On the 16th February, the American Bar Association Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession today released its 2020 ABA Model Diversity Survey Report, the first report focused on diversity, equity and inclusion within law firm practices in the USA. The Model Diversity Survey (MDS), was developed in 2016, and is designed to…
Law Society of Scotland launches new Racial Inclusion Group
The Law Society of Scotland has launched a new group on Racial Inclusion, headed up by Tatora Mukushi, a solicitor with Shelter Scotland, who has been appointed as the first convener of the group. The group has been formed by the Law Society, with the goal of forming a better understanding of the lived and…
Event: The Future Is Now: Legal Services
The Future Is Now: Legal Services Tuesday, April 27 – Thursday, April 29, 2021, from 12 – 2 p.m. CDT Online The fourth annual The Future Is Now conference will bring together lawyers, judges, legal academics, entrepreneurs, and other professionals from across the U.S. and internationally. The conference will explore the interplay between the changing legal profession…
National Conference of Bar Examiners testing taskforce recommendations for next generation of bar exams
The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) testing taskforce has released preliminary recommendations as to what it feels that the next generation of bar examinations should look like. As part of its examination process, the NCBE is committed to periodic content review and design, in order to ensure high-quality licensing and examinations. The recommendations are…
Lawyer Licensing and Competence in Alberta
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…