Compliance & Regulation

Two solicitors have found themselves in regulatory bother because of the involvement of family in the matters they were dealing with, one a property purchase and the other a will.

The SRA’s proposed new rule requiring solicitors to treat colleagues with respect is in part aimed at filling a hole exposed by the prosecution of Ryan Beckwith, it was claimed yesterday.

The government has begun recruiting the fourth chair of the Legal Services Board, with the Lord Chancellor saying they would play a key role in “reshaping legal services”.

A solicitor who amended a deed of trust to remove a beneficial interest has been rebuked for doing so without checking that the beneficiary had consented.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has a “long way to go” to improve the diversity of its senior management, it said as it published its ethnicity pay gap for the first time.

The Legal Services Board this week approved projects to improve the way regulators approach financial protection for consumers, as well as discipline and enforcement.

The Legal Services Board has told the government that “there is a strong case for legislating” to ensure legal regulators have the powers to stop lawyers breaking sanctions imposed by the UK.

Legal regulators need to do more to deal with SLAPPs – strategic lawsuits against public participation – because they are undermining the profession’s reputation, a report has argued.

A veteran barrister has been fined £4,250 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal for carrying out litigation without authorisation and handling client money on behalf of a direct access client.

Firms of licensed conveyancers will have to apply for professional indemnity insurance two months ahead of the renewal deadline and in return will receive a response within four weeks.