Ethnic attainment gap
The Gazette, Solicitors Journal and two other news outlets cover the SRA’s research on the ethnic group attainment gap in legal professional assessments, published by the University of Exeter.
Law Society President Nick Emmerson said: “We are pleased the SRA has published its report scrutinising the differential outcomes of aspiring solicitors taking legal professional assessments, such as the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and Legal Practice Course (LPC).
The University of Exeter's research shines a light on the complexity and breadth of the potential causes of attainment gaps by ethnicity and how they impact legal professional assessment outcomes.
It shows that the differential outcomes by ethnicity are likely not due to one single issue, but a range of issues from early education, school, university, and access to legal work experience.
The Law Society is keen to work together with the SRA and other stakeholders to agree a collective way forward to address differences in outcomes by ethnicity.”
QLR fees
Solicitors Journal reports that the MoJ will increase the fees that Qualified Legal Representatives (QLR) can claim by 10%.
Law Society President Nick Emmerson said: “We welcome the MoJ’s continued commitment to improve the QLR scheme, which was brought in to protect survivors of domestic abuse from being cross-examined by their alleged abuser.
However, we’re concerned this will not go far enough. The Law Society’s recent research by Frontier Economics suggests that more than a 10% increase would be needed to make legal aid fees sustainable and the same would apply to the QLR fees. We will need to monitor this closely to understand if it is having the required impact.
While this is a positive step in the right direction, we won’t know the impact it is having unless the scheme is properly evaluated.
Our members often tell us about issues with the scheme and the lack of QLRs available across the country. A thorough examination would bring to light what else needs to be improved.
We encourage the next UK government to closely monitor this change to ensure it makes the scheme sustainable and encourages sufficient practitioners to sign up to provide this vital service.”
Mortgage possession claims
Bedford Today reports that renters and mortgage holders were at risk of losing their homes last year, with some facing repossession. The figures from the Ministry of Justice show 52 mortgage possession claims were made in Dudley in the year to March, 6 of which led to a property being repossessed by a bailiff.
Law Society President Nick Emmerson said: "We are concerned about the number of people who are at risk of becoming homeless.
With the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates, many are struggling with rent and mortgage payments and are at risk of losing their homes."
TA6 form
The Gazette continues coverage of our TA6 property information form as the Law Society pledges to consult solicitors about significant changes to the form in the future, after it was recently updated.
The Law Society said: “We keep our transaction forms under regular review and update these when necessary. We do not usually consult with the whole conveyancing or property membership when making these updates and changes to the TA6 form. We followed the same process for this update. However, we recognise that some members have been surprised by the number and nature of changes to the TA6 form.
We have understood from the feedback we have had that members would have preferred us to consult and be more transparent as the forms were developed. We agree that, on reflection, we could have communicated the nature of the changes to the TA6 form while the working group was working on the new version and sought feedback as we went through the process.
We are grateful for this feedback and are determined to apply this learning to future significant changes to the transaction forms.”
Election and lawyers
Jonathan Goldsmith, chair of our Policy & Regulatory Affairs Committee, writes in the Gazette about what issues matter to lawyers, as the election campaigns continue. The piece mentions our 21st Century Justice project.
AI and legal needs
Tech Story mentions our Legal Needs Survey in a piece on ChatGPT and unmet legal needs.
The Law Society legal needs survey is mentioned.
Probate application backlog
Secnewgate covers a report by the Law Society which found a severe backlog in probate applications.
Also worth a read:
- New date for Rwanda removals set amid High Court challenge - Standard
- Sunak and Starmer clash over tax in first debate - BBC
- London council leader due to stand as Labour MP pulls out of election race after allegations – Standard
- Starmer says he would scrap law protecting NI veterans from prosecution – Telegraph (£)
- Tribunal employment cases rise as UK workplaces push back on remote working - Guardian
- Nigel Farage to stand for Reform UK – Times (£)