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28 April 2011 / Daniel Curran
Issue: 7463 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
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Working hand in hand

Can alternative business structures revolutionise the wills & probate world? Daniel Curran investigates

The countdown has begun until the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) comes in to force in October. Revolutionising the provision of legal services, the Act is intended to ensure that consumers can access services of better value and quality with ease. Indeed, the uptake of new business models has already been greeted positively by consumers; in a recent YouGov survey, 60% of consumers said they would buy legal advice from big brand names.
This changing legal landscape will be particularly pertinent to the wills and probate sector; one area of law which nearly every member of the public is likely to encounter in their lifetime whether they are writing a will, or they are the beneficiary or executor of a will.

Underpinning the work of solicitors in this sector, are the vital services provided by professional probate genealogists. Working for solicitors, executors, trustees or beneficiaries, these probate professionals identify and trace heirs, in addition to locating beneficiaries under will or

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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