Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor took advantage of deceased lawyer’s vulnerable widow
An experienced solicitor has been struck off for taking advantage of the widow of a deceased solicitor after being instructed to wind up his practice and deal with his estate.
Post Office scandal inquiry to put conduct of lawyers under spotlight
The lead counsel to the Post Office Horizon Inquiry last week made clear that the role of lawyers, “some of them senior”, will be put under scrutiny in the coming months.
Lawyers need to redraw ethical boundaries “or face external action”
The legal profession is “drawing the ethical boundaries in the wrong place” in its dealings with corrupt kleptocrats and oligarchs, and risks having reforms imposed on it as a result.
Lawyers “not listening” to ethnic minority clients
Many ethnic minority consumers of legal services do not feel they are being listened to or understood by their lawyers, research for the Legal Services Consumers Panel has found.
Firm rebuked for acting on both sides of property transaction
A law firm which acted for both sides in a property transaction without obtaining their consent has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
LSB launches investigation into dispute between CILEX and its regulator
The Legal Services Board has launched an investigation into the disputes between CILEX and its regulatory arm, saying there has been a “breakdown of trust” between the two.
Legal 500 entries, eBay and air miles – bans for City law firm staff
A senior business development executive who misled her law firm employer that its Legal 500 submissions had been made is among bans from the profession issued to City firm staff.
Grand National fraudster struck off as a solicitor
A solicitor convicted of seven counts of fraud, involving goods worth £10,600 – including fireworks and tickets for the Grand National – has been struck off.
SRA earmarks £550,000 for one-off cost-of-living payment to staff
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has put aside up to £550,000 to give staff a one-off pay boost to help with the cost-of-living crisis, it has emerged.
SRA struggling to keep hold of anti-money laundering staff
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is facing “challenges” in retaining staff in its anti-money laundering team, in part because it cannot compete with private sector salaries.
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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