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LCS reveals plans to publish
complaints The Legal
Complaints Service (LCS) is to press ahead with plans to publish detailed
information on upheld, adjudicated complaints against solicitors and keep it
on public record for three years, the Gazette has learned. Ahead of
Thursday’s launch of the second phase of its consultation on publishing
solicitor complaints, the LCS chief executive said publication was its
preferred option. She added that it was in the consumer interest and would
act as a kind of league table for the profession. Deborah Evans said: ‘Such
a tool would be fantastic for the consumer, but we also believe it would
improve standards within the profession. It would shape the profession in
the same way that this kind of proposal has shaped and driven demand in
schools.’ The LCS plans to publish complaints on its website against the
name of the firm and/or individual practitioners. Paper copies of complaints
would be available via email or telephone request. |
Law Society Gazette |
01 Feb 2008 |
Public shame for lawyers who
break the rules
Thousands of solicitors who are
found guilty each year of a range of crimes and misdemeanours, from ignoring
letters to plundering clients’ money, are to be identified publicly.
Solicitors in England and Wales found guilty of breaching professional rules
will be listed on a Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority (SRA) website open to
the public. The move took effect at the start of the year and is the latest
initiative by the SRA, which is responsible for the training, standards and
discipline of 100,000 solicitors. Details are expected to appear at the end
of this month. The Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal, which deals with the
most serious cases of misconduct, publishes its findings. By the end of this
year it will have dealt with more than 300 cases, 20 per cent up on last
year. But hundreds more solicitors are disciplined by the authority for
lesser offences of misconduct, which are dealt with privately. In the past
12 months from November 2006 1,984 solicitors had conditions put on their
practising certificates and 351 were given warnings, rebukes and reprimands. |
Times Online |
03 Jan 2008 |
Legal Services Bill gets House
of Lords' blessing The Bar
Council and Law Society welcomed the House of Lords' approval of the Legal
Services Bill last Thursday (25 October). Law Society president Andrew
Holroyd said the bill, once it receives Royal Assent later this week, will
create a foundation for the future of the legal profession. "The Legal
Services Bill has changed much since it was first published last December,
and changed for the better," said Holroyd. "We had many doubts then, but now
we can safely say it provides a workable basis for achieving Sir David
Clementi's aims of modernising the regulatory structure." |
The Lawyer |
29 Oct 2007 |
Need legal advice? Try a
website that's laying down the law on costs
A new 'lawyer supermarket' offers quotes for services from conveyancing
to getting a divorce. Sean Coughlan puts it to the test
The concept of the price comparison website is being applied to lawyers -
casting light on that most difficult of legal questions: "How much will it
cost?"
Since many people only use a lawyer infrequently, when they do have to look
for legal advice it's difficult to know what constitutes a fair price and
what is a rip-off. And for anyone beginning legal proceedings, there is a
worry about the size of the final bill. But a new website,
takelegaladvice.com, is aiming to drag prices into the open. It is
offering an online quote for law firms, much in the way financial services
websites do for insurance, mortgages or personal loans. It's a kind of
lawyer supermarket. |
Guardian |
21 Oct 2007 |
SRA scheme to bypass tribunal
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a system that will
allow investigations against solicitors to be settled without turning to the
Tribunals Service.
The scheme will allow for settlements in scenarios similar to that of the
conflicts investigation into Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s former
corporate chief Barry O’Brien over his role in the firm’s decision to accept
a conflicted instruction bidding for Marks & Spencer. In O’Brien’s case the
investigation took three years, but under the new scheme the inquiry would
have been significantly shorter as O’Brien was willing to apologise for his
error and pay the pentalty, in that case £9,000 plus £50,000 costs. |
The Lawyer See also:
Legal Week |
10 Oct 2007 |
Take note, absolutely everyone
This week solicitors will receive the Law Society’s Money Laundering
Practice Note – its guidance to law firms on coping with the new
money-laundering regulations 2007 that take effect in mid-December. |
Times Online |
03 Sep 2007 |
Scotland must prepare for
Clementi 2007 is an important
year for Scottish lawyers. It has seen the passing into law of the Legal
Professions and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act and it will in all probability see
the passing into law of the Legal Services Bill. While the Legal Services
Bill will have direct effect only in England and Wales, these effects will
be felt far beyond those confines. Is the Law Society of Scotland aware of
these issues? And is it doing anything to take the matter forward? The short
answer is yes, the society is working very hard on a number of projects.
