Compliance & Regulation

A veteran solicitor who genuinely believed a court had entered judgment against his client by error has been cleared of multiple allegations made against him at a tribunal.

Barristers under a duty to report bullying, harassment or sexual harassment by others to the BSB can now satisfy it by reporting to the Bar Council’s new Commissioner for Conduct.

A probate solicitor who blamed multiple breaches on the “emotional entanglement” he felt when handling his brother’s estate has been fined and given a seven-year restriction order.

The SRA has issued substantially revised guidance on effective supervision, setting out in detail how firms can delegate legal work to non-authorised staff following Mazur.

Consumers expect a lawyer to oversee the information and advice that artificial intelligence provides, major new research has found.

Serious wrongdoing by solicitors may be shielded from regulatory action if the SRA does not have the right to view privileged material, the High Court will be told next month.

Law firms may for the first time have to pay a case fee for complaints dismissed by the Legal Ombudsman, under new proposals published yesterday.

Litigation funding reform, the interest on lawyers’ client accounts scheme and the regulation of legal AI tools were all on the agenda for justice minister Sarah Sackman yesterday.

Legal services will be the first sector to join the government’s new AI Growth Labs – providing a regulatory sandbox for AI systems – justice secretary David Lammy announced yesterday.

The Legal Ombudsman is open to a discussion on it replacing the courts for costs disputes between solicitors and their clients – but would not be in a position to actually do it for some time.