It’s client care, but not as we know it – do law firms need professional account managers?
Tim Bratton is general counsel of the Financial Times and blogs at thelegalbratblawg. Click here to follow Tim on Twitter
An interesting article by Tim published by Legal Week: Read
Warning over ‘regulatory ambush’
The regulators and the regulator of regulators are busy… but The Law Society is expressing concern….
The Law Society Gazette reports:
Lawyers could face a ‘regulatory ambush’ if a radical overhaul of the solicitors’ rulebook goes ahead without a ‘change in culture’ at the profession’s regulator, the Law Society has warned.
In a response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Architecture of Change consultation, which closed last week, Chancery Lane said it has ‘substantial concerns’ about the proposals and the regulator’s capacity to introduce them on such a short timescale.
The SRA is planning to introduce so-called ‘outcomes-focused regulation’ to coincide with the next phase of Legal Services Act 2007 reforms this October. The new regime will be based on broad principles rather than the current detailed rulebook, and is intended to give firms greater freedom in how they comply with their regulatory obligations, with the onus on self-reporting.
While the diamond geezer who runs Barclays Bank told a Commons Select Committee that it was time for banks to stop apologising (and then, promptly, had to apologise for his Bank misselling products and take a hit with a large fine) I have often wondered how lawyers managed to escape censure in the great recession toxic banking products scandal which wrecked the global economy. John Flood has an interesting blog post on this very topic:
How Have the Lawyers Escaped Culpability?
Obiter J writes…. “It has been an interesting few days in London. Protesters in Parliament Square have been given letters stating that legal action will be taken against them if they continue to obstruct pavements – see BBC 17th January. Of course, Ministers are on record as saying that these protesters have to be cleared away so that they do not spoil the Royal wedding procession (Telegraph 25th November 2010). Meanwhile, it seems that peers of the realm have been camping within the House of Lords – see BBC 18th January. Peers allied to the Labour Party have opposed the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill which seeks to reduce the number of Parliamentary Constituencies from 650 to 600 and to change to the “Alternative Vote” (AV) system. …
Read: Campers in Parliament Square and in Parliament … Sentencing of Edward Woollard … Prisoners voting
And… in Breaking Labour Party news……. Alan Johnson resigns and the press speculate about his Police protection officer having an affair with Johnson’s wife. Close protection taking on an altogether different meaning if true…
Coulson’s resignation must not be seen as the end of the hacking scandal
The Guardian Greenslade blog states: “So, the drip-drip-drip of revelations has finally led Andy Coulson to resign as the prime minister’s director of communications. It is regarded as such big news that it has displaced the planned TV coverage of the Chilton inquiry on both Sky News and the BBC News.”
Chilcot methinks, not Chilton.
And … Happy New Year old chum.
FB – Ha!… The Grauniad strike again… not my typo this time… I shall leave it in situ…as we say in the trade.
A good New Year to you too… drinks soon?
Drinkies always welcome, I will send you one of those new-fangled textualised messages via my battery powered telephonic device.
CharonQC – thanks for mention. Could not resist contrasting the two types of “camper” in or around Parliament. Hope I got the bit on frustration of contract right. Don’t look at that area much though I enjoyed it as a student in YYYY – (a while ago)!
The involvement by News International in paying the police for leaked information admitted by Rebekka Ward at the Commons Committee should similarly not be allowed to fade away quietly.