Chief among those are the work on standards and the work on alternative
business structures (ABSs). So far as standards are concerned, we recognise
that the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission does pose a challenge to the
profession to raise its game. We happen to think that standards in the
profession are already high, but we would never rest on our laurels, even if
there had been no criticism levelled at us. |
The Lawyer |
06 Aug 2007 |
The Home office is no more.
My appetite for such matters, whilst not yet suffering from a surfeit of
music or lampreys, is sorely tested notwithstanding. Will loyal readers
therefore excuse my delegating this matter to a certain search engine? Your
feedback will be noted, appreciated, but not necessarily acknowledged. UJ |
The Home Office (Adjust the
settings accordingly - read the options...) |
08 May 2007 |
New bar association launched
to raise direct access awareness
A new barristers' association is to be launched to promote direct access to
the bar. The Public Access Bar Association (PABA) will aim to encourage the
Bar Council to improve public awareness of the option to instruct a
barrister before using a solicitor. PABA will represent the hundreds of
barristers who registered in July 2004 to take on work directly from the
public without having to go through a law firm. Marc Beaumont of Windsor
Chambers, the acting PABA chairman pending committee appointments, said that
there is a high level of public ignorance when it comes to direct access. |
The Lawyer |
30 Apr 2007 |
SRA wheels out new solicitors
Code of Conduct The new-look
Solicitors Code of Conduct will come into effect from 1 July, 2007, the
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced today (19 March). The new
guidelines will replace the Law Society’s old Guide to the Professional Code
of Conduct for Solicitors and comprise 25 non-mandatory rules for practising
solicitors and law firm managers. Lawyers will be encouraged to access the
latest version of the code online after it received final ministerial
approval this week. Under the reforms, law firms will be required to replace
the phrase ‘Regulated by the Law Society’ on their notepaper with the new
wording ‘Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority’. |
Legal Week |
20 Mar 2007 |
Big Bang put on hold as Legal
Services Bill delayed till 2010
The Legal Services Bill is unlikely to come into force before 2010 in a move
that will raise questions over the future of the UK profession’s much-hyped
‘Big Bang’ law reforms. The Bill is set to receive Royal Assent this autumn
and had been expected to come into force during 2008-09, making the UK by
far the most liberal legal services market in the world. However,
Parliamentary under-secretary of state for constitutional affairs Bridget
Prentice this month conceded in a meeting with the Bar Standards Board that
the closely-watched legislation is unlikely to be implemented until 2010 at
the earliest. A spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA)
this week said that the Bill was generally expected to come into force “two
to three years” after Royal Assent. Unofficially, the DCA has indicated that
the Bill is unlikely to come into force until 2011. |
Legal Week |
16 Mar 2007 |
Legal aid review plan
published The government is
due to publish proposals which are likely to dramatically reshape the legal
aid system in England and Wales. Ministers hope the reform will save £100
million a year. Under the new plans, lawyers would bid for all legal aid
work generated by groups of police stations, rather than be paid by the
hour. The plans are already facing opposition from the legal profession
which says they would put people out of work. |
BBC |
28 Nov 2006 |
Government unveils
long-awaited Legal Services Bill
The Government today (24
November) published its controversial Legal Services Bill, signalling the
onset of a radical shake-up that promises to make the UK the most liberal
legal market in the world. The long-awaited legislation, which was formally
announced yesterday in the House of Lords and is expected to take effect
from 2008, green-lights radical plans for Alternative Business Structures
allowing law firms to form practices with other professionals, such as
barristers and accountants, and attract external investment. |
Legal Week |
24 Nov 2006 |
Lawyers welcome landmark libel
ruling By Michael Herman
Read the judgment in full
Media lawyers in London today welcomed the law lords' rejection of Jameel v
Wall Street Journal Europe, saying it would strengthen "serious",
investigative journalism carried out in the public interest.
