Compliance & Regulation
BSB performance in the red as LSB raises SRA enforcement concerns
Pressure on the Bar Standards Board to improve its performance ratcheted up today after it scored by far the worst of all the legal regulators in the Legal Services Board’s annual assessment.
Solicitor fined for handling follow-on property management work
A retired solicitor has been fined £7,500 for using client accounts as banking facilities over decades to handle property management work for Arab clients.
US lawyer urged clients to infect opposing counsel with “nasty disease”
A US lawyer advised his clients to have someone with Covid or another “highly infectious, nasty disease” lick and handle an envelope being sent to opposing counsel, it has emerged.
New Bar chair calls on Ministry of Justice to review LSB
The new chair of the Bar Council has called on the Ministry of Justice to review the Legal Services Board, prompting a tart response from the oversight regulator.
Legal regulators “need to work on building trust” with their communities
Legal regulators can reduce the amount of enforcement work they need to undertake if they can build enough trust that lawyers will approach them before things go wrong, an event has heard.
SRA hires competition specialist to drive strategy
A competition specialist is to join the Solicitors Regulation Authority as its new executive director for strategy and innovation, while the LSB’s policy chief is leaving to oversee bailiffs.
Solicitor shifted client money around to cover mistakes
A partner who used client funds to make payments for other clients – on occasion to hide the fact that they had been made subject to costs orders – has been struck off.
SRA can enforce costs order against solicitor struck off in 2010
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can finally enforce a £15,000 costs order against a struck-off solicitor more than 12 years after it was made, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled.
Solicitor agrees to quit roll until 2030 over report on title dishonesty
A solicitor who dishonestly amended a report on title to correct an error she had made more than two years earlier has agreed to remove herself from the roll until 2030 at the earliest.
CILEX backs move to grant members higher rights of audience
CILEX – the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives – has urged its regulator to press ahead with plans to seek the power to award higher rights of audience to members.
Blog
The SRA needs to admit it got it wrong about SLAPPs
The High Court judgment in Ashley Hurst v SRA in January raises serious questions about the regulator’s approach to allegations of SLAPP-like behaviour.
Why menopause support belongs on every law firm’s agenda
Progression in the law slows significantly as women approach senior leadership. Most will be at the height of their careers around the average age menopause symptoms begin.
Law firms need to go beyond document checks
At the root of every failed compliance review is a familiar phrase: a calm assertion of “but we did a document check”.
