Compliance & Regulation
SRA seeks extra £11m as complaints about solicitors soar 20%
A “significant and sustained increase” in the number of reports about solicitor misconduct is fuelling the SRA’s plans for an £11m increase in its budget to £168m.
Legal Services Board ratchets up pressure over BSB performance
The Bar Standards Board is not improving its performance with “sufficient urgency or pace”, the oversight regulator has concluded.
Judge condemns lawyers who produced “fake citations” to court
The High Court has ordered that a barrister and the solicitors who instructed her be referred to their regulators after providing five fake case citations in their pleadings.
Mahmood: SSB and Axiom Ince show need for Legal Services Board
The collapses of SSB Law and Axiom Ince indicate a continuing need for the Legal Services Board despite the government’s focus on cutting red tape, the Lord Chancellor said last week.
Rebuke for solicitor who made baseless perjury threat
A solicitor who emailed an opposing litigant after they instructed lawyers and made baseless threats of perjury against them has been rebuked.
SDT rejects solicitor’s “meritless” appeal over undertaking breach
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has rejected an appeal by a solicitor against a fine of £7,500 imposed on him by an SRA adjudication panel, describing it as having no merit.
Jail for property solicitor who defrauded own firm of £160k
A long-serving property solicitor who defrauded a Hereford law firm out of £160,000 by diverting disbursement payments into her own bank account has been jailed for 30 months.
Judge overturns suspension of barrister who lied to client about papers
It was “clearly inappropriate” for a Bar disciplinary tribunal to suspend a barrister who lied to a direct access client over papers that were accidentally destroyed by his chambers.
Suspension for solicitor “who would not allow firm to be regulated”
A law firm owner who failed to pay a wasted costs order as well as four fines imposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has been suspended for six months.
New powers for regulator to crack down on immigration advisers
There is “growing evidence” that unregulated immigration lawyers are abusing the system, the government has claimed in unveiling beefed-up powers for the Immigration Advice Authority.
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
