Potential changes to the rules regarding how foreign solicitors can qualify in England and Wales if there’s a no-deal Brexit have been put out for consultation. Currently, EU lawyers can apply for exemptions from the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), which all foreign-qualified lawyers must sit to qualify here. Under World Trade Organisation rules, however, such preferential treatment would not be possible. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Consultation on Exemptions for Qualified Lawyers asks for views on offering the right to apply the exemption to all foreign-qualified lawyers. Arrangements for solicitors from Scotland and Northern Ireland will remain unchanged. The consultation ends on 10 January 2019 and will then be put to the Legal Services Board for approval. Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive, said: ‘It is important that we are prepared.’
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Freeths—Ruth Clare
National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester
Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon
Partner appointed head of family team
mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison
Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return
NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
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