News in brief

Giant bows to credit crunch
Clifford Chance is consulting on a redundancy programme which could lead to it losing up to 80 lawyers from its London office. London regional managing partner Jeremy Sandelson says: “Like any other business, we have to respond to prevailing market conditions. Our clients and their legal services needs have undergone significant change over the past year. We need to reflect that in the London office, and that includes ensuring that our level of staffing is appropriate for today’s economic realities.”

ILEX honours
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has given its approval to ILEX’s level 6 professional high diploma in law and practice. The qualification, which is set at honours degree level, will be rolled out to teaching centres from the start of the autumn term.

Family Legal Aid
The Legal Services Commission is considering introducing a family advocacy fee scheme which would see solicitors’ advocacy and barristers’ fees moved to a single graduated scheme. The proposals also include a private family law registration scheme covering private certified work to replace the hourly rate scheme.

Referral fee lives on… for now
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has opted not to ban referral payments, however, it says it supports a full review of referral arrangements across the legal services sector as proposed by the Law Society.