Compliance & Regulation
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.
Three law firm staff disqualified from profession for drugs convictions
Two fee-earners at conveyancing giant ONP Solicitors have been disqualified from the profession after they were jailed for drug dealing.
Blog
The real cure for inequality at law firms? Listening
How can men, as one male panellist put it, “get out of the way of people coming up through the ranks?”
Most of these conversations only happen after the men leave the room.
Andy Burnham and the Hillsborough Law: should solicitors be worried?
Now that Andy Burnham has become prime minister, the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, otherwise known as the Hillsborough Law, will receive a real boost of political capital.
Defending fair fees in the property profession
If the property industry is serious about moving towards 28-day exchanges, then it must confront not only the practical barriers, but the commercial behaviours too.
