Latest news
Court of Appeal warns of “perverse incentives” from litigation funding
The Court of Appeal yesterday highlighted the importance of judicial control over costs to ensure that the involvement of third-party litigation funders does not create perverse incentives.
Ince in emergency fund-raise with cost of cyber-attack put at £5m
Shares in listed law firm Ince Group collapsed to their lowest-ever level yesterday after it said a £8.6m fund-raise was needed to ward off financial problems. Its chief executive is also set to quit.
Barrister compliance with transparency rules increases sharply
The Bar has improved its compliance with the rules on transparency and more consumers are shopping around for potential providers, Bar Standards Board research has found.
SDT rejects restoration plea 21 years after strike off
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has refused to allow an immigration solicitor to be restored to the roll 21 years after he was struck off for accounts rule breaches.
SRA agrees to keep Solicitors Indemnity Fund alive with £6m undertaking
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has agreed to a request from the Solicitors Indemnity Fund to underwrite its potential liabilities in continuing to operate by providing a £6m undertaking.
LSB tells regulators to get moving with ongoing competence reform
The legal regulators have been given six months to deliver action plans to the Legal Services Board on how they are going to reform their regimes to ensure lawyers’ ongoing competence.
“Trial by internet” – Judges turn to Wikipedia to aid reasoning
Judges are using Wikipedia to research legal issues and allowing it to influence their reasoning, ground-breaking research has discovered.
Union’s head of legal receives apology over picket line arrest
A barrister working as a trade union’s in-house lawyer has received a formal apology and damages of £3,000 from the Metropolitan Police after he was arrested on a picket line.
Barrister awarded £22k over chambers’ response to gender-critical tweets
Garden Court Chambers has been ordered to pay member Allison Bailey damages of £22,000 for injury to feelings over the way it handled complaints about her gender critical views.
MoJ aims to extend compulsory mediation to “all county court users”
The Ministry of Justice’s “future ambition” is to extend compulsory mediation from small claims to all county court users and so it has begun considering its role in overseeing the mediation sector.
Blog
What is tech bloat and why is it a problem for law firms?
Too many law firms are adopting shiny new tech without first retiring their legacy systems, causing duplication and unnecessary costs.
The civil courts and the digital divide
Despite the government’s decision to increase Ministry of Justice funding, its budget for 2025-26 is still 14% lower in real terms than in 2007-08.
The Decent Homes Standard scandal
It is well established that the UK has the highest proportion of inadequate housing in all of Europe. But what if the heart of the problem is even worse than we think?
