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A lord justice of appeal who became “unjustifiably antagonised” by a defendant’s “persistence” in challenging his decisions should have recused himself, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The Legal Services Board has, after “very extensive debate”, backed a cut in the time limit for complaining to the Legal Ombudsman from six years to only one year.

Mediation will be made compulsory for all small claims worth up to £10,000, potentially settling 20,000 cases that would otherwise end up in court, the Ministry of Justice proposed today.

A fee-earner at Slater & Gordon who falsely claimed he had missed litigation deadlines because of scanning errors and not being in the office due to the pandemic has been banned from working in law firms.

Lawyers working in large law firms are committed to working remotely from home post-pandemic, with almost half willing to walk away if told they have to attend the office full-time.

Traditional law firms are failing to adapt quickly enough to respond to new competitors, or to differentiate their services by offering alternative approaches, research for listed law firm DWF has found.

The rules on witness statements should not be seen as encouragement to identify “as many instances of non-compliance as possible for use in trench warfare”, the High Court has said.

A solicitor who told a trainee to draft an “incorrect and misleading” defence to an unpaid fees claim from a barrister – which ignored his firm’s liability for the money – has been fined £7,500.

A study of top 100 law firm websites has rated only one as ‘excellent’ in terms of speed and only 13% as having no broken links, with many riddled with basic SEO errors.

NHS Resolution concluded a record 77% of claims without court proceedings in the last year but both claimant and defendant legal costs rose, its annual report has revealed.