Mark Stephens, a partner at Finers Stephens Innocent and a
Times Online columnist, who represented the Wall Street Journal
Europe, said: "For too long the libel courts have treated Reynolds'
ten factors as ten trip wires for the media, rendering the defence a snare
and an illusion. "The law lords today have balanced the right to know by
allowing responsibly published libellous information to be protected
provided it is reported in a matter of public interest. This is a decision
which will free responsible investigative journalists from threats of
libel." |
Times Online |
11 Oct 2006 |
Legal aid shake-up could force
800 firms to close, report claims
As many as 800 law firms – double the number originally predicted – could be
forced out of business as a result of the biggest shake-up of the legal aid
system in 50 years creating a shortage in the market, a new study has
predicted. An independent analysis of the reforms by LECG, an economic
consultancy, found that "a minimum of about 800" firms would have to merge
into larger practices in order to survive once the Carter proposals are
implemented. Lord Carter of Coles, who unveiled the reforms in July,
predicted that around 400 firms would have to merge or disband. The reforms
call for a wide-ranging overhaul to the £2.1 billion a year publicly funded
legal aid system aimed at saving at least £100 million annually. The most
controversial change, replacing hourly solicitors’ fees with fixed or
graduated payments, is likely to force small firms that rely on criminal
legal aid work out of business. |
Times Online |
26 Sep 2006 |
Solicitors
face tough drive over competence
HUNDREDS of secret disciplinary hearings held each year against solicitors
are expected to go public, in a drive to rid the profession of poor
standards and dishonesty. At the same time, solicitors could face regular
“MoT” tests in the shape of competence checks — to ensure, in the vogue
words of the Home Secretary, that they are “fit for purpose”..."Last year,
of 594 adjudications held after a complaint about a solicitor, the society
made 222 decisions to reprimand or severely reprimand 139 solicitors. The
more serious cases, where conditions are attached to a solicitor’s
practising certificate, are already made public to people who inquire." (It
just ain't gonna happen. UJ) |
Times Online |
01 Aug 2006 |
Lawyers face prospect of
competence checks Solicitors
could face competence checks as the Law Society Regulation Board seeks to
crack down on poor practice. Antony Townsend, the Law Society’s first chief
executive for regulation, told the Gazette that ‘the focus on continuing
professional competence is something all regulators ought to be involved
in’. The development follows government plans for five-yearly MOT-style
checks for doctors, based on appraisals. |
Law Society Gazette |
28 Jul 2006 |
A&O loses 170,000 files in
warehouse inferno A huge
warehouse blaze in East London has destroyed hundreds of thousands of legal
documents belonging to a number of top City firms. Allen & Overy (A&O),
Norton Rose and Simmons & Simmons lost a huge number of files in last
Wednesday night's (12 July) fire at a document storage warehouse belonging
to Canada's Iron Mountain, on Twelvetrees Crescent in Bromley-by-Bow. As The
Lawyer went to press, the firms were still assessing the extent of the
damage and were waiting for Iron Mountain to give them inventories. However,
A&O has lost approximately 170,000 documents, while Norton Rose is
understood to have had around 7,000 files destroyed...(Convenient, eh? UJ) |
The Lawyer |
17 Jul 2006 |
Law Society complaints
handling still not satisfactory
The Law Society has made slow progress on improving its complaints-handling
function according to the annual report of the Office of the Legal Services
Complaints Commissioner (OLSCC), which was unveiled today (11 July). Despite
a second year of steady improvements, commissioner Zahida Manzoor revealed
she was not satisfied by 33% of the cases she reviewed in the period from 1
April, 2005, to 31 March, 2006. The independent body completed 1,909
investigations into complaints that were made during the year with an
average turnaround per case of 3.2 months. Average compensation awarded hit
£435. Total annual compensation spend reached £143,645. Manzoor commented:
"Once again I am disappointed to report that the main issues arising from
the consumer’s perspective continue to be delay in investigations; poor
communication; acting without instruction; providing misleading information;
and breaching confidentiality." |
Legal Week See also:
Legal Services Ombudsman |
12 Jul 2006 |
Lawyers face £750,000 fine
The Law Society is expected to be given a second heavy fine of up to
£750,000 for its failure over handling the public’s complaints (Frances Gibb
writes). The solicitors’ professional body in England and Wales was fined an
unprecedented £250,000 last month over proposed 2006-07 targets for
complaints handling. The Legal Services Commissioner will now rule on last
year’s record, when four out of seven targets were missed. (And the
thousands of unresolved cases that the Law Society has ignored, lost,
buried, fudged, obfuscated and generally confounded? Should add two zeros.
