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The dishonesty of John Blavo, whose legal aid firm made £22m of fraudulent claims on public funds, was “committed on an industrial scale”, a tribunal has said.

A solicitor who admitted to a “serious breach” of the accounts rules – in part due to the impact of Covid – has escaped with a rebuke from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Private equity firm Blixt Group is looking at up to five more acquisitions to reach its target of building a £100m national legal services business, its chief executive has revealed.

The legal profession pays only “lip service” to diversity and “there is a lack of action or appetite to pursue meaningful change”, a report for the Legal Services Board has suggested.

The Times has apologised to a leading KC and paid her “substantial damages” for alleging that she had wrongly used the cab-rank rule to justify acting in a controversial Cayman Islands case.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has removed conditions on the practising certificate of a former law firm partner who now works remotely from Italy as a consultant.

City law firm RPC has been ordered to pay a former client damages of £192,500 after it put itself in an “intractable conflict of interest and duty” during its work for her.

CILEx Regulation has set out its case to remain the regulator for chartered legal executives, warning that it is prepared to go to court to clarify whether CILEX has the power to change.

The government should run “awareness programmes” to educate the public about the benefits of legal expenses insurance, the Association of Consumer Support Organisations has argued.

The emphasis put on price transparency and comparison shopping by the Competition and Markets Authority and adopted by legal regulators, is unlikely to make much difference.