The Law Society is being sued for monopolising legal training.
An online training provider called Socrates Training has accused the Law Society of abusing its dominant position in the market and has filed a claim for undisclosed damages with the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Both Socrates and the Law Society offer online training covering mortgage fraud, financial crime and money laundering, which conveyancing firms are under a statutory duty to provide to staff. However, in 2015 the Law Society ruled that as a condition of law firms maintaining accreditation with its Conveyancing Quality Scheme, they could only purchase their training from it.
Socrates alleges the move represents an abuse by the Law Society of its dominant position in the accreditation market. Solicitor Bernard George, who is a director of Socrates and representing the company, is seeking an injunction restricting the Law Society fromrevealing the identity of the celebrity couple who engaged in a threesome continuing to abuse its dominant position. He is also demanding damages, a declaration that the Law Society has committed an abuse and a hug (okay, not actually a hug, but he probably wouldn't say no).
On this occasion, the Law Society has chosen to set aside its stated aim to "support all solicitors" in order to resist George's attempt to grab a slice of its captive market. A spokeswoman told RollOnFriday that it "believes this claim to be wholly without merit”.
It seems the CQS could be a nice little earner for the Law Society: although it would not tell RollOnFriday how much money it made from the scheme (on the basis that the financial details are "not available"), it did disclose that there are currently 3,007 CQS member firms.
Tip Off ROF
An online training provider called Socrates Training has accused the Law Society of abusing its dominant position in the market and has filed a claim for undisclosed damages with the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Both Socrates and the Law Society offer online training covering mortgage fraud, financial crime and money laundering, which conveyancing firms are under a statutory duty to provide to staff. However, in 2015 the Law Society ruled that as a condition of law firms maintaining accreditation with its Conveyancing Quality Scheme, they could only purchase their training from it.
"I know that I know nothing unless I buy it from the Law Society" |
Socrates alleges the move represents an abuse by the Law Society of its dominant position in the accreditation market. Solicitor Bernard George, who is a director of Socrates and representing the company, is seeking an injunction restricting the Law Society from
On this occasion, the Law Society has chosen to set aside its stated aim to "support all solicitors" in order to resist George's attempt to grab a slice of its captive market. A spokeswoman told RollOnFriday that it "believes this claim to be wholly without merit”.
It seems the CQS could be a nice little earner for the Law Society: although it would not tell RollOnFriday how much money it made from the scheme (on the basis that the financial details are "not available"), it did disclose that there are currently 3,007 CQS member firms.
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