Compliance & Regulation
“Overworked” barrister partner disbarred over Trump case dishonesty
A “high-flying” barrister partner at a City law firm who fabricated a court order was unable to cope with her workload but this did not excuse her misconduct, a Bar tribunal has found.
Male barrister reprimanded for “hysterical woman” jibe at lawyer
A male barrister has been reprimanded for describing his opponent’s instructing lawyer as a “hysterical woman” and female lawyers more generally as intemperate.
SRA warns law firms over “wholly unreasonable workloads”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned law firms that imposing “wholly unreasonable workloads or targets” on staff could result in disciplinary action.
Bar chief: LSB competence push “risks infringing Legal Services Act”
The chair of the Bar Council has warned the Legal Services Board that it risks infringing the Legal Services Act if it demands that regulators impose new competence regimes without sufficient evidence.
Law students concerned by “low” SQE pass rate
The pass rate of 53% achieved by the first group of candidates to sit part one of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam is viewed as “low” by students, an SQE training provider has said.
Solicitor who used disbursement cash to prop up PI firm struck off
A solicitor who did not pay outstanding disbursements for seven years, using them instead to prop up his personal injury firm, has been struck off.
Pandemic hit lowest-earning barristers hardest as big pay gaps persist
The pandemic has had more of an impact on incomes at the lower-earning end of the Bar than among the big billers, according to new research by the Bar Standards Board.
Funder fails in claim to recover losses from firm’s indemnity insurer
The funder of a law firm that went bust owing it £1.6m has failed in an attempt to recover the money from the practice’s professional indemnity insurer.
Leading firm acted for client without obtaining authority
A well-known law firm acted for a client without receiving signed authority from him, having relied on his aunt to provide identification documents, it has emerged.
“Real challenges” for large law firms in improving diversity, says SRA
The biennial snapshot of the solicitors’ profession shows the “real challenges” for large firms in making progress towards diversity, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.
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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