Latest news
Bar Council sets sights on solicitors’ advocacy ‘conflict of interest’
The Bar Council has called for strict new rules to check that criminal law solicitors are acting properly when they guide clients to in-house advocates as opposed to external counsel.
Stobart Barristers boss cleared of contempt allegations
The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by Trevor Howarth, the founder of Stobart Barristers, and Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler against their committal for trial on contempt charges brought by a litigant in person.
High Court strikes out barrister’s claim for compensation from BSB
A pioneering barrister who overturned a disciplinary tribunal ruling that she had conducted litigation in breach of the Bar’s then code of conduct, has lost her claim for compensation against the Bar Standards Board.
Big corporations can look after themselves, says SRA as it unveils fresh approach to regulation
Consumers of legal services do not all need the same level of protection and some of them, such as big corporations, might not need “any protection at all”, the SRA has said in a policy statement on its approach to regulation.
Review pushes criminal lawyers towards common training and smaller Bar
A future where would-be criminal law barristers train together with solicitors and work at law firms before joining a “smaller, specialist Bar” later in their careers was sketched out yesterday in the government-commissioned review of criminal advocacy.
LeO: make conveyancers answer to HMRC for stamp duty failings
The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has suggested that conveyancers, rather than clients, should answer to HMRC when stamp duty payments fail to arrive.
End of the annual accountant’s report is nigh
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has unveiled plans to remove the requirement that firms have their client accounts reviewed by an independent accountant and submit an annual accountant’s report.
SRA bids to slash minimum PII cover to £500,000
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has called for the minimum level of indemnity cover firms must obtain to be cut to £500,000. The existing limits are £2m for traditional partnerships, or £3m for incorporated practices.
SRA aims to ease the path for MDPs
Non-reserved legal activities within multi-disciplinary alternative business structures should be taken out of regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, it proposed yesterday.
Another unrated insurer “heading for liquidation”, says SRA – as it rejects ban
Another unrated indemnity insurer is “likely to be put into liquidation”, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned. The news comes as the SRA announced that it will not introduce a ban on unrated insurers.
Blog
Why housing disrepair claims against councils have leapt by nearly 400%
Housing disrepair claims against councils have surged dramatically in recent years, with some areas reporting increases approaching a staggering 400%.
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.
