Potential changes to the rules regarding how foreign solicitors can qualify in England and Wales if there’s a no-deal Brexit have been put out for consultation. Currently, EU lawyers can apply for exemptions from the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), which all foreign-qualified lawyers must sit to qualify here. Under World Trade Organisation rules, however, such preferential treatment would not be possible. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Consultation on Exemptions for Qualified Lawyers asks for views on offering the right to apply the exemption to all foreign-qualified lawyers. Arrangements for solicitors from Scotland and Northern Ireland will remain unchanged. The consultation ends on 10 January 2019 and will then be put to the Legal Services Board for approval. Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive, said: ‘It is important that we are prepared.’
11 December 2018
Foreign solicitors rule change?
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams
Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant
Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias
International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner
Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven
Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth
NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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