Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor suspended over trivial but dishonest email change
A solicitor who dishonestly made a minor amendment to an email when he forwarded it to a client – causing no harm to them or anyone else – has been suspended for a year.
Law Society plan for 10-fold rise in SGM threshold “shocking”
The group that last year requisitioned a special general meeting of the Law Society has described plans to make it much harder to do so in future as “shocking”.
AML reforms could see banks ask for details of solicitors’ clients
Proposed government changes to anti-money laundering rules around pooled client accounts could raise issues around client confidentiality and privilege, experts have warned.
Practising barrister named a tax avoidance promoter in HMRC first
A practising barrister has for the first time been added to HM Revenue & Customs’ list of tax avoidance promoters.
Public access barristers used mainly for advice, not representation
People who instruct barristers through the public access scheme are much more likely to be seeking advice than representation in court, new research has indicated.
Strike-off for solicitor who deleted and lied about email
A solicitor at a national law firm who deleted a client’s email from its document management system “to try to cover up that he had not dealt with it” has been struck off.
Two-thirds of law firms breaking residual balance rules
A leading firm of accountants says two-thirds of law firms whose books it examined for regulatory reports had broken the rules on residual balances.
“Weed out chancers” with £50 Legal Ombudsman complaint fee
The Legal Ombudsman should introduce a nominal complaint fee of £50 to “weed out those whom one might describe as ‘chancers’”, Birmingham Law Society has proposed.
Solicitor who lied to client “to buy herself time” is struck off
A solicitor who admitted lying to a client about receiving a medical report “to buy herself time” has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
SDT rejects managing partner’s bid to blame junior solicitor for errors
A managing partner has failed to convince the SDT to blame the one-year qualified solicitor he was supervising for failures on a conveyancing transaction at an undervalue.
Blog
The importance of benchmarking reports – and lessons on profitability
Regional firms reported the largest revenue growth this year (12%), outpacing their City counterparts. Yet many are not converting that growth into profitability.
Fixed recoverable costs: Sacrificing justice for predictability?
The extended fixed recoverable costs regime is failing to achieve its stated objectives. Instead of promoting fairness and efficiency, the rules are creating anomalies that undermine justice.
Expectations keep rising, so prioritise client experience
Law firms are facing growing pressure to place greater focus on client experience or risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive legal market.
