Dumpling in a Hanky

Scheduled to come into force on 2nd July , the new regulations for the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 will move Scottish law firms one step closer to the ABS model currently in place in England and Wales . From 2 July 2012, the Scottish Government will be able to begin accepting applications from those bodies wishing to become approved regulators, presumably the Law Society and other legal professional bodies. Legislation referred to in the Scottish Government press release is linked to below: Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 (Ancillary Provision) Regulations 2012  (draft) Licensed Legal Services (Specification of Regulated Professions) (Scotland) Regulations 2012   (draft) Licensed Legal Services (Complaints and Compensation Arrangements) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/153)  Licensed Legal Services (Interests in Licensed Providers) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/154)  Licensed Legal Services (Maximum Penalty and Interest in respect ...

It’s all change at the moment in Englandshire law firms, and what happens in England no longer stays in England . Alternative Business Structures (ABS) are all the rage, and after a gradual run up period where firms could register interest in the conversion to ABS status (with mainly personal injury firms (PI) and smaller firms doing so, some large businesses such as BT and the Co-operative group being an exception), now they’re actually real – the first three groups to be approved as ABS’ were announced on the 28th March 2012 . Mid tier and larger firms in England seems to be adopting a “wait and see approach”, watching how the smaller, more adaptable firms (and also therefore possibly those who are more hungry for a cash-injection) fare before committing themselves to any tie-ups with investors. The existing large bodies like the Co-operative Group are big enough, and well funded enough to push on and expand their existing legal services in their own direction. The react...

Today, I’m looking for this draft Statutory Instrument: The Offshore Chemicals (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (oh yes, I know how to live life on the wild side!) The Stationery Office gave notice of its existence here . Now, I want to put that information into our Current Awareness service, so I went to the section in OPSI that I’d previously bookmarked, as it held draft SIs. But that redirected me to the front page of Legislation.gov.uk . Ok…I knew that the shift of all content to Legislation.gov would be happening soon, so that was fine. Legislation.gov is generally a good, handy site…but unfortunately it still has some glitches. Before, on OPSI, I could either go directly to the Draft SIs page, or search by the title of the draft. For some reason though, Legislation.gov doesn’t recognise draft legislation if you try and find it via entering its title in the search box – it seems that search is restricted to only enacted legislation, so Draft SIs aren’t findable that way. ...

In response to my pitiful plea about RSS feeds from OPSI, Scott pointed out that they could be found here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/whatsnew.htm So, I signed myself up for the 'All Legislation' feed, assuming it'd come in in the same format as on the Daily List, eg: 47 The Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2008 . - 2p.: 30 cm. - Enabling power: Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986, s. 12 (3). - Issued: 26.02.2008. Made: 20.02.2008. Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 21.02.2008. Coming into force: 07.04.2008. Effect: S.I. 1996/2447 amended. Territorial extent and classification: S. General. - £3.00 - 9780110815145. Order here Instead, they come in like this: The Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2008: Web Version By KENNY MACASKILL These Regulations amend the Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 1996 to provide that a solicitor’s right to prior payment of fees and outlays out of any property recovered or preserved ...

In keeping with discussions on law.librarians of legal publisher RSS feeds, I have decided I want The Stationery Office to be nice to me and do an RSS feed of the Daily List. I already pick up the press releases of Government departments such as Defra, DCLG, DBERR, HM Treasury, the Scottish Government etc...it would be lovely to be able to have a feed of the Daily List in alongside them, to save my daily website visit for legislation. It would be even nicer if it was a feed for JUST legislation...I don't really need to know about Command Papers, House of Commons and House of Lords papers, the Parliamentary debates. We get that info from other sources if it's needed, but it's me that selects the legislation that's relevant to our core business, and uploads that material to our Current Awareness service. So if there were a feed for Bills / Acts, UK SIs, SSI, and SRs, I would be such a happy bunny!