What do you feel are the legal and economic issues facing law firms currently
What do you feel are the legal and economic issues facing law firms currently?
The current, prolonged economic downturn has caused considerable issues for law firms, and has seen 11,000 facing collapse. This is due to a “perfect storm” of legal aid cuts and the unwillingness of banks to provide loans. Putting into perspective the detrimental effects of a fragile economy, the SRA, (Solicitors Regulatory Authority) has placed 160 firms under intensive supervision, owing to concern surrounding their diminishing finances. One example of a legal area with apt fiscal difficulties is Personal Injury Law, unaided by governmental decisions to ban referral fees for providing leads in personal injury cases. This decision will put an excessive amount of financial pressure on Personal Injury firms and potentially cause further collapses and SRA scrutiny. New SRA rules which came into force 1 October 2012, require solicitors and other recognised bodies to take out and maintain a Professional Indemnity Insurance with participating insurers. This exists to protect companies which provide professional advice services from enduring the full cost of defending themselves against a client negligence claim. The new rule creates an unprecedented cost to firms, in an already feeble climate this could mean that some firms may be unable to coincide with the costs and thus contribute further to their breakdown. Unfortunately, the issues surrounding the law do not cease there; extreme concerns encompassing Balva Insurance, the provider of insurance cover for nearly 10% of all the UK’s law firms, is facing collapse. Latvia’s Board of Financial and Capital Market Commission has withdrawn all the operating licenses issued to Balva and has acquired the task of appointing a liquidator.
Further disputes arise in terms of the Jackson Reforms (named after Lord Justice Jackson who proposed them) which adhere to an implementation of potential contingency fee agreements. Contingency fees concern the
The current, prolonged economic downturn has caused considerable issues for law firms, and has seen 11,000 facing collapse. This is due to a “perfect storm” of legal aid cuts and the unwillingness of banks to provide loans. Putting into perspective the detrimental effects of a fragile economy, the SRA, (Solicitors Regulatory Authority) has placed 160 firms under intensive supervision, owing to concern surrounding their diminishing finances. One example of a legal area with apt fiscal difficulties is Personal Injury Law, unaided by governmental decisions to ban referral fees for providing leads in personal injury cases. This decision will put an excessive amount of financial pressure on Personal Injury firms and potentially cause further collapses and SRA scrutiny. New SRA rules which came into force 1 October 2012, require solicitors and other recognised bodies to take out and maintain a Professional Indemnity Insurance with participating insurers. This exists to protect companies which provide professional advice services from enduring the full cost of defending themselves against a client negligence claim. The new rule creates an unprecedented cost to firms, in an already feeble climate this could mean that some firms may be unable to coincide with the costs and thus contribute further to their breakdown. Unfortunately, the issues surrounding the law do not cease there; extreme concerns encompassing Balva Insurance, the provider of insurance cover for nearly 10% of all the UK’s law firms, is facing collapse. Latvia’s Board of Financial and Capital Market Commission has withdrawn all the operating licenses issued to Balva and has acquired the task of appointing a liquidator.
Further disputes arise in terms of the Jackson Reforms (named after Lord Justice Jackson who proposed them) which adhere to an implementation of potential contingency fee agreements. Contingency fees concern the