Compliance & Regulation
Head of failed PI firm struck off for “double funding” cases
The director of a law firm who admitted taking money from two different litigation funders for the same cases in an attempt to keep it operating “at all costs” has been struck off.
Solicitor faces SRA probe over Taliban tweet
The solicitor for the family of Shamima Begum was at the centre of a social media storm yesterday over a tweet about the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan.
Lawyers “must contact NCA immediately” before disclosing SARs
Lawyers compelled by the CPR or court order to reveal the contents or existence of suspicious activity reports must contact the National Crime Agency at the “first opportunity”, the Home Office has said.
Regulators forced to self-finance compensation funds
Two of the smaller legal regulators are having to self-finance their compensation funds after their insurer stopped providing cover, reducing the potential payouts as a result.
Solicitor finally faces disciplinary tribunal after 2015 rape conviction
A senior solicitor convicted more than six years ago of raping a teenager is finally facing the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, it emerged yesterday.
Law Society prepares guidance on Supreme Court undertakings ruling
The Law Society is to issue guidance on last month’s Supreme Court ruling on solicitors’ undertakings, which a legal regulation expert said has left conveyancers “very much in a mire”.
Accountants doing probate work failing on price transparency
Chartered accountants handling probate work are to face compulsory rules on publishing price and service information after their regulator admitted a voluntary approach had not worked.
Trainee and legal cashier banned for taking money
A trainee solicitor and a legal cashier have each been banned from working for law firms after being found to have taken money from their respective firms.
High Court rejects appeal by struck-off pension scam solicitor
The High Court has rejected an appeal by a solicitor struck off after he “turned a blind eye” to the warning signs of fraud in an early release pension scam.
SRA demands firms declare compliance with transparency rules
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has written to 8,000 law firms to demand a declaration that their websites are compliant with the transparency rules and display its clickable logo.
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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