Compliance & Regulation
Research: Consumers find multiplicity of legal regulators confusing
The public finds different regulators for different part of the legal profession confusing and backs the Solicitors Regulation Authority taking oversight of chartered legal executives.
LSB calls in Northern Irish law firm to assist with SRA Axiom probe
The Legal Services Board has retained a Northern Irish law firm to assist with its review of regulatory events leading up to the SRA’s intervention into Axiom Ince.
Barristers face 9.5% increase in cost of practising next year
Barristers are facing a 9.5% increase in the cost of their practising certificates next year, reduced from 13.5% with the Bar Council again planning to use its reserves to mitigate the increase.
SDT lifts restriction on law firm owner after closure warning
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has removed a condition on the practising certificate of the owner of a legal aid law firm after he warned that it could force the firm to close.
Anti-bullying training “should be compulsory for barristers”
Training to prevent bullying and harassment should be compulsory for barristers, the leader of gender equality group Behind the Gown has said.
Law firm finance head lied about fraud conviction to get job
A law firm employed a head of finance who concealed the fact that he had been jailed in Ireland for defrauding his previous employer.
Regulator to widen powers for interim suspensions of barristers
The Bar Standards Board to press ahead with new powers for interim suspensions where necessary to protect the public or the public interest.
High Court: Mirror’s legal department knew about hacking for years
The legal department at Mirror Group Newspapers was aware of phone hacking far earlier than it admitted, the High Court found last week in the claim brought by Prince Harry.
SDT urges solicitors to be open with clients after suspending partner
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has urged solicitors under work pressures to “be open with their clients when problems arise” after suspending a “cavalier” partner.
Deferring point of call for barristers “could improve social mobility”
Delaying the point at which barristers are called to the Bar until after obtaining pupillage could improve social mobility if it reduces the number of overseas students and “less able domestic students”.
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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