Compliance & Regulation
Fines for solicitor who misused client account and COFA who let him
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has handed substantial fines to a director who used his firm’s client account as a banking facility and the compliance officer who allowed it.
Government ramps up focus on “crooked” immigration lawyers
The government has upped its attacks on “crooked” immigration lawyers by unveiling a taskforce to increase enforcement action against those who help migrants exploit the system.
Suspended jail term for immigration adviser who posed as solicitor
A woman who falsely claimed to be a solicitor and provided immigration advice when not qualified to do so has been given an 18-month suspended sentence.
“Disgraceful” solicitor misled elderly woman over outstanding fees
A solicitor who misled an 89-year-old former client into giving him money she did not owe has been struck off for “disgraceful behaviour” capable of shattering public trust in the profession.
Law firms risk claims without safeguards for generative AI
Law firms must either introduce “safeguards that include human oversight” to authenticate AI-generated content or “expect an increased exposure” to negligence claims, a leading law firm has warned.
LSB set to recommend bigger fining powers for SRA and other regulators
The Legal Services Board is set to make a direct request to the government to increase the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s fining powers beyond the current £25,000 limit.
SRA to toughen up on compliance with continuing competence rules
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to step up efforts to ensure compliance with continuing competence obligations, particularly among conveyancers and probate specialists.
SRA allows convicted and struck off ex-solicitor to work for law firm
A solicitor jailed for perverting the course of justice after sharing information about police activities with drug dealers, and then struck off, has been allowed to return to work at a law firm.
Conveyancer who told trainee to falsify email is struck off
A solicitor who falsified emails in five conveyancing transactions as he struggled to cope with the post-Covid work surge, in one case telling a trainee to send a client false information, has been struck off.
Solicitors “should get empathy training”, LSB research suggests
Solicitors should get training in “soft skills/empathy” as part of their continuing professional development, research for the Legal Services Board has suggested.
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.
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