Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor struck off for forging signatures while a trainee
A solicitor who forged a qualified colleague’s signature on conveyancing documents while still a trainee has been struck off, with a tribunal rejecting her claim that she had been authorised to do it.
Solicitor who plundered client account struck off – and now has unregulated firm
A solicitor who plundered his firm’s client account for nearly £400,000, while failing to redeem a mortgage or pay stamp duty as required, has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Solicitor who “juggled” client funds struck off
A solicitor who tried to “juggle” client money to meet her firm’s needs, and to claim that purchases from a cosmetics website were for the business, has been struck off.
Solicitor’s wrongdoing “not a shield” for employee misconduct
A solicitor’s misconduct cannot negate a non-solicitor employee’s misconduct or shield them from being banned from working for law firms, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled.
Beckwith ruling “failed to deliver clarity” on lawyers’ private lives
The High Court’s much-debated ruling on former Freshfields partner Ryan Beckwith “does little to offer any useful clarity” on the boundary between solicitors’ professional and personal lives, a white paper has argued. The paper, produced by regulation specialists at City… Read More
Solicitor and unadmitted wife reprimanded over work on client files
A former solicitor who had access to the files of matters he had referred to his conveyancing manager wife has been given the lowest-level sanction by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
High-profile City litigator struck off for misusing client money
A high-profile City litigator has been struck off for using a client’s divorce settlement to fund his ventures to pursue digital dispute resolution. A tribunal rejected his claim that the client had agreed to it.
SRA “needs to monitor” enforcement staff more closely
The Solicitors Regulation Authority spends too much time on diversity training and monitoring, and not enough on assuring that its enforcement staff act in a non-biased way, it has been claimed.
Solicitor who submitted false oath agrees to leave profession
A former partner at a Yorkshire law firm who submitted a false statement to the probate court as part of the oath for executors has agreed to leave the profession.
SDT clears pro-Beijing lawyer over “kill protestors” allegation
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has rejected allegations that a pro-Beijing lawyer and politician based in Hong Kong called for pro-independence protestors to be “killed mercilessly”.
Blog
It’s time for law firms to ask tougher questions
For years, many law firms have treated ID verification as a box-ticking exercise. Run a liveness check, match a face to a document and move on. But that is no longer good enough.
Business fatigue to AI will risk job security
Whilst we know professional learning has always been part of career paths, to hire, retain and keep talent, AI needs to be embedded as a core part of this training.
On good authority? GenAI and the reputational risks to law firms
As GenAI’s influence grows, so do the risks which are already playing out in courtrooms across England and Wales, where some early adopters are setting precedents they would rather not.
