Latest news
Axiom founder loses appeal over 14-year fraud sentence
Timothy Schools, the struck-off solicitor jailed for 14 years last summer for pocketing at least £20m from the Axiom Legal Financing Fund, has failed in a bid to reduce his sentence.
Managers need to challenge bad office behaviour “immediately”
Law firm managers who witness unfair treatment should intervene immediately to stop it if possible, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.
Barristers facing “unrealistic” expectations in private family law
Barristers working on private family law cases are facing “unrealistic” expectations to broker agreements between warring parents, two lawyer academics have argued.
Solicitor fined over conflict of interest in SDLT avoidance schemes
A partner who acted for property purchasers and lenders and failed to tell the latter that the former were using stamp duty land tax avoidance schemes has been fined.
Ex-Hogan Lovells staffer to pay costs for attacks on firm’s integrity
A former employee of Hogan Lovells whose unfair dismissal claim was thrown out has been ordered to pay costs because of attacks he made on the City firm’s integrity.
Knights bolsters North of England presence with two acquisitions
Listed law firm Knights is adding Newcastle, Carlisle and Lancaster to its 23-strong national network of offices with two more acquisitions, it announced today.
LSB looks to beef up regulatory response to misuse of NDAs
The need for a “strengthened and harmonised regulatory approach” to tackle the misuse of non-disclosure agreements is being probed by the Legal Services Board.
Partner struck off for dishonesty over expenses claims
A partner who tried to “obfuscate his charging of personal expenses” to clients of international firm Reed Smith has been struck off.
CA upholds dismissal of £40m claim against tax KC
The High Court was right to dismiss a £40m negligence claim against a leading tax barrister over advice he provided on three film financing schemes, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Ince Group sold out of administration back into private hands
Listed law firm the Ince Group has been sold out of administration to Axiom DWFM, a fast-growing national firm, in what is described as a “partner-driven transaction”.
Blog
The profession can play a greater role in improving access to justice
In this, the third blog of my series, I focus on what lawyers in the UK can do to improve access to justice through greater professional stewardship.
Does AI work for conveyancers? We asked those on the front line
What is the view on AI from conveyancers themselves? Based on a Dye & Durham’s roundtable discussion on AI, the answer is: it depends.
Is the legal profession ready for agentic AI?
An AI agent is difficult to supervise. By design, it works in the background. It means a solicitor can be held responsible for work they had no real means to oversee.
Reports
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