Compliance & Regulation
Jail for lawyer who defrauded employers of £600,000
A lawyer who defrauded the Commonwealth Secretariat and law firm Cooley out of over £600,000 has been jailed for seven and a half years.
Treat personal mitigation “with caution” in cases of sexual misconduct
Personal mitigation needs to be treated with “caution” in the context of sexual misconduct, discrimination and harassment, draft new guidance on disciplining barristers warns.
Law firm was akin to “slow-motion car crash”, tribunal finds
A law firm owner’s failures turned his practice into a “complete shambles” which was “akin to a slow-motion car crash occurring over a number of years”, the SDT has found.
Post Office scandal inquiry urged to put more focus on the lawyers
The inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal has been urged to put more focus on the role of lawyers in perpetuating the organisation’s intransigence over the IT system’s problems.
Barrister apprenticeships a “viable option”, specialist argues
Apprenticeships are a “viable option” to qualification as a barrister, but they would need collaboration between the Bar Standards Board, education providers and the Bar, a new paper has argued.
Leading firm rebuked for letting £21m pass through client account
A leading south-coast law firm that allowed its client account to be used as a banking facility, with £21m passing through it, has been rebuked.
CLC presses ahead with ‘polluter pays’ rule for ombudsman costs
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is pressing ahead with its plan to introduce a ‘polluter pays’ element to how it recovers the cost of the Legal Ombudsman from those it regulates.
Solicitor threatened law firm in bid to have it withdraw complaint
A solicitor threatened his former law firm with blowing the whistle on alleged breaches of its legal aid contract in a bid to have it withdraw a complaint about him, it has emerged.
Former CPS solicitor rebuked for offensive Facebook posts
A solicitor who shared a petition from far-right group Britain First on her Facebook page while working for the Crown Prosecution Service has been rebuked by the SRA.
Partner duped by bogus solicitor and clients into paying away sale proceeds
A law firm owner whose “wholly inadequate” compliance systems led to him being duped by two bogus clients and by a bogus solicitor has been struck off.
Blog
Success in-house – what people don’t tell you about how to get there
TV dramas have made many people think that the legal profession consists of heroes (or villains) in high-flying firms or public prosecution. In reality, nearly a quarter of solicitors work in-house.
The ‘soft landing’ growth strategy for law firms
Increasing demand for ‘hot’ areas of law inspires opportunist law firms to hire more specialists to add to their firepower – the right people at the right time. Yet this is a big ask.
The changing landscape of legal education and online learning
Learning has come a long way since I qualified. There’s a lot more knowledge available about how students learn and how different students learn differently. It’s not one-size-fits-all anymore.
Reports
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