Compliance & Regulation
Ministers ask LSB to set out strategy on AI use in legal sector
Ministers have asked the Legal Services Board to outline how it plans to approach the regulation of artificial intelligence in the sector by the end of April.
Solicitor fined £10,000 for directing client’s fees to own bank account
An experienced solicitor has been fined more than £10,000 for taking payments from a client into his own bank account after striking an agreement with the SRA.
New ICO certification for lawyers gives “certainty” on data processing
The Information Commissioner’s Office has approved a certification scheme which it says will provide law firms, chambers and others with “certainty” when processing personal data.
Scotland edges closer to full-blooded ABSs
Reforms to the way legal services are regulated north of the border, including the introduction of alternative business structures with majority non-lawyer ownership, moved a step closer last week.
Show some “energy” to tackle ethics concerns, LSB chief tells regulators
The “lack of energy” from legal regulators to deal with what appears to be strategic failures of regulation is becoming “mildly ridiculous”, the chief executive of the LSB has argued.
NDA and SLAPP misuse continuing despite regulatory warnings
Solicitors are still engaging in dubious practices around non-disclosure agreements and strategic lawsuits against public participation, despite regulatory warnings, it was claimed last week.
Scale and pace of law firm M&A “will increase this year”
There is a “higher level of confidence” among law firm buyers and “clear signs that the scale and pace” of M&A will increase in 2024, a report has found.
Public “may reasonably question” SRA approach to Post Office scandal
Members of the public may “reasonably question” the ‘wait and see’ approach of the SRA to disciplinary action in the Post Office scandal, a regulatory expert and former SRA manager has said.
SRA goes ahead with fee caps for financial mis-selling claims
The SRA is going ahead with plans to introduce the same system of fee caps for law firms handling financial services mis-selling claims as the Financial Conduct Authority has for CMCs.
Law firm administrator claimed £1,450 for office tea and coffee
A law firm administrator who paid herself £1,450 using pre-signed cheques, which she claimed was to refund money she had spent on office tea and coffee, has been barred from the profession.
Blog
How does the legal profession become neuroinclusive?
My learning journey as mum to an autistic son with profound additional needs completely changed the way in which I work as a child protection lawyer.
The real cure for inequality at law firms? Listening
How can men, as one male panellist put it, “get out of the way of people coming up through the ranks?”
Most of these conversations only happen after the men leave the room.
Andy Burnham and the Hillsborough Law: should solicitors be worried?
Now that Andy Burnham has become prime minister, the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, otherwise known as the Hillsborough Law, will receive a real boost of political capital.
