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A Brexit deal that mirrors the free trade agreement Canada has with the EU would be equivalent to a ‘no deal’ outcome for legal services, the Law Society warned today. It would also exclude issues such as co-operation in civil and criminal justice matters, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments.

The ex-managing partner of a well-known law firm has won the right to sue his former firm for £3.4m under whistleblowing law. Andrew Roberts claims that he was constructively dismissed by the other partners of Salisbury practice Wilsons.

An unqualified fee-earner who stole £569,000 from one of the country’s biggest conveyancing firms, and worked at other firms under different names before being sent to prison, has been banned from working in the profession. Meanwhile, two trainee solicitors have been banned, both for dishonest conduct.

A lead generation website and connected mobile app designed to put younger consumers of legal services in touch with solicitors between appointments by tapping directly into their electronic diaries, will launch later this year.

The Bar Standards Board is to consider requiring that chambers have a ‘work allocation officer’ as part of its Women at the Bar equality project, it emerged yesterday. It will also look at whether women returning after maternity leave should not have to pay any contribution from their fees to chambers for a limited time.

There is concern among solicitors that forcing firms to publish their costs will lead to ‘price baiting’, with some firms using artificially low prices to get clients through the door before increasing the costs later. The Solicitors Regulation Authority survey found widespread wariness about the idea of price publication.

Consumers select conveyancing solicitors mainly on recommendation, but clearer online information about price would help them make better choices, research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found. It also showed that 82% of consumers were very or fairly satisfied with the service they received.

A solicitor who took £1m from his client account to keep his firm afloat has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. It said that once Ian James Douglas had decided to embark on this strategy, the “downward spiral was rapid and devastating”.

Listed law firm consolidator Gordon Dadds Group has made its second acquisition in as many weeks with a deal to buy Bristol firm Metcalfes Solicitors for an initial £2m, rising to a possible £6m. It also comes just days after Metcalfes acquired fellow generalist Bristol firm Burroughs Day from administration.

The ownership structure of law firms is “completely irrelevant” when assessing risk, a director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority said yesterday. Crispin Passmore also reaffirmed the regulator’s determination to change the approach to the minimum cover limit for professional indemnity insurance.