an opportunity to discuss the recently published interim report of the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation and look ahead to the…
International women in law research project
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of England and Wales is flagging an ‘International women in law’ research project and questionnaire, which may interest ICLR members. The project is striving to address one of the main issues faced by women globally, which is the lack of support available to them within the legal sector. This research builds…
Ethics and in house lawyers
A survey of 400 in-house lawyers, carried out by law professors from Exeter University and University College London in collaboration with flexible legal services provider Lawyers on Demand, has revealed that a third of in-house lawyers are sometimes placed in difficult moral positions. The research found that: 32% were asked ‘to advise or assist on things that made…
New Zealand Law Society is reviewing its structure and function
The New Zealand Law (NZLS) is commissioning an independent review of its structure and function. This review is necessary because the Law Society is of the opinion that the current Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 constrains its ability to be transparent about the complaints procedure, and to deal with a broad range of unacceptable behaviour, including…
LSRA announces the introduction of LLPs in Ireland and new complaints procedure
Law firms in Ireland are now able to set up limited liability partnerships (LLPs), following the commencement of a section of the 2015 Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) Act. As of October, the LSRA also took on responsibility for the complaints procedure governing solicitors and barristers in Ireland. Complaints made prior to October against solicitors and barristers…
BSB modernises its regulatory decision-making
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has taken a number of steps to modernise its regulatory decision-making. Recent changes include: A new edition of its handbook – introducing new Enforcement Decision Regulations The establishment of a new Independent Decision-making Body (IDB) The creation of a new Independent Reviewer role to carry out requests for the review of individual decisions The launch of…
Report finds improvement in gender gap in barrister briefings
The Law Council of Australia has just published its Equitable Briefing Policy Annual Report for the 2017-2018 Financial Year. The report shows that female barristers are starting to receive more briefs and are more often recommended for work by their colleagues in new or current matters, however, they still lag behind male colleagues when it comes…
Reasonable adjustments in the provision of legal services: a report for the Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Competition and Markets Authority reported in 2016 that one of the major barriers to accessing and understanding legal services was a general lack of accessibility, particularly in how information is presented and shared. Charities such as Citizens Advice and Age UK have suggested that this is of particular concern regarding people who, due to…
SRA to increase AML checks on law firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that they will be increasing checks on law firms after it found that 21 percent of the 400 firms consulted were not complying with anti-money laundering regulations. The majority of firms were using templates and these firms’ risk assessments were generally of lower quality as firms appeared to take…