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Online processes In view of the concerns that have been expressed across the regulated community relating to the recent PC renewals exercise, I thought it would be helpful to update Presidents of all local law societies on progress we are making on the SRA’s IT systems and online processes. I particularly want to share some

Review of Youth Court Locations in Lancashire, consultation paper The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) are considering whether the provision of Youth Court services should be maintained at the present level, given that there has been a reduction in this type of business listed in Lancashire in recent

PII reform and removal of the assigned risk pool The SRA has announced several changes to the PII regime, including the removal of the assigned risks pool and a new requirement for insurers to disclose their credit rating. The Law Society supports: The removal of the assigned risks pool (ARP) and introduction of a 90

Call for LSB to reject ‘costly burden’ on Compensation Fund The Law Society says the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) decision to burden the Compensation Fund with professional indemnity insurance (PII) cover for uninsured firms should be rejected by the Legal Services Board. In its 2012 Financial Protection Policy Statement, the SRA says it plans to

Will writing campaign boosted The Legal Services Board (LSB) has proposed the regulation for all providers of probate and estate administration.  The proposals would see will writing brought within the list of ‘reserved activities’ and all those who provide these services will be regulated. The Law Society’s campaign on this issue has been motivated by the

Clarifying the LCS’s powers Two recent decisions have clarified the law relating to the Legal Services Commission’s (LSC) powers to recoup payments on account made to solicitors for work done under a legal aid certificate, and to ‘nil assess’ such certificates many years, indeed decades after a case has ended. In Legal Services Commission v

SRA COLP and COFA timetable The current SRA COLP/COFA nomination timetable is provided below, however we understand that the roles may not now receive formal approval until 31 December rather than October as previously published.  Firms are still required to nominate COLP and COFA from between 31 May and 31 July 2012. We await an

HSBC accepts all Law Society CQS solicitors to conveyancing panel The Law Society and HSBC announced today an agreement whereby HSBC will amend its conveyancing approach to enable all solicitors accredited with the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) home-buying quality mark to act for HSBC as well as its mortgage customers. Previously only firms