The Lawyer Competence Committee (LCC) has been working with legal analyst, Jordan Furlong, on a report and recommendations for lawyer licensing and competence in Alberta. The report was approved by the Committee at their Bencher meeting on December 3rd 2020. Work is now underway to prioritise the recommendations, as well as consider resourcing, timelines for…
Legal Services Board annual regulatory performance review pushes improvements in performance and governance
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published annual reports on the performance of the eight legal services regulatory bodies. Each one of the eight providers regulates a different type of lawyer in England and Wales, and has control over its day to day operations. However under the Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act), they have…
Legal Services Board Consultation on legal sector strategy
The Legal Services Board (LSB) is seeking views on its draft strategy for the legal services sector and on its draft business plan 2021-22. Welcoming responses to the consultation by 5 February 2021. The consultation is as follows: Draft Strategy for the Legal Services Sector In November 2020, we published our State of Legal Services…
UK Competition and Markets Authority review of legal services market
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has released an updated report based on its initial findings on the legal services market published in 2016. The report recognises the improvements that have been made in increasing the transparency of the price, service and quality of legal services, but said there was more to do to increase…
Solicitors Regulation Authority publishes data on the profile of solicitors in its enforcement processes
As part of its wider work on providing clear reporting on the operational aspects of its work, the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales (SRA) have published their second annual report on their enforcement activities. The ‘Upholding Professional Standards’ report summarises the handling of over 9,500 reports and 3,600 investigations in the 2018/19 period….
Netherlands and Denmark both considering changes to non-lawyer ownership rules
Both the Netherlands and Denmark have made announcements signalling a move towards implementing non-lawyer ownership. The Netherlands Bar Association (NOvA) has announced a 5-year experiment, which would allow lawyers in the non-lawyer run SRK legal aid organisation to deliver non-legal services. NOvA has said that the move is coming as part of a broader investigation…
Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland consultation on admissions
The Legal Services Regulation Authority of Ireland (LSRA) preparing and submitting its statutorily required annual report for the Minister for Justice an on admission policies into the legal professions. The report will contain the following elements: (a) the number of persons admitted to practise as solicitors during 2020; (b) the number of persons admitted to…
ABA issues new guidance on navigating model rules remotely
On the 16th December 2020 the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released a formal opinion to help lawyers to better understand the application of model rules to lawyers practising remotely, this is particularly for those working from jurisdictions in which they are not licensed. Formal Opinion 495 provides guidance…
Solicitor’s Regulation Authority conference on upcoming qualification changes
The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority of England and Wales (SRA) has published video recordings of its 2020 conference on the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). The SQE is a new qualification system being implemented in England and Wales over the course of this year. Conference topics included provider and firm strategies around the changes, changes to qualifying…
Updated UK national risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing
The UK Treasury has published an updated UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. This follows the previous update from October 2017 and sets out the key money laundering and terrorist financing risks for the UK, and how these have developed since the first publication in 2015. Specifically, chapter 10 documents the…