Compliance & Regulation
SRA issues warning to firms over sham litigation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has urged law firms to protect themselves from sham litigation, which can be used to bypass anti-money laundering rules.
There aren’t enough immigration advisers, says rebranded regulator
The amount of immigration and asylum advice available across the UK “does not meet the need or demand”, the rebranded Immigration Advice Authority has said.
Over-zealous barristers employing “ethically questionable” tactics
Barristers may “sometimes allow their zeal to advance a client’s interests to embrace tactics which are ethically questionable”, their regulator said yesterday.
SRA: Consumers “at risk from lawyers who do not understand tech”
A lack of digital skills across the UK could be a risk for consumers and law firms if lawyers “do not fully understand” new technology, the SRA has warned.
Financial services barristers fill gap in market with ABS
A specialist chambers of financial services barristers is filling “a gap in the market” by setting up as an alternative business structure regulated by the Bar Standards Board.
Fee-share partner fined for using client account as banking facility
A partner at leading fee-share firm gunnercooke has been fined £14,000 for using the practice’s client account as a banking facility.
Solicitor had clients pay fees into personal bank account
A solicitor has been struck off for telling clients to pay small sums of money into his personal account – but, very unusually, his identity has been kept secret.
Strike-off for partner who asked seller’s firm to backdate completion
A conveyancing partner who asked the seller’s solicitor if he could backdate completion by a day to save his client stamp duty land tax has been struck off.
Ex-solicitor told to repay £1m from fraud or face more years in jail
The struck-off solicitor jailed for 14 years for the Axiom Legal Financing Fund fraud has been ordered to pay back £1.1m or face a further five years in jail.
Suspension for solicitor who did not comply with SDT order
A solicitor who failed to comply with an order made by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2020 has now been suspended for a year.
Blog
Client accounts: Opportunity, obligation and the risks in between
The profitability gap between well-run firms and the rest is not primarily a function of size, location or practice area – it is a function of financial management.
Motor finance – the FCA is more worried about banks than consumers
The Financial Conduct Authority’s motor finance redress scheme announced last week amounts to one of the largest ever consumer failures by the regulator.
Mazur: a symptom not a cause?
If Mazur is a symptom, what does it mean for the underlying health of our civil justice system: the ‘finest legal system in the world’?