UJ) |
Times Online |
13 Jun |
Law Soc slashes staff as
cost-cuts begin The Law
Society is beginning a programme of cost-saving redundancies, citing the
results of a recent consultation as the catalyst. The society’s
representative side, which employs around 300 staff, has told 11 people that
they are likely to be made redundant as well as freezing a further 12 posts
which were due to be advertised. It is understood that further redundancies
are likely as the society continues a cost-cutting programme. |
The Lawyer |
19 May |
Law Society fined £250,000 by
complaints commissioner The
Law Society has been handed a £250,000 fine by the Legal Services Complaints
Commissioner, it was announced today (17 May), after the independent
watchdog slammed Chancery Lane’s bid to improve its complaints-handling
record. |
Legal Week |
17 May 2006 |
Government approves updated
conflict rules The Government
has brought the long-running tussle over legal conflicts rules to an end
after it announced today (5 May) that it was to approve the latest revision
of the plans. The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) this week gave
the thumbs up to the Law Society’s proposals, which were drawn up in
consultation with the City of London Law Society in a bid to bring the
existing system up to date. Under the new-look regime, which is due to come
into affect later this year, it will now be possible for a law firm to
represent two clients in an auction where both clients are competing for the
same goal. |
Legal Week Global |
05 May 2006 |
Law Society announces new
consumer complaints head The
Law Society has unveiled Deborah Evans as the inaugural chief executive of
its new Consumer Complaints Service (CCS). Evans, currently practice
director at Birmingham firm Anthony Collins, will begin in the role in July
and is set to work alongside Consumer Complaints Board (CCB) chair Shamit
Saggar. (Anthony Collins numbers amongst UJ's more regular visitors. UJ) |
Legal Week |
05 May 2006 |
Law Society rapped for aiming
low The body which polices
solicitors' in England and Wales could be fined after its plan for handling
complaints was thrown out for being 'inadequate' and letting down
consumers.Last September, the Law Society was asked to put forward a plan on
how it could improve its complaint-handling over 12 months starting from
April this year. The move came after it emerged people were waiting three
months before the Law Society even acknowledged it had received their
complaint. |
Which? |
03 Apr 2006 |
FSA removes money laundering
rule The Financial Services
Authority (FSA) is streamlining its detailed rules on money laundering - by
removing them. Firms will still be required to have money laundering
reporting officers, check the identity of clients, and report any suspected
money laundering. |
BBC |
07 Feb 2006 |
The Law Society invites views
about legal services reforms, launching an online survey.
"The Law Society is changing. Forget your preconceptions- think about what
you really want from the Law Society. Radical changes lie ahead for the
profession; the government is preparing to enact legal services reforms. We
believe solicitors need a strong professional body, championing their cause.
