Latest news
Mishcon wins appeal to secure guaranteed fees payment
Mishcon de Reya has won an appeal over a judge’s refusal to grant the London law firm summary judgment on more than £150,000 of fees payable under a guarantee.
Solicitor banned from management over accounts failure
A solicitor was kept in the dark by an experienced bookkeeper about improper transfers she was making from client to office account to keep the firm afloat, a tribunal has heard.
Listed company hails growth of its law firm
Anexo Group plc – the listed business which combines legal services with credit hire – saw turnover increase 39% in 2019 to £79m after spending the year focused on building up its law firm.
Simplify adds major conveyancing firm to ranks
Consolidation at the top end of the conveyancing market is speeding up after Simplify announced the acquisition of a leading London and South East firm, the second private equity-backed deal this week.
Solicitor “didn’t know what to do” with money from third party
A solicitor whose firm received over £530,000 into its client account from an unknown third party, “sat on it” because “we just didn’t know” what to do, a tribunal has heard.
Apprenticeships “not working for the disadvantaged”
Workers from disadvantaged backgrounds are being left behind by the apprenticeship system, including in the law, with numbers slumping by more than a third since the apprenticeship levy was introduced.
Justice fund hands out £2m in grants in just six weeks
The Community Justice Fund – which only went live six weeks ago – has already awarded nearly £2m in grants to the legal advice sector to help it cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Litigation financier takes groundbreaking law firm stake
Litigation financier Burford Capital has lived up to its self-description as “the legal profession’s investment bank” by taking a minority stake in a London law firm in return for providing finance.
Solicitor who used client money to buy jewellery is struck off
A director of a former London law firm who admitted fabricating grants of probate and using client money to buy jewellery has been struck off.
Call for Inns to act as pupillage shortage worsens
The Inns of Court should build a “large co-working space”, possibly on one of their “grand gardens”, to increase the number of pupillages at a time when record numbers are looking for them.
Blog
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
Recruitment, retention and reward in the legal accounts world
Understanding the legal finance market is important – not just for those actively involved in it day-to-day but also for leaders within law firms.
