Latest news
Ban for office manager who took nearly £550,000 from firm
A part-time office manager who misappropriated nearly £550,000 from a law firm has been banned from working in the profession.
Law firm to pay £105k over Plevin cases it failed to progress
A law firm which failed to uphold its side of a deal when taking on another practice’s Plevin cases has been ordered to pay it £105,000.
Two solicitors rebuked for taking client information when leaving firms
Two solicitors who took confidential client information from their former employers have been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Gender-critical barrister praises BSB approach to ‘meritless’ complaints
A leading ‘gender critical’ barrister has praised the Bar Standards Board for the way it handles “meritless” complaints after rejecting two made against her.
Medico-legal market remains strong despite MedCo decline
Researchers have raised their estimate for the value of the UK’s medico-legal market in 2024 to £677m, an increase of 4.5% on the previous year.
Consultant-led law firms “pose greater money laundering risk”
The decentralised nature of consultant-led law firms carries extra money laundering risks that mean compliance officers may need to be “more interventionist”, the SRA has cautioned.
SRA to consult on strengthening continuing competence regime
The SRA is to consult on strengthening continuing competence requirements as it was not clear whether solicitors are reflecting properly on their practices.
Ten competition class actions for every person in the UK
There were more than 655m class members of actions in the Competition Appeal Tribunal at the end of 2024 – equivalent to 10.4 class actions for every person in the country.
FCA already under pressure to restrict car finance redress scheme
Peers on the House of Lords’ financial services regulation committee have questioned whether the FCA’s plan for a motor finance claims redress scheme is too generous.
Mergers, administration and a new firm – legal market stays active
Merger talks announced earlier this year between Ward Hadaway and The Endeavour Partnership have proven successful as we round up recent market developments.
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.
