Compliance & Regulation
Fee-share corporate firm becomes community interest company
A fee-share practice has become what is thought to be the first corporate law firm to become a not-for-profit community interest company, ensuring it donates all profits to charity.
Defence barrister who misled court to get paid is suspended
An experienced defence barrister who joked that he would not get paid if his case was discontinued, secretly drafted and uploaded an indictment to stop that happening.
SRA bids to increase number of senior ethnic minority staff
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced plans to improve the number of senior ethnic minority staff, although its ethnicity pay gap is “heading in the right direction”.
SDT clears ex-Law Society president Greene after private prosecution
Leading litigator David Greene was yesterday cleared of wrongdoing by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as the long-running saga that saw him resign as Law Society president neared an end.
Fine for solicitor who failed to register clients’ interests
A conveyancer who failed to register her clients’ interests at the Land Registry within the time limit, in breach of undertakings, has been fined £10,000 for her misconduct.
Solicitor who dishonestly confirmed witnessing signature struck off
A solicitor who dishonestly confirmed that he had witnessed a signature on a lease when he actually had not has been struck off the roll.
Inns under fire for sluggish approach to disability access
The inns of court are slow to act on behalf of disabled barristers and the Bar Standards Board is to set push them to improve access in listed buildings.
Big disparity in Bar course pass rates across providers
There is a significant attainment gap between providers of the Bar training course, ranging from a pass rate of 94% at the highest to 49% at the lowest.
“Deconstructed SQE” could be end-point test for three professions
The SQE could be deconstructed and its modules used to form the “final end-point test” for chartered legal executives and licensed conveyancers as well as solicitors.
Bar regulator faces formal LSB action over performance crisis
The LSB has begun talking about taking formal action against the BSB over shortcomings in its performance, which it has emerged include how it has dealt with the Post Office scandal.
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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