*/
Profession
Self-employed barristers will be able to conduct litigation work and form associations with non-barristers from January 2014, under Bar Standards Board (BSB) plans to “liberalise” the profession.
The rule changes form part of the new Handbook, submitted to the Legal Services Board for approval in May. The Handbook seeks to create a more “fluid model” of regulation which would allow barristers to develop “innovative ways of delivering legal services”. In a departure from the current Code, it sets out a list of key outcomes – explaining what the Rules are designed to achieve and helping the regulator assess a potential breach.
Lifting the litigation ban, the BSB said, would increase consumer choice by encouraging the growth of “one-stop-shops” and lower cost legal services to be provided. Barristers will also be able to pool risk and resources, once rules preventing self-employed barristers from sharing premises and forming associations with non-barristers are removed.
The cab rank rule and the ban on referral fees are retained. It also sets out new regulatory powers for the BSB to disqualify non-authorised employees from working for BSB-authorised individuals or businesses. The core duties will also apply to unregistered barristers providing legal services and the maximum fine for breaching the rules will be increased from £300 to £1,000. Barristers will be required to self-report and report others only in relation to “serious misconduct”.
Proposals requiring barristers to withdraw from cases where a client refuses to reveal previous convictions to the court were dropped and replaced with a general duty not to mislead the court, following criticisim from the majority of the 38 respondents to the consultation, which ran from March to June 2012.
The BSB is also applying to the LSB to regulate non-ABS entities, ie, barrister-only entities (BoEs) and legal disciplinary partnerships (LDPs), which it hopes to be able to do from January 2014, and to become a licensing authority for ABS entities later in 2014. At present, only the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) can regulate LDPs. A programme of roadshows and training will start in September to ensure that the Bar is familiar with the major changes before launch.
The rule changes form part of the new Handbook, submitted to the Legal Services Board for approval in May. The Handbook seeks to create a more “fluid model” of regulation which would allow barristers to develop “innovative ways of delivering legal services”. In a departure from the current Code, it sets out a list of key outcomes – explaining what the Rules are designed to achieve and helping the regulator assess a potential breach.
Lifting the litigation ban, the BSB said, would increase consumer choice by encouraging the growth of “one-stop-shops” and lower cost legal services to be provided. Barristers will also be able to pool risk and resources, once rules preventing self-employed barristers from sharing premises and forming associations with non-barristers are removed.
The cab rank rule and the ban on referral fees are retained. It also sets out new regulatory powers for the BSB to disqualify non-authorised employees from working for BSB-authorised individuals or businesses. The core duties will also apply to unregistered barristers providing legal services and the maximum fine for breaching the rules will be increased from £300 to £1,000. Barristers will be required to self-report and report others only in relation to “serious misconduct”.
Proposals requiring barristers to withdraw from cases where a client refuses to reveal previous convictions to the court were dropped and replaced with a general duty not to mislead the court, following criticisim from the majority of the 38 respondents to the consultation, which ran from March to June 2012.
The BSB is also applying to the LSB to regulate non-ABS entities, ie, barrister-only entities (BoEs) and legal disciplinary partnerships (LDPs), which it hopes to be able to do from January 2014, and to become a licensing authority for ABS entities later in 2014. At present, only the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) can regulate LDPs. A programme of roadshows and training will start in September to ensure that the Bar is familiar with the major changes before launch.
Profession
Self-employed barristers will be able to conduct litigation work and form associations with non-barristers from January 2014, under Bar Standards Board (BSB) plans to “liberalise” the profession.
The age of criminal responsibility, extreme weather and conflict resolution – plus, new protocol for reporting bullying at the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves KC MP discusses her decade as a trade union and employment law barrister, the demands of life as a Law Officer and the number one priority shaping her work. Interview by Anthony Inglese CB
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
At least not that way, says Richard Paige
