Compl-i - April 2010

Introduction

Welcome to our Compl-i newsletter, a bi-monthly review of regulatory and compliance issues affecting solicitors.

The renewal season will shortly be upon us again and firms now need to be gearing up to present their firm in the best possible light to insurers. Through our compl-i service, we have extensive experience of advising firms and working with you and your brokers to achieve the best deal possible. If you are interested in finding out more about how we can help, please contact Michelle Garlick at michelle.garlick@weightmans.co.uk.

The recent developments with Quinn will understandably be a concern for many firms and in this newsletter we look at what the Law Society/SRA are advising firms insured by Quinn to do. We also look at recent developments in employment law relating to contingency fees, as well as provide useful updates on issues affecting the world of conveyancing.  The newsletter also contains an article on the Court Appeal’s recent decision in Richard Buxton v Mills-Owens, and we also look at the recent changes to the Solicitor’s Code of Conduct.

As always this newsletter provides links to recent practice notes released by the Law Society and open consultations.  In addition it provides links to recently released SRA guidance.

We hope you find this update of assistance.  Please do not hesitate to contact us at michelle.garlick@weightmans.com if you have any issues you wish to discuss.

Quinn Insurance

In this article, we summarise the latest developments with regard to Quinn Insurance and the advice currently being given by the SRA and the Law Society.

Employment 

In this section we look at the effect of the 35% cap on contingency fees which was introduced on 7 April 2010. 

Property update

This section provides a link to the SRA’s case study on ‘arm’s length’ property transactions.      

Terminating retainers

This article looks at the effect of the decision by the Court of Appeal in Richard Buxton v Mills-Owens [2010] EWCA Civ 122 in which they accepted that where a solicitor is instructed to put forward unreasonable arguments by their client, they are entitled to terminate the retainer and be paid for all work done up to the point that the retainer was terminated.

Code of Conduct – Keeping you up to date

This section looks at the proposed amendments to rule 3 (conflicts of interest) and rule 4 (confidentiality) of the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct.  It also gives an overview of the recent amendments made to rule 2.

Hot topics

In this section of the newsletter we look at the SRA’s newly launched ‘Freedom in Practice: Better Outcomes for Consumers’.  It also provides an up date on the Assigned Risks Pool (ARP).

Open consultations

At present there are no open SRA consultations.

Practice notes

We include in this section some practice notes that have recently been published by the Law Society.

Published articles

In this article, recently published in the Solicitors Journal, Catherine Burtinshaw takes a light-hearted look at the horrid task we are all forced to face each month; managing our finances.  She also looks at how legal knowledge you have not had to call on in years and years can become suddenly very useful. 

Events

In this section we provide details of forthcoming events being hosted by the Weightmans Compli team.