Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor fined for fly tipping and supervision failure
A solicitor who failed to supervise a caseworker he wrongly thought to be a barrister and also fly tipped legal documents containing client information has been fined.
Solicitor who left clients “high and dry” struck off
A solicitor left clients “high and dry” by failing to register their property purchases and pay stamp duty, while misappropriating some £175,000 of their money, a tribunal has found.
Solicitor failed to check whether jailed client wanted to sell property
A veteran solicitor did not confirm that his imprisoned client had given instructions to transfer a £300,000 property to his mother, with the client claiming after it happened that he knew nothing about it.
Solicitor fined for abusive call to client who’s also a relative
A solicitor was verbally abusive to a client and attempted to dissuade them from continuing a complaint against him, it has emerged – and the pair were related.
Partner lied to client about settlement that never was
A partner at leading regional firm Clarke Willmott has been struck off for lying to his client that settlement monies were on the way when he had not actually negotiated any settlement.
Solicitor struck off over falsified decree absolute
A solicitor who led a client to believe he was divorced after she falsified a decree absolute has been struck off. She also admitted having the client pay her in cash, rather than pay her firm.
Barrister suspended after appearing in court when unauthorised – again
An experienced barrister who appeared in two courts without having a practising certificate has been suspended for four months, having been fined twice in previous years for the same offence.
Service provider hack sees 100GB of data stolen from top law firm
Global law firm Jones Day has reportedly had 100 gigabytes of data stolen, with some of it appearing on the dark web, after a third party that provides it with file transfer software was hacked.
Solicitor fell in love with architect of translation fraud
A solicitor who described how she fell in love with the architect of a translation fee fraud – who used her to facilitate it – has accepted that she had to be struck off.
CLC highlights compliance risks facing licensed conveyancers
Money laundering, buyer-funded developments, and acting for both sides are among the risks highlighted in the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ first Compliance Risk Agenda.
Blog
Is your Google Ads budget funding your competitors’ AI visibility?
If your cost-per-click has crept up again this year, you’ve probably assumed the market simply got more expensive. That’s the wrong way to read what’s happening.
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.