What sort of Law Society will you, your firm, or your legal department
need?" Survey closes 21
April 2006 |
The Law
Society |
05 Feb 2006 |
Public deserve a better deal
from lawyers In a recent
Which?, survey 52 per cent of people who'd used a lawyer in the previous
three years said they'd be put off making a complaint if it was to another
solicitor. |
Which? Press Release |
24 Jan 2006 |
Law Society could vanish amid
revamp
SOLICITORS are facing the biggest organisational upheaval in their
professional history with the break-up of the 165-year-old Law Society and
its multimillion-pound empire. The move could see the sale of half its
headquarters at Chancery Lane, a prize asset, and the axing of the
105-strong council, as well as other cost-saving measures. The functions of
the society, the professional body for 100,000 solicitors in England and
Wales, will be split and its complaints service hived off to a new,
independent consumer-focused complaints board. |
Times Online |
07 Jan 2006 |
Solicitor complaint system
revised Consumers complaining
about inadequate service from solicitors, will be able to win back up to
£15,000 in compensation without having to go to court, under new rules
announced yesterday... "Yesterday,
Bridget Prentice, legal services minister, said that at present consumers
who had a serious complaint against a solicitor were forced to go back to
court if they wanted compensation in excess of £5,000. "After one poor
experience with the legal profession, these consumers then have to hire
another solicitor and undergo what can be a lengthy and expensive process,"
she said. The Law Society's record on complaints-handling has been the
subject of sustained criticism from the legal services ombudsman, although
the professional body itself claims the situation has been improving. In the
new year a new Consumer Complaints Board, which has a lay majority, will
oversee this area." |
Financial Times |
30 Dec 2005 |
Brief
analysis of the complex fraud trials issue.
Jubilee line fraud trial
collapses at enormous cost
Guardian, 23 March 2005
Alcohol duties fraud trial
collapses.
BBC, 26
November 2002
In 1995, the trial of Ian
and Kevin Maxwell lasted eight months, cost £25m and resulted in no
convictions.
in 1994 the Brent Walker
trial cost £40m, lasted four months and resulted in only one conviction.
"The public no longer
believes that the legal system ... is capable of bringing the
perpetrators of serious frauds expeditiously and effectively to book. The
overwhelming weight of the evidence laid before us suggests that the public
is right. In relation to such crimes, and to the skilful and determined
criminals who commit them, the present legal system is archaic, cumbersome
and unreliable. At every stage ... the present arrangements offer an open
invitation to blatant delay and abuse."
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, September 1993 Speech by
Lord Roskill
In the UK during the 1970's
and early 1980's there was considerable public dissatisfaction with
the system for investigating and prosecuting serious and complex fraud.
Serious
Fraud Office
Research notes To search Google for
relevant pdf documents featuring the 1986 "Roskill Report",
entitled:"Fraud Trials Committee Report",
click here Download the
Fraud Bill as introduced in the House of Lords on 25th May 2005
pdf or html |
|
27 Nov 2005 |
Legal Services Reform
links A selection from the press
 |
Financial Times
The
Herald
Telegraph
The Times
BBC |
18 Oct
2005 |
Legal Services Reform
The government wants to reform the regulatory framework for legal services
to put the consumer first. We want a framework that promotes competition,
innovation and protects the consumer.
Download the White Paper from the DCA web site
"...in 2004, Sir David Clementi completed a report to me on
reforming the regulatory framework. His report confirmed that the case for
reform is clear, and reform is overdue." |
DCA |
17 Oct
2005 |
Government set for Clementi ‘white paper’
The Government is gearing up to fast-track Sir David Clementi’s radical
package of legal reforms into legislation as the Department for
Constitutional Affairs (DCA) prepares to publish its much-anticipated white
paper next month. The document will, for the first time, unveil the detail
of its stated commitment to implement the reform agenda put forward by
Clementi in his report on legal services regulation in December. |
Legal Week |
15 Sept
2005 |
Vote confirms desire to split
Law Soc
The UK's lawyers have voted
through The Law Society's proposal to take the resposibilty (sic) for
regulation away from the Law Society Council. |
The Lawyer |
13 Sept
2005 |
Department for Constitutional Affairs publishes Conditional Fee
Arrangement Response Paper |
DCA |
26 Aug
2005 |
Solicitors' Disciplinary
Tribunal publishes 2004 and 2005 reports |
SDT |
06 Aug
2005 |
Summary of the Annual Report
for the Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales 2004/2005
Read the summary, or download the
full report as a pdf |
OLSO |
15 Jul 2005 |
STEP publishes Probate Fraud
Report What it is and what
should be done about it
A report by Arthur Mayson ACIB TEP
What is probate fraud?
