Latest news

A barrister has been disbarred for lying about her qualifications and experience, including a claim that she had saved 10 men from the death penalty in Malawi. Anisah Ahmed was trying both to obtain a pupillage and persuade the Bar Standards Board to reduce its length.

A solicitor compelled to give evidence about a billionaire Russian client’s assets, and forbidden from revealing his court appearance to the client, has lost his appeal against those orders. He complained about being given just three days’ notice to attend court, which he described as an “ambush”, and that the issues he was questioned about were covered by legal advice privilege.

The government has issued a wide-ranging response to criticisms of whether its plan to ban cold-calling will be effective, saying that making the Financial Conduct Authority responsible for it would risk “confusing consumers and industry”.

A dispersed commercial law firm based in Birmingham is offering solicitors the chance to set up their own firms while working as self-employed consultants. Sandip Sohal, director of My Business Counsel, said two partners from a London media firm and two more from an international City practice had taken up the offer.

A solicitor who agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he would be struck off for his role in dubious investment schemes involving carbon credits has ended up being suspended for a year after a tribunal decided that the sanction was not justified.

The government and insurance industry are being “disingenuous” to insist that the small claims limit has not been increased since 1991, a leading trade union has insisted USDAW also said that insurers’ argument that “damages inflation” justified a £5,000 limit for road traffic accident cases was plain wrong.

Personal injury lawyers, conveyancers and other solicitors who arrange or advise on insurance policies have been given a stay of execution from complying with new rules under a European directive that was due to come into force last Friday.

Another solicitor has been struck off for his involvement in the Axiom Legal Financing Fund, while his junior partner has been suspended indefinitely after a tribunal found that he had bullied her. The firm borrowed just shy of £6m, but its total liability to the fund was more than £10m, none of which has apparently been repaid.

Struck-off solicitor Phil Shiner has had his bankruptcy extended by five years after he gifted away nearly £500,000 worth of assets to family members before declaring himself bankrupt and was unable to pay £6.5m back to his creditors. The Official Receiver is now in the process of selling his house.

The latest ‘man versus machine’ contest, which pitted human lawyers against artificial intelligence technology, has shown the machine to be superior in both accuracy and speed. But the best-performing lawyers exceeded even the AI, although it was claimed that they did so in unnatural circumstances for a busy lawyer.