Compliance & Regulation

Consolidation of legal regulators “may be a good thing” if it pulls together knowledge, lessons, consumer research and engagement, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.

The Bar Council is to produce a set of template policies for chambers and may even set up a Bar jobs board, it has emerged.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned solicitors not to trust artificial intelligence to “judge its own accuracy” and remember that existing AI “does not have a concept of truth”.

More than 40% of firms of licensed conveyancers inspected by their regulator in the past year were non-compliant with anti-money laundering rules, a review has revealed.

Three law firms that failed to comply with the transparency rules have become the first to receive fixed £750 fines under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new regime.

Lawyers need to recognise that their role comes with “privileges and obligations” at a time of public concern about unethical behaviour, the chief executive of the Legal Services Board has said.

A family law solicitor who lied to and took advantage of vulnerable clients, including victims of domestic violence, has been struck off and ordered to pay almost £75,000 in costs.

Junior lawyers want the right to refuse to work on certain matters for ethical reasons, but few firms currently allow it, research has found. They are frustrated too by the slow pace of cultural change.

The first solicitor ever prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office for ‘tipping off’ a client about a money laundering investigation was convicted this week at the Old Bailey.

The SRA yesterday issued its first detailed statement on the Axiom Ince scandal, saying the suspected dishonesty was “sophisticated” and missed by everyone else.