Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor used friend’s identity to obtain prescription drugs
A solicitor who was convicted of fraud after impersonating a friend to obtain prescriptions for painkillers and sleeping pills has agreed to leave the profession.
SRA finalises rules for successor to Solicitors Indemnity Fund
The board of the SRA has agreed the final version of the rules for its in-house successor to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund, which is due to begin work on 1 October this year.
Slips and SLAPPs – SRA review finds good level of compliance
There is an increasing trend of firms threatening to report their opponents to the Solicitors Regulation Authority as a litigation tactic, solicitors have told the regulator.
Solicitor ghosted client and SRA after receiving divorce settlement
A solicitor who failed to pass on to a client the £132,000 due to her from her divorce settlement – money the profession has now had to stump up – has been struck off.
Partner hid conveyancing proceeds in secret bank account
A law firm co-owner who covered up the existence of a bank account he used for the proceeds of a conveyancing transaction – from both his partner and regulator – has been struck off.
Barristers cannot avoid disciplinary action by renouncing status
Barristers cannot escape disciplinary proceedings by renouncing their membership of the profession, a Bar disciplinary tribunal has ruled.
Warning for fee-share consultants in solicitor’s strike-off
A self-employed consultant has been struck off after asking a client to pay a £750 bill to him directly and keep it secret from the law firm he was attached to.
Legal Services Board “needs to focus more on access to justice”
The Legal Services Board should put a priority on access to justice and the needs of people on low incomes rather than professional ethics in its next research programme,.
Solicitor hid 743 cheques worth £233,000 in filing cabinet
A veteran solicitor who signed but then kept 743 cheques worth £233,000 in a filing cabinet in his office, rather than using them to pay disbursements and other liabilities, has been struck off.
New chair a “dominating issue” for Legal Services Board
The arrival of a new chair of the Legal Services Board, taking up the post in April, is the “dominating issue” in its governance, a report by external consultants has found.
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
Associates
