Compliance & Regulation
Bar disciplinary tribunal under spotlight over secrecy of hearings
The secrecy of proceedings at the Bar disciplinary tribunal is under scrutiny in two high-profile cases where one barrister wants privacy and the other more openness.
SSB clients’ distress as cavity wall claims are transferred to third firm
The law firm that took on SSB Law’s cavity wall insulation cases after it went bust is exiting the field and passing the files on again to Hugh James.
All Daily Mail sting solicitors to face disciplinary tribunal
The three solicitors whose firms were shut down last year after being named in a Daily Mail undercover investigation are to face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
New BSB duty “would require barristers to become social engineers”
More high-profile figures have expressed their concern at the Bar Standards Board’s plan to impose a new positive duty on barristers to act in a way that “advances” equality, diversity and inclusion.
Rebukes for solicitors over inadequate service and not passing on cash
An experienced partner who failed to give a divorce client competent advice, leading to costs orders against the client, herself and her firm, has been rebuked.
Bar tribunal hands ‘opera assault’ lawyer harsher sanction than SRA
A dual-qualified lawyer convicted of beating a man in a confrontation at the Royal Opera House has been handed a harsher sanction by a Bar disciplinary tribunal than the SRA.
Barrister convicted of harassing ex-partner suspended from practice
A barrister convicted of harassing his former partner with a barrage of “very abusive, insulting and irrational” emails has been suspended for nine months by a disciplinary tribunal.
Solicitors sanctioned for inadequate advice over care home rooms
A solicitor who failed to advise clients adequately over the high risks of buying and subletting rooms in care homes has been fined, with the newly qualified who worked with him rebuked.
IT worker banned for stealing laptops from major City law firm
A member of IT staff at City giant Ashurst who stole two laptops from the firm and sold them on has been banned from working in the profession.
BSB rules loom large in row over Israel arrest warrants
UK Lawyers for Israel has confirmed it is to complain to the Bar Standards Board about the conduct of International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan KC.
Blog
The UK legal market is polarising – and the middle is disappearing
Consolidation and the boutique boom are not contradictory. They are the same market stretching apart at both ends – and it changes what your firm is worth, and to whom.
Conveyancing’s consistency problem is about pressure, not skills
When I qualified, a conveyancer had perhaps 10 or 12 plates to keep spinning. Today’s conveyancers have 20 or 30, and almost none of the room for error I had starting out.
The trade-off mid-sized firm partners think they’re making
Most of the partners I talk to describe the same tension. They want the firm to run efficiently and hit its numbers, but they also want their people to feel supported, developed and fairly treated.
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