Compl- i - February 2012
Welcome to our Compl-i Newsletter, a bi-monthly review
of regulatory and compliance issues affecting
solicitors.
Another year has gone by and 2011 saw the legal landscape change
significantly. 2012 will undoubtedly be just as challenging and
interesting for law firms! The SRA are now accepting applications
for organisations wishing to become alternative business
structures, new roles of COLP/COFAS will be introduced into law
firms, and from April 2012 LeO will adopt a policy of ‘naming and
shaming’ lawyers!
As we face the new regulatory challenges there will, we are
sure, be many questions you will have and issues that are of
concern to you. We will be including some Q and As in our
newsletters so if you have any particular requests for topics that
you would find useful to be covered in our newsletter, do please
let us know by contacting Michelle Garlick at michelle.garlick@weightmans.com or
on 0161 233 7426.
In this newsletter, we look at what is in store for firms over
the next 12 months, more information on the COLP and COFA roles, in
particular a report on our recent successful Forums, and recent
messages given by Samantha Barrass at the SRA. In addition, we have
our ‘Hot Topics’, a key case round up, and links to recent practice
notes released by the Law Society and open consultations.
Risk and compliance – the next 12 months
With so much change over the past 12 months to the legal
landscape, Partner Michelle Garlick,
considers what is in store for firms over the next 12
months.
COLP and COFA forum – The verdict
Nicola Whitehouse feeds back on the recent COLP/COFA forums led
by Michelle Garlick in Manchester,
Liverpool, Birmingham and London.
Gap analysis – Beware of unthinking
compliance!
In this article, we provide a link to the talk given by Samantha
Barrass at a Risk Management Conference in
December 2011 with comments by Michelle Garlick on some of the key
messages.
Hot topics
In this section we provide updates on the Law
Society’s draft response to the SRA’s Financial Protection
consultation, the start of the ABS revolution, third party
litigation funders, and the legal watchdog’s
recommendations to LeO.
Key case roundup
In this section we look at three key cases
recently reported in the legal press. One looks at the recent Court
of Appeal decision to overrule a trial judge’s decision to throw
out a negligence claim against a law firm, another sees the Law
Society and SRA join forces to intervene in a case that could have
a major impact on professional indemnity insurance for law firms
and the third, a “Hot off the Press” report
on Legal Ombudsman proceedings against a solicitor for failing to
co-operate.
Practice notes
We include in this
section practice notes recently published by the Law
Society.
Consultations
This section provides
information and links to a number of open SRA
consultations.
Questions and answers
In this Q and A, we consider the Chapter 9
requirements relating to fee sharing in circumstances where consultants are paid by a percentage of the
fees charged to clients.
Training and events
In this section we provide details of our
training programme and seminars being
presented by the Compl-i team.