Compliance & Regulation
BSB scraps student aptitude test despite Bar Council opposition
The Bar Standards Board is to ditch the Bar course aptitude test as it is no longer acting as a “filter” of those likely to fail the vocational component of their training.
Legal regulators should not be “overly risk averse” about technology
Legal regulators must not be “overly risk adverse” in supporting the use of technology, given its importance, a senior figure at the Legal Services Board has said.
BSB panel rejects complaints over barrister’s Royal baby tweets
A Bar Standards Board panel has rejected more than 80 complaints made against a barrister accused of making racist comments on Twitter about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby last year.
Ex-Law Society president fails in bid to strike out SDT case
David Greene, the former president of the Law Society, has failed in his attempt to halt a private prosecution of him at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, although its scope has been narrowed.
GPs attack “bullying” solicitors over Covid exemption letters
The British Medical Association has accused solicitors of bullying GPs by threatening legal action if the doctor does not provide a Covid vaccination exemption for their client.
Council lawyer lied about husband’s company to get invoices paid
An in-house solicitor at Corby Borough Council who lied about giving work to her husband’s company in a bid to have two invoices paid has been struck off.
Digital ID tools “do not breach legal services regulation”
Solicitors should not view digital identity verification as a second-best option after traditional manual checks, according to a joint statement by LawtechUK and the legal regulators.
Barrister sanctioned for “offensive” Muslim tweet wins appeal
A Bar Standards Board panel applied too low a threshold in sanctioning a barrister for a tweet about Muslims that it said would cause offence, a tribunal has ruled.
Standard cyber-security form to aid solicitors instructing barristers
A standardised form for solicitors to assess the cyber-security arrangements of chambers they instruct has been launched by the Law Society and Bar Council.
The SRA’s first ABS – still going strong, 10 years on
Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the first alternative business structure licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and the firm is still going strong.
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.
Reports
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