Compliance & Regulation
Personal injury lawyer who “wrecked lives” is struck off
A personal injury lawyer who inflated costs, put false information before a court, misled her insurer and “wrecked lives” has been struck off.
Law firm loses appeal against penalty for late tax payment
A law firm has lost an appeal against a penalty imposed by HM Revenue & Customs for the late payment of tax under PAYE, with the tribunal saying it should have posted the cheque in good time.
Lawyers and accountants at odds over economic crime levy
Solicitors and accountants are at odds over whether the new economic crime levy should be calculated by reference to their income or the number of suspicious activity reports they made.
Price transparency “dispelling fears” about cost of legal services
The rules on price transparency are dispelling consumers’ pre-conceptions that legal services are unaffordable and many are now shopping around online, new research has claimed.
LSB “forced” accountants to withdraw from legal services regulation
It was “fundamentally wrong” for Legal Services Board rules to force the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants to withdraw from legal services, another accountancy body has argued.
Ethics worry with lawyers and lawtech firms “not speaking same language”
Solicitors are concerned that some new legal technology they buy does not take into account their professional rules and ethical duties because lawtech firms are “not speaking the same language”.
Legal Ombudsman urges CMA to extend reach to unregulated firms
The Office for Legal Complaints, the governing body of the Legal Ombudsman, has renewed its call for it to be allowed to extend its reach to unregulated legal services providers.
Law Society “must show it listens to solicitors” about cost of practising
The Law Society and SRA need to do more to show that they take on board what solicitors have to say about the cost of practising, the Legal Services Board has warned.
Law Society conveyancing scheme a “barrier to competition”
The Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme is a “market barrier”, blocking entry to non-solicitor law firms, the Competition and Markets Authority has been told.
“Manifestly incompetent” partner suspended over client cash
A “manifestly incompetent” partner, whose “neglect and carelessness” led to a shortage in her law firm’s client account of £214,000, has been suspended for 18 months.
Blog
Reorientation in the AI era must begin with the client
Much of the discussion about AI in the legal industry focuses on technology: which tools to adopt and which tasks might get automated. But this misses the deeper story.
Awaab’s Law phase 2: New hazards council tenants can now claim for
The conversation on housing disrepair is moving beyond damp and mould alone. With the rollout of phase 2 of Awaab’s Law, the scope of issues covered is expanding significantly,
Beyond PCP: Can regulators and lawyers work better together next time?
Nearly a decade after the Financial Conduct Authority began investigating the car finance industry, the story of the PCP commission scandal is still unfinished.