Put simply, probate fraud is an attempt to deprive the beneficiaries of an
estate of their rightful inheritance. Its mainstays are false accounting,
abusing a power of attorney, fake beneficiaries, property theft and bogus
wills. Why is probate fraud so easy? Download pdf report |
STEP
Report |
14 Jul
2005 |
A fairer deal
for legal aid
This paper
outlines our long-term strategy for legal aid reform and was laid in
parliament on 5 July 2005. It sets out proposals that aim to guarantee
continued fair and equal access to justice; improve outcomes for those who
most need publicly funded legal services ensuring that the taxpayer gets
value for money from those who provide legal services.
You can download and print the paper in sections that are smaller file
sizes. (use the link, right) |
DCA |
05 Jul
2005 |
Sir Steven Lander
has published his Independent Commissioners Easter 2005 report
Download from the Law Society. |
Law Society |
03 Jul 2005 |
Outrage at fresh attempts to
curb jury trials
The government expects up to 20
fraud trials a year to be heard by a judge alone as a result of abolishing
trial by jury for complex cases. The estimate came from Lord Goldsmith,
attorney-general, as he launched a renewed attempt to curb jury trials. His
plans provoked an outraged reaction from the legal profession, civil
liberties groups and political opponents. |
Financial Times |
21 Jun
2005 |
Law Soc, Bar Council condemn
plans to scrap juries in fraud trials
Legal groups have this morning roundly condemned government proposals to
scrap juries in fraud trials. The Law Society, Bar Council and the human
rights organisation Justice have all criticised the government after the
Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, announced plans for judges to try serious
fraud cases without a jury. |
The Lawyer |
21 Jun
2005 |
Sweeping reforms to
regulatory and
representative functions of legal professional bodies. 21 Mar 2005 |
|
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Steven Richard Daultrey
Former solicitor, of Glendale, London Road, Balcombe, West Sussex RH17
6HT; granted restoration to the roll on 18 November 2004 (application
9061-2004).
Law Society Gazette |
|
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Clementi prompts Law Society to split
functions -
The Lawyer |
|
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Review of the Regulatory Framework for Legal
Services in England and Wales - Sir David Clementi issues
Final
Report 15 Dec 2004 |
|
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Fraudsters move to Cyprus. Should Greece
and Turkey be members of the European Union? Well, I guess they have just as
much right, given that Britain still operates the Isle of Man, another
refuge for rogues. |
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Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner is
launched. LSCC |
|
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Law Society to hive off regulation. The
Law Society is to split into two bodies, one to police solicitors' conduct
and the other to act as their trade union, in the biggest change in its
179-year history. News |
|
|
First black High Court judge
Linda Dobbs, QC, will be sworn in
to her post at the end of September this year. Described by a colleague as
"focused, practical and down-to-earth", Ms Dobbs will assume her new post
after recently stepping down from chairing the Criminal Bar Association.
(About time, too. UJ) |
|
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Civil Consultation - A new focus for civil
Legal Aid. Download PDF documents from the DCA
web
site. |
|
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Legal Services Ombudsman in England & Wales
and Scotland publish their 2003/2004 reports.
LSO and
SLSO |
|
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Which? Calls for End of Lawyers' Self-Regulation.
News - Which? Press Release |
|
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Fraud Law Reform - download the Consultation on Proposals
for Legislation from LegalDay fraud section |
|
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Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman call for
regulation of lawyers to be split. News |
|
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Law Society of Scotland publishes its
response to Sir David Clementi's consultation.
Law Society of Scotland |
|
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Office of Fair Trading issues its response to:
The Independent Review of the Regulatory
Framework for The Legal Professions in England & Wales. |
|
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Office for the Supervision of Solicitors
is rebranded - again! |
|
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Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal
publishes 2003
report |
|
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Axe falls on the Office for the
Supervision of Solicitors
Guardian |
|
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Time might be running out for lawyers'
rights to self-regulation. News |
|
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Law Society regains some ground in its bid to retain its right to
self-regulation, but is it enough?
In Strictest Confidence |
|
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Financial Services Authority publishes
its Financial Risk Outlook report 2004."The city's chief watchdog has
doubled its budget for lawyers in the wake of a huge increase in fines and
investigations." James Moore - Telegraph - 28/01/04
News |
|
|
"Unprecedented" interim report by the
Legal Services Ombudsman on the performance of the Office for the
Supervision of Solicitors - see News |
|
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