Latest news
Court of Appeal crushes challenge to advocates’ immunity
A high-powered Court of Appeal has overturned and completely rejected a High Court ruling that had opened a crack in advocates’ immunity.
Mazur: Non-authorised person “should not be client’s main contact”
Our round-up of developments on the Mazur ruling includes a warning that law firms should consider prohibiting non-authorised staff from being clients’ main point of contact.
Litigation partner’s errors “did not amount to misconduct”
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed all allegations against a commercial litigation partner whose “shortcomings did not amount to misconduct”.
FCA to steer motor finance consumers away from legal action
The Financial Conduct Authority is to discourage consumers from pursuing motor finance claims in court, even if they might recover more damages.
Court terminates solicitor’s appointment to cross-examine party
The Family Court has terminated the appointment of a solicitor to cross-examine a mother on behalf of the father because he is also instructed to act for the father in criminal proceedings.
UK law firms increase responsible business scores as US plunges
The top 100 UK law firms have increased their responsible business scores, while the average results for US counterparts have crashed “in the face of political headwinds”.
Police filmed solicitor acting for both complainant and defendant
A criminal defence lawyer who was filmed by police advising the complainant in a domestic abuse case while acting for the person accused of headbutting her has been suspended.
Reforms “will push conveyancing fees down by over 20%”
Conveyancing fees should fall by over 20% as a result of a streamlined process and other changes to the home-buying regime announced yesterday, the government has claimed.
Law firm takes down Mazur advice after “unprofessional” responses
A Cardiff law firm criticised for offering to advise people on challenging their solicitors’ fees off the back of the Mazur ruling has removed its promotion of the service.
SQE1 pass-rate falls to lowest-ever level
The pass-rate for the first part of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam has fallen to an all-time low, new figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority have shown.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
