Compliance & Regulation
£86m of client money went through in-house solicitor’s personal account
An elderly in-house solicitor who handled reserved legal work without authorisation, and used his personal bank account to process £86m of client money, has agreed to leave the profession.
SRA: Law firm’s work for warlord was not improper
The SRA yesterday took the unusual step of setting out why it cleared the law firm which acted for Yevgeniy Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, of misconduct.
Law firm avoids tribunal referral over PEP due diligence failures
A law firm that failed to conduct proper anti-money laundering checks while acting for a politically exposed person has been fined £25,000.
Tribunal clears Daily Mail sting solicitor of misconduct
One of the solicitors accused by the Daily Mail of offering to help an undercover reporter concoct a false asylum claim has been cleared of misconduct.
In-house solicitor fined for offensive nicknames and emails
A senior in-house solicitor who coined offensive nicknames for colleagues and sent sweary emails has been fined £15,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Legal threat to US firm in London over “u-turn on helping trans man”
The Good Law Project is threatening US law firm Morrison Foerster with legal action over its London office “reneging” on an agreement to represent a trans man.
SRA used “prejudicial hearsay evidence” in failed prosecution
The SRA relied on complaints by anonymous people and “a significant amount of prejudicial hearsay evidence” to support a failed prosecution against two high-profile solicitors.
City giant fined £465k for sanctions breach by Russian arm
The Russian arm of top City firm Herbert Smith Freehills has been fined £465,000 for breaching UK financial sanctions imposed on Russia.
Sidhu disbarred and attacked for “abusing power to perpetrate abuse”
The case of Jo Sidhu KC – who was disbarred yesterday – “exposes the failure of the current systems to effectively prevent sexual misconduct at the Bar”, Harriet Harman KC said yesterday.
Beringer: No rules force law firms to take on questionable clients
There are no rules that require law firms to take on clients outside of criminal work and so they need to be willing to justify their choices publicly, the former senior partner of Allen & Overy said this week.
Blog
When the person who needs help is the partner
A law firm can have excellent support on paper and still have a serious gap. The gap is the person who cannot imagine using it.
SRA supervision and AI: what firms will be asked to prove
AI intensifies scrutiny of whether firms can demonstrate that they were in control of the systems through which legal services were delivered.
How ELD NextGen will improve employers’ liability tracing
The Employers’ Liability Tracing Office is continuing work towards the launch of ELD NextGen, the next generation of the employers’ liability database, in early 2027.
Reports
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