Compliance & Regulation
Solicitors rebuked for frying pan attack and non-disclosure agreement
A solicitor who hit a person around the head with a frying pan, and another who tried to use a settlement agreement to prevent disclosures to HMRC, have been rebuked.
Lawyer faces jail for contempt after failing to hand over files to SRA
A lawyer who failed to comply with court orders to hand over his firm’s files to the Solicitors Regulation Authority is facing possible jail time after being found in contempt.
Regulator presses Simplify to help clients change conveyancer
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is pressing the Simplify group to reach a position where it can provide its files to clients who wish to change lawyer following the recent cyber-attack.
Consumer panel and Bar Council at odds over future of aptitude test
The evidence for abolishing the Bar course aptitude test is “compelling” as it has failed to achieve its purpose, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.
Tribunal: Barrister’s ‘fundamentally dishonest’ claim was not fraudulent
A barrister found to have brought a fundamentally dishonest personal injury claim was not disbarred after a tribunal did not accept that his case was actually fraudulent.
Solicitor who used client account like a “piggy bank” is struck off
A solicitor who plundered her client account to meet her personal financial obligations and her ex-partner’s car debts has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Conveyancing giant told to improve communication after cyber-attack
The country’s largest conveyancing group has been told by its regulator to improve communication with clients in the wake of a paralysing cyber-attack this week.
“Significant weaknesses” in legal regulators’ approach to money laundering
There are “differing levels of achievement and some significant weaknesses” among the UK’s legal regulators in their approach to anti-money laundering, their oversight body has reported.
“Lessons for other legal regulators” from Faculty Office review
The Legal Services Board has said other legal regulators could learn lessons from a highly critical review it has published on the Faculty Office, the regulator of notaries.
Not our job to help retired solicitors “sleep easy”, says SRA
It is not the job of the Solicitors Regulation Authority to help retired solicitors “sleep easy” by protecting them from historic negligence claims, its director of regulatory policy has warned.
Blog
It’s time for law firms to ask tougher questions
For years, many law firms have treated ID verification as a box-ticking exercise. Run a liveness check, match a face to a document and move on. But that is no longer good enough.
Business fatigue to AI will risk job security
Whilst we know professional learning has always been part of career paths, to hire, retain and keep talent, AI needs to be embedded as a core part of this training.
On good authority? GenAI and the reputational risks to law firms
As GenAI’s influence grows, so do the risks which are already playing out in courtrooms across England and Wales, where some early adopters are setting precedents they would rather not.
