Compliance & Regulation
Community order for disbarred barrister over antisemitic blog posts
A former barrister who was disbarred for antisemitic and racist tweets has now been handed a nine-month community order for grossly offensive antisemitic material posted on his blog.
Hefty AML fine for firm that facilitated vendor fraud
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has handed out three more hefty fines for anti-money laundering failures, one for a firm that facilitated a vendor fraud as a result.
Solicitor jailed after falling for scam loses appeal against sentence
The former senior partner of a Norfolk law firm, jailed for four years for fraud, has failed in his appeal against sentence, with the court saying it was, if anything, “lenient”.
High Court rejects immigration solicitor’s “meritless” strike-off appeal
An immigration solicitor secretly recorded by the BBC advising how to obtain “fraudulent” evidence for a visa application has failed in his appeal against being struck off.
SRA warns solicitors over ‘deepfake’ clients and vendor fraud
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned lawyers who rely on video calls to identify clients of the risks posed by ‘deepfake’ technology and also of rising vendor fraud.
SDT clears Dentons of anti-money laundering rule breaches
Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, was yesterday cleared by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over alleged breaches of anti-money laundering rules.
Motor trade legal advice service launches CIC to handle litigation
An unregulated legal advice service for the motor trade has created a community interest company (CIC) so that it can provide litigation services as well.
SRA tells employers what they cannot ask in-house lawyers to do
Draft guidance for employers of in-house solicitors, which aims to establish a mutual understanding of what lawyers can and cannot do, has been published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Post Office victim and SRA chief urge lawyers to call out colleagues
Both a sub-postmaster victim of the Post Office scandal and the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority have urged lawyers to call out colleagues’ improper behaviour.
SRA investigates after-the-event insurance fall-out from SSB collapse
The SRA is investigating why after-the-event insurers have not paid out on policies arranged by the collapsed SSB Group and whether it shows a wider problem with ATE.
Blog
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
Recruitment, retention and reward in the legal accounts world
Understanding the legal finance market is important – not just for those actively involved in it day-to-day but also for leaders within law firms.
