Compliance & Regulation
Peers support widening SRA’s fining and investigative powers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority needs more powers to prevent misconduct by law firms involved in strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs), peers have urged.
Civil Mediation Council bids to push up standards in profession
The Civil Mediation Council is creating an independent regulatory body and applying for a Royal charter in a bid to drive up standards in the profession, it has emerged.
Alternative ways to practise as a solicitor have had “modest impact”
The options for solicitors to offer services to the public as freelancers or from unregulated businesses have had a “modest impact on consumer choice”, research for the SRA has found.
Solicitor struck off for making false costs claim to court
A solicitor who tried to pass off costs incurred by someone else as his own before the Business and Property Court has been struck off.
LSB warns regulators of enforcement action on lawyer quality indicators
The Legal Services Board has warned regulators that they could face action over “slow” progress in developing quality indicators to help consumers choose lawyers.
Revealed: MoJ looks at client account interest to support free legal advice
The Ministry of Justice is formally looking at whether interest on some client accounts could be diverted to fund legal services for people unable to afford advice, Legal Futures can reveal.
Conveyancing assistant signed form in name of supervisor
A conveyancing assistant who signed a form purporting to be her line manager because she was under pressure from her client has been barred from working for law firms.
Solicitor cleared over “accidental” kiss with colleague
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed an allegation that a solicitor planted an unwanted kiss on the lips of a more junior colleague at their firm’s spring party.
Chalk accepts “growing case” to review regulation of lawyers
There is “a growing case” for a review of the regulatory framework created by the Legal Services Act 2007, the Lord Chancellor has acknowledged.
SRA seeks power to launch “spot checks” of law firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has called for the power to launch “wide-sweeping inspections” of law firms without needing the trigger of a specific allegation of misconduct.
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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