Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor fined for transferring £10k of client money by error
A solicitor who mistakenly transferred £10,000 of client money to his firm’s business account – and did not realise for six months – has been fined by the SRA.
SRA to contact dozens of immigration solicitors over competence
The SRA is contacting a group of immigration and asylum solicitors whose training records did not provide “sufficient assurances” that they are maintaining their competence.
ACL set to introduce ‘costs paralegals’ to boost profession
The Association of Costs Lawyers has backed the creation of a new membership category for non-costs lawyers, with launched a further consultation on describing them as ‘costs paralegals’.
SRA hands out another big fine for AML non-compliance
A law firm in Essex is the latest to receive a hefty fine from the Solicitors Regulation Authority for not complying with anti-money laundering rules.
“Favourable” PII market expected to continue throughout 2024
The current “favourable” professional indemnity insurance market is expected to continue throughout the rest of 2024, according to a leading broker.
Conveyancers will be urged to move away from client account
Licensed conveyancers will be encouraged by their regulator to move away from the risks of client account as it becomes more practical, an industry roundtable has heard.
SRA to probe competence of family law and landlord and tenant solicitors
The SRA is to examine how family law and landlord and tenant law specialists maintain their competence amid increasing reports about their practices.
First law firm obtains specialist legal services ICO certification
A leading law firm has become the first to obtain the new legal services-specific data protection certification approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Solicitor rebuked after client’s appeal not submitted
A solicitor who failed to check that a criminal client’s appeal had been lodged at the Court of Appeal has been rebuked after it turned out that it had not been.
Three-way regulator co-operation leads to barrister being disbarred
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner has praised the BSB and SRA for their co-operation in shutting down an advice firm and having the barrister who supervised it disbarred.
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.
Reports
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