Compliance & Regulation

A solicitor whose misconduct included using client money to help his firm with cash flow difficulties has been struck off, while two solicitors he hoodwinked have also been sanctioned.

A vastly experienced regulator who once described the prospect of a single regulator for lawyers as “inevitable” has been named as the new chair of the Legal Services Board.

A solicitor who lied about not having a bank account or any income other than benefits to avoid repaying a debt to the Legal Aid Agency has failed in his appeal against being struck off.

Solicitors could improve their productivity by using distributed ledger technology but need to take care if a client wants to pay by cryptocurrency, the SRA has cautioned.

The employment tribunal has set aside a ruling from 2014 that a former law firm director, now a barrister, was guilty of serious financial impropriety.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new fining powers mean that significant but inadvertent breaches need no longer be referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, the pair have agreed.

A former employee of breakdown company RAC has been convicted of stealing the data of victims of road traffic accidents, which he then passed on to claims management companies.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to publish an annual competence report on the whole profession this summer, coupled with pro-actively targeting incompetent solicitors.

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.

A fee-earner who misappropriated at least £338,000 from her firm by making fraudulent land tax claims has been banned from the profession.