Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor struck off after housing fraud conviction
A solicitor and former councillor jailed for housing fraud has accepted that he must now be struck off the roll. The former Duncan Lewis lawyer had been sentenced to 16 months.
SRA obtains disclosure order in Post Office lawyers investigation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has stepped up its probe of solicitors who acted for the Post Office during the sub-postmasters’ scandal, it has emerged.
Solicitor overturns disciplinary tribunal’s dishonesty finding
A solicitor suspended for a year after a tribunal ruled he had acted dishonestly in signing a declaration on behalf of one of his firm’s directors has successfully challenged the decision.
Legal Ombudsman eyes major shake-up of rules to help tackle backlog
Plans for major shake-up of the rules of the Legal Ombudsman, including reducing the time limit to bring complaints from six years to one, have been unveiled.
Parking charges law firm fined for unallocated payments from drivers
A law firm which specialises in the recovery of unpaid parking fines has been fined £15,000 for delays in investigating unallocated payments from debtors totalling nearly £130,000 at one point.
SDT’s ‘miscarriage of justice’ concern over higher SRA fining power
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has called for any new internal fining powers for the Solicitors Regulation Authority to be limited to £7,000, rather than the proposed £25,000.
“Hysterical woman” barrister to argue free speech in reprimand appeal
The barrister reprimanded for describing his opponent’s instructing lawyer as a “hysterical woman” says he is being “persecuted for expressing inconvenient truths”.
Law Society backs “moderate” increase in SRA fining powers
The Law Society has backed a “moderate” increase in the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s fining powers to between £5,000 to £7,500, rather than its proposed £25,000.
Non-lawyer owner banned from ABSs over secret profit ruling
A non-lawyer owner of a law firm that has been hugely successful in running PPI claims has been banned from working for ABSs after he made secret profits from it.
LeO delays publishing decisions until it achieves “operational stability”
The Legal Ombudsman will publish its decisions in full, but not until “operational stability” has been achieved, it has emerged.
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.
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