Compliance & Regulation
Firm held hundreds of residual balances for up to 28 years
A law firm that held nearly £600,000 in hundreds of residual client balances dating back 28 years has been fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Exclusive: SRA begins fundamental review of client protection
The SRA today starts a conversation about the future of client protection arrangements, the extreme end of which could see the end of firms holding client money and of the Compensation Fund.
Solicitor jailed for stealing money using powers of attorney
A solicitor has been jailed for two years after admitting abusing her position to steal tens of thousands of pounds from two vulnerable people, one of whom was her father.
Legal helpline adviser not under duty to advise prospective client
A legal helpline adviser at Irwin Mitchell was not under a duty to advise a prospective client of steps she needed to take to protect her position, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
SRA to investigate regulating CILEX paralegals and students
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to consult on how it would regulate CILEX paralegals and students in the next stage of its work on assuming oversight of the legal executive profession.
Collapsed SSB “faces up to 1,400 negligence claims”
Consumer claims firm SSB Law, which went into administration earlier this month owing six litigation funders £200m, faces up to 1,400 professional negligence claims, it has emerged.
Nothing “inherently improper” about barristers using generative AI
There is nothing “inherently improper” about barristers using tools based on generative AI, so long as they are “properly understood” and “used responsibly”, the Bar Council has said.
Solicitor who ‘retained’ but never instructed counsel is struck off
A solicitor who dishonestly misled his client, his client’s son and the other side about the progress of litigation he was conducting has been struck off.
SRA writes to over 1,000 firms about poor sanctions compliance
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has written to give guidance to more than 1,000 law firms that admit they do not have basic controls in place to mitigate sanctions risk.
Solicitor who misled firm about client loans and referrals struck off
A solicitor who actively concealed from his employer the fact that he had taken loans from clients and received referral fees from a short-term lender has been struck off.
Blog
The new metrics for success in conveyancing
While technology has made much of the conveyancing process faster, there remains a practical limit to how many matters anyone can manage while still keeping standards intact.
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.
Reports
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