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Partners who withheld cheques for a total of over £530,000, intended to pay the fees of barristers and experts, have been sanctioned by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The architect of the scheme admitted that certain counsel were targeted as they would not kick up a fuss about payment being delayed.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has moved to ensure greater monitoring of future members of the profession who complete their workplace training in firms without any solicitors, under its plans for a new qualification regime. The SRA said external solicitors who sign off work experience in such firms must have “direct experience of the candidate’s work”.

Fees for conveyancing and lasting powers of attorney have fallen over the past two years, while they have risen for family work, a report by the Legal Services Board has found. It also revealed that only 18% of law firms publish prices for any of their work in these areas on their websites.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has refused a request to disclose all the correspondence it had with the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice over the Leigh Day case as it announced its intention to appeal the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision to clear the firm and three of its lawyers.

London law firm and alternative business structure Mishcon de Reya has invested cash in two of the six lawtech start-ups that its incubator, MDR LAB, chose from among a crowded field earlier this year. Mishcon also announced yesterday that it would run a similar competition in 2018.

Billy Bot, the ‘robot junior clerk’, is now managing up to 100 new instructions a day from solicitors and members of the public, agreeing fees, booking barristers, checking for conflicts and even making the coffee. The time the system saves has already meant that the clerks at Clerksroom have to work fewer hours than before, with no cut in salary.

LegalBeagles, the decade-old consumer law forum, has launched an ‘all of market’ comparison website after raising nearly £1m in seed funding for the venture. It has pulled in open data from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to list every law firm in the country, including contact details.

Three quarters of law firms are still unprepared for the EU general data protection regulation which comes into force next May, potentially opening them up to large penalties, according to new research. It also found that one in five law firms admitted to experiencing an attempted cyber attack in the last month.

US firm Locke Lord and its insurer have already paid out millions of pounds to settle claims brought by investors who lost money in the dubious investment schemes a former partner ran through the firm, it has emerged. Some £21m passed through the client account of its London office as part of the schemes.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has made unprecedented public criticism of the Solicitors Regulation Authority over how it presented last week’s decision to fine US law firm Locke Lord a record £500,000. It accused the regulator of issuing “inaccurate and misleading quotations” to the media.