Compliance & Regulation
Unbundled family law service to expand as SRA eyes pilot
A pilot version of an unbundled family law service for litigants in person has enabled them to save 70% on legal fees and is to be expanded; meanwhile, the SRA is to run its own unbundling pilot.
High Court rejects appeal from sham marriages solicitor
The High Court has rejected an appeal from a solicitor struck off after being recorded by an undercover TV reporter giving advice on what he knew was a sham marriage.
London law firm launches novel association with Italian MDP
An English law firm and an Italian multi-disciplinary practice offering accounting, tax and unreserved legal services have formed a novel association to assist each other’s clients.
New ABS regulator grants first licence to lifetime planning business
CILEx Regulation has become the sixth body to license an alternative business structure after approving an application from lifetime planning and bereavement firm Trust Inheritance.
Students used by law firm for agency advocacy are ‘workers’
A Bar student who handled agency advocacy work through a law firm was a worker with certain rights and not self-employed, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Jail sentence for barrister guilty of child sex offences
A barrister who travelled across the country with the intention of sexually abusing teenage girls – unaware that they were not real – has been jailed for three and a half years.
Nearly 1,200 students sign up to first SQE sitting
Nearly 1,200 people have signed up to take the first ever Solicitors Qualifying Examination assessment in November, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has revealed.
Second paralegal at firm banned for falsifying time records
A second paralegal working at National Accident Law has been banned from the profession for charging clients for more calls than she actually made.
Non-practising barrister fined for calling herself “barrister-at-law”
A non-practising barrister has been reprimanded and fined for describing herself as a “barrister at law” on emails and telling a client she could represent her.
Sister and brother struck off for work on dubious investment schemes
A sister and brother have been struck off as solicitors for putting their own financial interests ahead of clients who lost money in dubious parking space and storage pod investment schemes.
Blog
Containing the spread of unapproved AI
Nearly 60% of fee-earners admit to using unapproved tools (like free versions of ChatGPT). Yet 68% of firm leaders are confident there is zero risk of unapproved AI being used for client work.
When AI adoption goes wrong, costs add up fast
City AM recently reported that London is fighting to claim the title of ‘global capital of legal AI’. However, it’s crucial we remember that adoption alone does not create value.
Gen Z lawyers vs identity, sacrifice and success
This conversation began with my training principal, who admitted something many senior lawyers quietly feel: “I struggle to understand what motivates Gen Z lawyers.”
