Compliance & Regulation
Huge hike in compensation fund levy to go ahead
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is pressing ahead with a huge hike in the compensation fund levy in the wake of the spiralling cost of law firm failures.
Aggregation fears “set to drive up cost” of indemnity insurance
Solicitors may face a more restricted professional indemnity insurance market this year amid growing concern over limitations on insurers aggregating claims.
Accusations fly amid “hostility” between LSB and Bar regulator
Relations between the Legal Services Board and the Bar Standards Board are close to breaking point over the speed of reform at the barrister regulator.
SRA reports two law firms to Treasury for breaching Russia sanctions
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has reported two law firms to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, part of the Treasury, for breaching sanctions on Russia.
Boss struck off over pension cash misuse – but fellow partners cleared
A managing partner who used staff pension contributions to prop up his firm has been struck off, but his two equity partners were cleared of misconduct.
Time to reset legal regulation and ethics, says consumer panel head
The new Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, needs to recognise the need for an overhaul of the legal regulatory regime, the new chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel has argued.
Fine and reprimands for barrister over conduct as law firm owner
A barrister has been fined £5,000 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal, after he failed to report an SRA investigation into the removal of 242 wills from a law firm he owned.
Solicitor used client money to keep PI firm afloat
A solicitor who “repeatedly” transferred money from client to office account to prop up his firm has been struck off by the Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal.
CLC ups financial pressure on firms to deal with complaints
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is planning to ratchet up the financial pressure on the firms that fail to handle complaints properly under its ‘polluter pays’ approach.
Number of Bar students continues to grow
The number of students on Bar vocational courses has continued to grow since the pandemic, new figures have shown. Those with a first-class degree performed far better than others.
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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