Compl-i - October 2009
Welcome to our Compl-i newsletter, a bi-monthly review of
regulatory and compliance issues affecting solicitors.
In this newsletter we look at recent developments involving the
Legal Services Board, the Office of Legal Complaints, as well as
providing a link to the much awaited Hunt Review on Regulation. The
newsletter also provides a stark warning to all solicitors on the
risks they face from having their identities stolen.
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 me at michelle.garlick@weightmans.com
if you have any issues you wish to discuss.
Regulatory Risk - The Hot Topics
In this article Michelle
Garlick looks at the key hot topics for the SRA and offers tips on
how to avoid the regulator. A must read for all!
Solicitors Identity Hijacked by Criminals
The Law Society has warned that all those
in the legal profession must be more vigilant as criminals are
finding new ways to launder money.
Property Update
This section looks at the varying cost of
HIPs, which solicitors should be aware of when marketing their own
HIPS service.
Hot Topics
In this section of the newsletter we
provide a link to the recently published Hunt Review, and look at
some important topics which have come under the spot light in
recent weeks including the Legal Services Board’s decision on the
payments from the profession.
SRA Guidance
SRA guidance can be found in this section
relating to preparing for ABS’s and how sole practitioners can
comply with new requirements under the Legal Services Act.
Open Consultations
An old favourite, this section provides
information and links to a number of open consultations. We
would strongly recommend that you read in particular the OLC
consultation on complaints and case fees and that you contribute
your own views to this important new scheme.
Practice Notes
We include in this section some practice
notes that have recently been published by the Law Society.
Published Articles
This section contains an article by Anne-Marie Morgan-Barrett on
the case of Levicom International Holdings & Anr v
Linklaters [2009] EWHC 812, regarding a
solicitors duty to communicate clearly with clients and to explain
all options.
This update does not attempt to provide a
full analysis of those matters with which it deals and is provided
for general information purposes only and is not intended to
constitute legal advice and is not treated as a substitute for
legal advice. Weightmans LLP accepts no responsibility for
any loss that may arise from reliance on the information in this
update. The copyright in this update is owned by Weightmans
LLP.