2017 was a horrible anus for the profession's supervisory bodies.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority lost a huge case against Leigh Day. It was also guilty of some sloppy work. After going against the wishes of most of the profession to push through a super-exam to replace the LPC and GDL, called the SQE (pronounced 'Squee' or, ideally, 'Sqeh'), it asked providers for evidence of an impossible credit rating.
But the SRA's slips were de minimis compared to the litany of unforced errors committed by the Law Society. In February it was found guilty of abusing its dominant position in the legal training market. Then the Advertising Standards Agency spanked it for producing a misleading advert about its training, and when RollOnFriday pointed out that it had made thousands of firms post the same prohibited copy, it scrambled to warn them. It is now facing a judicial review in respect of another of its forays into the training market.
RollOnFriday discovered the Law Society accidentally leaked over 1,400 lawyers' personal details. And that the President of the Law Society paid his trainees less than the Law Soc recommended minimum. And that he was accused of making sexist remarks at an awards dinner.
But not everything was your Law Soc's fault. It was put in a difficult position when a solicitor told the press he had broken confidentiality rules to stop a murderer from escaping justice. And in a PR nightmare which was not the Law Society’s fault at all, a carriage of train passengers was convinced that Law Society staff had drunkenly abused them. When in fact the louts wearing Law Society Rugby Team blazers were not affiliated with the Law Society at all. In 2017, it just couldn't catch a break.
Have more fun than the Law Society, take the RollOnFriday Firm of the Year 2018 survey, or the in-house lawyers survey.
Tip Off ROF
The Solicitors Regulation Authority lost a huge case against Leigh Day. It was also guilty of some sloppy work. After going against the wishes of most of the profession to push through a super-exam to replace the LPC and GDL, called the SQE (pronounced 'Squee' or, ideally, 'Sqeh'), it asked providers for evidence of an impossible credit rating.
But the SRA's slips were de minimis compared to the litany of unforced errors committed by the Law Society. In February it was found guilty of abusing its dominant position in the legal training market. Then the Advertising Standards Agency spanked it for producing a misleading advert about its training, and when RollOnFriday pointed out that it had made thousands of firms post the same prohibited copy, it scrambled to warn them. It is now facing a judicial review in respect of another of its forays into the training market.
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And repeat. |
RollOnFriday discovered the Law Society accidentally leaked over 1,400 lawyers' personal details. And that the President of the Law Society paid his trainees less than the Law Soc recommended minimum. And that he was accused of making sexist remarks at an awards dinner.
But not everything was your Law Soc's fault. It was put in a difficult position when a solicitor told the press he had broken confidentiality rules to stop a murderer from escaping justice. And in a PR nightmare which was not the Law Society’s fault at all, a carriage of train passengers was convinced that Law Society staff had drunkenly abused them. When in fact the louts wearing Law Society Rugby Team blazers were not affiliated with the Law Society at all. In 2017, it just couldn't catch a break.
Have more fun than the Law Society, take the RollOnFriday Firm of the Year 2018 survey, or the in-house lawyers survey.