28 February 2008
News
SRA racism claims in spotlight
Claims that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is racist are to be investigated by an independent working party. Set up by the SRA board and chaired by Anesta Weekes QC, the working party will look into why black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors are over-represented in the SRA’s regulatory investigations, and examine accusations that BME practitioners are treated differently from their white colleagues.
The role of the working party— which will include representatives from the main BME solicitor groups—is to identify issues to be addressed by an independent review headed by Lord Ouseley. Accusations of racism arose in 2006 when an SRA report on ethnicity and diversity seemed to reveal a disproportionate number of investigations into BME solicitors’ practices. The SRA said this may be because BME practitioners generally work in smaller firms, which are more likely to be investigated, and that foreign BME lawyers re-qualifying here may not be prepared for the regulatory environment. Hajj Ahmad Thomson, deputy chairman of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, says: “This structure inevitably favours the larger corporate firms and weighs heavy on the shoulders of small firms of solicitors who serve their local communities, whatever their background, ethnicity or belief.”
Government forced to act to cut prisoner numbers
Measures to help bring down thesoaring prison population which last week reached 82,068 (96 over the level which the Prison Service considers safe) have been announced by the government. Foreign prisoners ser ving sentences in England and Wales are to be released early and deported, the government says. This should see thousands of inmates being eligible for deportation 270 days before serving half their sentence, rather than the present 135 days.
Meanwhile, prisoners given indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) are to be moved to prisons where they can access the rehabilitation services they need to secure their parole. Those serving a minimum term of three years or less will be downgraded from category B to category C prisons. The move follows the Court of Appeal ruling in R (Walker) v Secretary of State for Justice; R (James) v Secretary of State for Justice earlier this month that IPP offenders were being unfairly denied access to the courses they needed—such as anger management and alcohol awareness—to be able to make their case for release to the Parole Board.
An order issued to prison governors by the Prison Service says:
“We will cease to treat IPPs like life sentence prisoners, and instead manage them through the closed estate in the same way as determinate sentence prisoners.”
All change for legal profession
The dominance of the Magic Circle will wane over the next 10 years, with clients eager to find better value for money from their lawyers, according to new research.
The Law Firm of the 21st Century study, carried out by RSG Consulting for Eversheds, quizzed 50 partners of 25 top law firms plus general counsel, legal and financial directors at 50 leading companies on their views of the future of the legal industry.
The research shows that 34% plan to buy legal services from firms outside the Magic Circle to get better value for money and better client service. Many feel there is little difference in the standard of legal advice between those firms inside or outside the circle.
There is a gulf between lawyers and clients over fees and legal advice costs, however. More than half of clients (55%) say the current growth in law firm fees is not sustainable, while 53% want lawyers to be more commercial and align themselves to their clients’ business. Only 21% of partners questioned mentioned the need to control costs or add value as a concern.
Billable hours remain a bone of contention. While 82% of partners and 86% of clients believe the hourly rate will still be here a decade from now, a third of clients expressed their deep dislike for the practice.
The furore over the Legal Services Act 2007 appears not to have touched the lawyers questioned or their clients: 73% of partners did not believe the Act would result in significant changes to the partnership model and 72% of clients were similarly unconcerned about the Act’s impact.
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