Latest news
Licensed conveyancers to face explicit duty to treat customers fairly
An explicit requirement on licensed conveyancers to treat customers fairly has been proposed as part of a new statement of ethical principles by their regulator.
“Credible sanctions”: Bill to remove SRA fining cap for economic crime
Plans to remove the £25,000 cap on fines the Solicitors Regulation Authority can impose in cases of economic crime will enable it to sanction larger law firms properly, the government said.
BSB to test if review and comparison websites work for barristers
Four lawyer review and comparison websites have agreed to join a Bar Standards Board (BSB) pilot on whether they can work for barristers and their consumers.
Truss completes line-up of MoJ ministers, including ex-crime solicitor
A former criminal defence solicitor has been given the task of dealing with criminal legal aid policy at the Ministry of Justice after Prime Minister Liz Truss completed her reshuffle.
SRA bans IT worker convicted of stealing hardware from law firm
An IT engineer with a serious gambling problem who stole 38 iPhones and 10 laptops worth £23,000 from a law firm has been banned from working in the profession.
Number of law firms continues to sink despite ever-expanding profession
Law firm consolidation continues apace, with the number of practices in England and Wales falling by 1,200 over the last decade to 9,000, new research has shown.
Digital law firm partners with start-up platform as part of expansion
Digital law firm arch.law has announced a “strategic investment” in Connectd, a platform linking the founders of start-ups, investors and advisers.
Law Commission seeks ban on discrimination in appointing arbitrators
Arbitration agreements requiring that the arbitrator be a “commercial man” or otherwise specifying a protected characteristic will be unenforceable under Law Commission proposals published today.
“Exponential growth” for open-source contract platform
The chief executive of a contract platform which provides businesses with free open-source templates backed by artificial intelligence has reported “exponential growth”.
Barrister “could and should” have stopped offensive tweets being sent
A barrister reprimanded for allowing a Twitter account to send “inappropriate and offensive” tweets to a colleague at the same chambers was not their author, a tribunal has confirmed.
Blog
The growing importance of higher limits in personal ATE
While the personal litigation market is undergoing a period of significant change as claims become more complex, much of the ATE insurance market has remained relatively static.
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.
Reports
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