header-logo header-logo

Happy families?

14 December 2012 / Jon Robins
Issue: 7542 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
printer mail-detail

Jon Robins follows the furore over regulation in the legal fraternity

As the vested (but disparate) interests in the press attempt to unite to ward off the threat of statutory regulation in the wake of Leveson, some commentators are looking at how vested interests elsewhere have fared. “We should also keep some perspective: the introduction of the Legal Services Board in statute has not compromised the independence of the legal profession,” argued Lord Fowler, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and others in the letter pages of The Guardian recently (“Leveson inquiry: state role required to curb press excesses, Tories urge PM”, 8 November 2012).

Mission creep

Not everyone would agree nor has the process been smooth. Only last week, lawyers in the House of Lords were complaining of the Legal Services Board’s (LSB’s) “mission creep” following on from the government’s triennial review of the LSB and last month there was a fiery speech at the Bar Council by Michael Todd QC in which he made the case “for disbanding the overarching regulator”. “Regulation is one thing,

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll