Compliance & Regulation
Public access barrister suspended over “hostile emails” to solicitors
A public access barrister who engaged in “unnecessarily hostile and antagonistic correspondence” with opposing solicitors has been suspended for six months.
Law firm boss avoid costs order after losing whistleblowing claim
A law firm chief executive who lost his claim that he was fired for making protected disclosures has escaped a costs order even though a tribunal said it had no reasonable prospects of success.
Public supports stronger ongoing competence checks for lawyers
There is near unanimity among the public that lawyers should have to demonstrate more actively than now that they remain competent throughout their careers, the Legal Services Board has found.
Law firm swaps regulator after enduring “bumpy journey”
A family law practice started by two solicitors has divorced the Bar Standards Board as its regulator and taken up with the Solicitors Regulation Authority after difficulties beset the relationship.
Barrister suspended over Royal baby tweets returns to work
The barrister suspended from the innovative family law business she founded after being accused of making racist comments about the latest Royal baby has returned to work.
Solicitor jailed for stamp duty land tax fraud
A solicitor who falsified returns to HM Revenue & Customs so as to underpay stamp duty land tax and pocket the difference has been jailed for more than three years.
BSB more likely to raise complaints against minority ethnic barristers
Minority ethnic barristers remain more likely than their White counterparts to be subject to complaints raised by the Bar Standards Board, with men more likely than women, new research has shown.
Insurance giant’s ABS hit with fine for money laundering failure
The alternative business structure owned by global insurance services firm Crawford & Company has been fined for failing to confirm that it had a compliant anti-money laundering risk assessment.
CA upholds privilege claim to information extracted from solicitor “by deception”
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that correspondence between solicitors a judge found involved “an element of deception” as to its real purpose was covered by litigation privilege.
Solicitor struck off after child pornography and cannabis convictions
A solicitor who received a suspended jail sentence after being convicted of making indecent images of children and producing cannabis has been struck off.
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.
Reports
Associates
