Compliance & Regulation
Leading criminal law solicitor struck off over £100 “gift”
A leading criminal law solicitor has been struck off after asking a police station client to pay him £100 for travel costs and then claiming the money from the Legal Aid Agency.
LSB warns Bar Council over objections to “unreasonable” PCF rise
The Legal Services Board has approved a controversial 4.5% increase in the practising certificate fee for barristers, while warning the Bar Council over how it exercises its regulatory functions.
Truss: We’re looking to target law firm enablers of oligarchs
Efforts to target oligarchs will extend to those who enable them, like law firms, foreign secretary Liz Truss confirmed yesterday.
Ukraine war trains harsh spotlight on lawyers who act for oligarchs
Pressure to take action against law firms who act for oligarchs and companies connected with the Russian state is increasing from MPs, peers and journalists.
Solicitor who took £10,000 fee and then ghosted client struck off
A “disgraceful” solicitor who took half of his £20,000 fee for an immigration matter upfront but then did no work and ghosted his client has been struck off.
SDT, BTAS and other tribunals face hefty bills after appeal court ruling
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that a barrister who sat as a tribunal chair for the Nursing and Midwifery Council was a ‘worker’ and entitled to sickness and holiday pay.
Solicitor made up court wins for Facebook and practised unauthorised
A solicitor who practised without authorisation for four years and posted messages on Facebook about made-up cases her firm had supposedly won has been suspended from practice.
Solicitors convicted of fraud ordered to repay £205,000
Two solicitors who were jailed for stealing thousands of pounds from their firm have now been ordered to pay back more than £200,000.
QC among buyers of “less itchy” vegan wigs
A QC is among the first buyers of a new hemp wig, made without the traditional horse hair and developed by a vegan barrister, as the debate over whether wigs should be compulsory has heated up.
“Reckless” solicitor fined for role in scheme offering 1,000% return
A veteran solicitor who provided banking facilities through his client account for a scheme promising investors a 1,000% return has been fined.
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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