Compliance & Regulation
Herbert Smith paralegal banned for fake overtime approval
A former paralegal at City giant Herbert Smith Freehills has been banned from the solicitors’ profession after submitting multiple overtime claims with fake approvals on them.
Transparency failures put three firms in the dock
Law firms in London, Manchester and Bath have become the first sanctioned for failing to publish price and service information, with compliance made a condition of their authorisation.
Prosecution of A&O partner over Weinstein NDA stayed
A disciplinary tribunal has stayed proceedings against an Allen & Overy partner over the infamous non-disclosure agreement he helped negotiate on behalf of Harvey Weinstein, because of ill-health.
SDT “wrong” to strike out prosecution of Law Society president
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was wrong to throw out a private prosecution brought by a former client against the current president of the Law Society, the High Court has ruled.
Solicitor fined for role in £29m off-plan development schemes
A solicitor has been fined £8,000 for failing to advise clients of the risks inherent in three off-plan development schemes which were not completed, putting nearly £30m at risk.
Solicitor used disbursement cash to keep firm afloat
A solicitor who used disbursements meant for experts and counsel to keep his firm afloat – and lied to his regulator about the debts he was being chased for – has been struck off.
Solicitor who hid evidence of error “didn’t know what she was doing”
An assistant solicitor who had a panic attack after missing a hearing and tried to destroy evidence that she had been notified about it has avoided being struck off.
Young solicitor who faked email in “moment of madness” avoids strike-off
A young solicitor who amended an email to give a client a false impression of when it was sent has avoided being struck off for what a tribunal described as a “moment of madness”.
Court rejects solicitor’s claim that she hand-delivered files to SRA
A solicitor failed to comply with court orders to produce files to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, a High Court master has ruled, despite her claim that she hand-delivered them.
Judge fines trio who provided unregulated legal advice
Directors from two legal businesses which generated £2.5m in fees by providing unregulated immigration advice have been fined nearly £17,000 and ordered to pay over £28,000 in compensation.
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
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