Compliance & Regulation
SRA urges target firms in acquisitions not to ignore due diligence
An SRA review of law firm acquisitions has highlighted failures and behaviours on the part of some target firms as a cause for concern.
SRA targets accountant’s reports and sole owners in shake-up
All law firm accountant’s reports will have to be submitted to the SRA in future, and sole owners will not generally be allowed to hold compliance roles too, under proposals published today.
SRA shuts down four law firms in three days
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has shut down four law firms so far this week – two of them connected to the same man.
Don’t forget human support in the rush to digital, lawyers told
Both the structure and delivery of legal services – such as a lack of guidance and reactive communication – can cause difficulties for consumers, new research has found.
LSB: “Significant concerns” over viability of Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Services Board has expressed “significant concerns about the viability” of the Legal Ombudsman scheme as it struggles to get its caseload under control.
Law firms need to keep “meaningful offline routes” to services
Digitally excluded consumers need law firms to maintain “meaningful offline routes” to services because “digital transformation is not inherently progressive”, says a report for four legal regulators.
Government to ratchet up pressure on “corrupt” lawyers
The government yesterday pledged further action to target professional enablers of fraud, like corrupt lawyers, and called for “innovative” approaches to strengthening ethics.
Tribunal lifts restrictions on solicitor who failed to pay PII premiums
The SDT has lifted all restrictions on the future practice of a solicitor who was indefinitely suspended for failing to pay indemnity insurance premiums.
Reports of bullying and harassment by barristers almost double
The number of reports to the Bar Standards Board of bullying and harassment has almost doubled in the last year, the regulator has revealed.
SRA will take “sympathetic” approach to pre-Mazur breaches
The SRA will respond “sympathetically” to self-reports from those who may have been operating incorrectly under the terms of the Mazur ruling.
Blog
Why law firms are getting AI supervision wrong
The profession’s response to AI supervision failures misunderstands the nature of LLM output – there needs to be for a shift in the culture.
Beyond the PII premium – rethinking risk
Professional indemnity insurance renewal is often treated as an annual pricing exercise. But it is also a chance to show how effectively you identify, manage and mitigate risk.
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
Reports
Associates
