Latest news
No whiplash rules until May as clock ticks down to launch
Personal injury law firms and insurers look unlikely to have sight of the new rules governing the whiplash portal until May as they were not signed off at this month’s rule committee meeting.
Legal aid lawyers call for government support over Covid-19
Criminal defence solicitors have called for expedited legal aid payments and an extension of the business rate holiday to law firms with contracts to combat the impact of Covid-19.
SRA rebukes Withers for money laundering training delay
Leading London law firm Withers has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for failing to ensure staff received timely anti-money laundering training.
MBO of north-west firm heralds ‘buy and build’ strategy
North-west law firm Jackson Lees Group is the newest consolidator to hit the market, with a management buy-out the prelude to an aggressive nationwide ‘buy and build’ strategy.
SRA: “Solicitors conceal disability for fear of harming careers”
Many disabled solicitors have downplayed the extent of their disability because they don’t trust law firms to treat them equally with their able colleagues, new research has revealed.
Law firm rebuked for breach of undertaking
A law firm in Suffolk has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for breaching an undertaking in a conveyancing transaction.
ABSs diversify to offer clients non-legal services
Southern England commercial law firm EMW has made the first of what it says will be a series of acquisitions of specialist consultancies as it looks to diversify beyond legal work.
Solicitor overlooked AML because client was law firm partner
A solicitor acting in a property transaction has admitted not following anti-money laundering procedures because her client was a partner at a large international law firm.
Flight delays solicitor suspended for “taking shortcuts”
One of the first solicitors to enter the flight delay compensation market expanded his firm too quickly and took “shortcuts in the way he managed the claims”, a tribunal has found.
Ex-consumer panel chief set to return as LeO chair
The Legal Services Board has named the former chair of its consumer panel as its preferred candidate to chair the Office for Legal Complaints, the board of the Legal Ombudsman.
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.
