Latest news
Solicitor “lived in property bought by estate she was administering”
A solicitor who bought an investment property with money from an estate and then lived in it, and also billed 68 hours for one day’s work, has been struck off.
Online will providers 77% cheaper than solicitors
Online will providers are 77% cheaper than solicitors on average, new research has found, while the value of wills and probate services is set to increase by £200m to £1.5bn by 2023.
Barristers becoming as vulnerable to cyber-attacks as solicitors
Increased use of technology at the Bar and in the court system has left barristers as vulnerable to cyber-attacks as solicitors, the Bar Standards Board has warned.
Think tank: MoJ budget “to keep falling for years to come”
The Ministry of Justice is among the government departments “facing further large budget cuts over the next five years” on the basis of this week’s Budget, a leading think tank has predicted.
SDT “should have adjourned” hearing involving bipolar man
The SDT should have adjourned a hearing at which it banned a law firm marketing chief from the profession for accepting kick-backs from referral fees, the High Court has ruled.
Mystery shoppers: Law firms good face-to-face but not on phone
Law firms are still underperforming when dealing with potential clients on the telephone rather than face-to-face, a mystery shopping survey has found.
‘Justice campaign’ needs new approach, say experts
Lawyers have been urged to look at radical new approaches to ‘rebrand’ justice so as to build public and political understanding of its value.
Robot judges less likely than AI-assisted judges, QC predicts
Artificial intelligence is likely to be used to lower the cost and increase the speed of judicial decisions, a QC specialising in IT and algorithms has predicted.
Solicitor paid B&B and caravan park income into client account
A solicitor who paid over £100,000 in income from her bed and breakfast and caravan park businesses into her firm’s client account has been fined £15,000.
Quality of unregulated advice to LiPs tested in study
The contention that the growing legion of litigants-in-person in the family courts rely on suspect free legal advice from unregulated sources is to be tested.
Blog
The SRA’s strict liability gamble has failed. Good
The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Dentons v SRA on 27 April, and the profession is right to welcome it. It is the second time in short succession that the court has corrected the SRA.
How AI presents real opportunities for barristers
AI presents real opportunities to improve access to justice and to support barristers in day-to-day legal practice. But we all need to understand and mitigate the risks.
Not everything can be a competition issue – a new dawn for consumer redress
Last month, the Law Commission launched a new project to “consider the potential introduction of a consumer class actions regime” in England and Wales.
