The Legal Services Board of England and Wales (LSB) has released a new blog alongside a newly commissioned report on ongoing competence. The blog highlights the fact that ‘the LSB’s work on ongoing competence is central to its regulatory objective to protect and promote the interests of consumers. Consumers should be able to trust that…
New Zealand Law Society consultation on lawyer behaviour rules
The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa is calling for feedback on new draft guidance designed to support the legal profession to comply with new rules governing the behaviour of lawyers. The amended rules clarify the standards of behaviour expected of lawyers when engaging with clients, colleagues and others, with an…
New lawyers in Alberta to be automatically enrolled in mentoring programme
Following the approval of 2020 recommendations by the Alberta Benchers, focused on enhancing lawyer competence in the province; the Law Society has implemented a new programme whereby newly qualified lawyers will automatically be registered for mentorship. The programme has arisen from the fact that one of the recommendations in the report was to encourage all…
Singapore to expand permitted categories for third party funding
The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has approved changes that will be implemented on the 28th June, which will see the third-party funding (TPF) framework widened to allow for the inclusion of domestic arbitration proceedings, certain proceedings in the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), and related mediation proceedings. The new funding options offer businesses an alternative…
Canadian Bar Association launches truth and reconciliation toolkit for law firms
In June 2021, the Canadian Bar Assocation (CBA) is launching a Truth and Reconciliation toolkit, focused on large Candaian law firms, and helping them to reconcile and renew relationships with indigenous communities in Canada. The toolkit is aimed at firms that are already on a reconciliation journey or would like to begin one, and firms…
Top jurists call for regulatory change to increase access to justice
During the 9th June ABA discussion on regulatory change, Vice Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer of the Arizona Supreme Court stated that despite decades of efforts to encourage practising lawyers to perform a minimum of 50 pro bono hours annually to increase access to justice, minimal results have been achieved. Timmer is part of…
New ‘Senior Counsel’ title approved for use in Ireland
A total of 37 legal practitioners in Ireland will be permitted to use the title ‘Senior Counsel’ following the Government’s approval of recommendations from the Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence. Approval was granted on the 15th June 2021, with the group made up of 25 barristers and 17 solicitors, who will…
Legal Services Board of England and Wales consultation on new processes for changing regulatory arrangements
The Legal Services Board of England and Wales (LSB) has launched a consultation examing proposed new rules and guidance for alterations to regulatory arrangements. The LSB is considering the rule changes as part of its statutory functions in assessing applications from the nine different regulatory bodies in England and Wales to alter their regulatory arrangements….
Canada launches national wellbeing study of legal professionals
A partnership of the different Canadian law societies, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and the Université de Sherbrooke is coming together for a first-of-its-kind national study on the well-being of legal professionals. The study is based on the fact that legal practitioners are amongst the grouping of professionals most…
Law Society of Scotland to manage new legal aid trainee fund
On the 3rd of June the Scottish Government launched a new £1 million fund to support legal aid traineeships in Scotland, the fund and application will be managed by the Law Society of Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. The fund will provide support for up to 40 new legal aid trainees, paying for…