Compliance & Regulation
SRA to throw spotlight on incompetence in the profession
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to publish an annual competence report on the whole profession this summer, coupled with pro-actively targeting incompetent solicitors.
LeO bringing down backlog but will miss year-end target
The Legal Ombudsman closed more cases in the first nine months of its current year than it did in the whole of the previous 12 months – but is still behind schedule to slash its backlog.
Conveyancing fee-earner banned over £338,000 tax scam
A fee-earner who misappropriated at least £338,000 from her firm by making fraudulent land tax claims has been banned from the profession.
Axiom to enter regulation after obtaining ABS licence
Leading alternative legal services provider Axiom Law is entering regulation in England and Wales after winning approval for an alternative business structure.
Parliament ratchets up pressure on SRA and solicitors
Solicitors and their regulator have found themselves in the crosshairs of MPs and peers this week over strategic lawsuits against public participation and economic crime.
BSB to commission independent review of enforcement processes
The Bar Standards Board is to commission an “independent end-to-end” review of its enforcement processes in a bid to improve its much-criticised performance.
Rebuke for solicitor caught on camera making “lewd gesture”
A solicitor who was caught on camera making a “lewd gesture” at a colleague at the firm’s Christmas party has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
LSB considers ban on NDAs unless employee asks for one
Lawyers could be banned from drafting NDAs in cases of sexual harassment, discrimination or whistleblowing unless the member of staff involved has asked for one.
Number of SRA investigations into SLAPPs continues to rise
The number of law firms being investigated for possible misconduct relating to SLAPPs has doubled since the summer to 40, the chief executive of the SRA revealed yesterday.
Increase in suspicious activity reports made by lawyers
The number of suspicious activity reports made by lawyers rose last year but continues to represent just a tiny fraction of reports received by the National Crime Agency.
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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