Compliance & Regulation
Circuit judge was “overfamiliar” with junior female staff member
A male circuit judge who was “overfamiliar” with a junior female member of staff has been handed formal advice for misconduct, rather than the recommended warning.
Court criticises solicitor in relationship with client for work on her claim
The High Court has criticised a “seriously mistaken” senior solicitor for leading on a £1.3m claim against another law firm when he was in a romantic relationship with the claimant.
CA rejects public access barristers’ bid for outstanding fees
The Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by two public access barristers to be paid nearly £125,000 in fees after the lower courts found a key term in their retainers unfair.
Strike-off for partner caught by paedophile hunter “sting”
A former partner at top firm DWF who was convicted after being caught in a ‘sting’ operation by a paedophile hunter group has now been struck off.
“Robing room banter” – Solicitor reprimanded for sexual comments
An experienced criminal lawyer who made sexualised jokes in a courtroom at the expense of a probation officer has been reprimanded by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
BSB decides not to publish its assessments of chambers
The Bar Standards Board has decided against making public the assessments it intends to make of individual chambers, as part of its new approach to overseeing them.
Ban for partner who sought intimate relationship with junior
A partner and registered foreign lawyer at the Brussels office of a major City law firm has been banned after admitting that he wanted a sexual relationship with a young female colleague.
More price transparency and bulk claims rise up SRA agenda
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to restart work on improving transparency for consumers, which could see firms having to publish their prices in more areas of law.
SRA finally getting to grips with aged investigations into solicitors
A major push to improve the quality and speed of the SRA’s investigation and enforcement work has significantly reduced the number of cases older than two years.
Nearly 500 law firms sanctioned for transparency failures
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has sanctioned 475 law firms over failures to comply with its transparency rules since they went live nearly six years ago.
Blog
Why law firms are getting AI supervision wrong
The profession’s response to AI supervision failures misunderstands the nature of LLM output – there needs to be for a shift in the culture.
Beyond the PII premium – rethinking risk
Professional indemnity insurance renewal is often treated as an annual pricing exercise. But it is also a chance to show how effectively you identify, manage and mitigate risk.
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
Reports
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