Latest news
Law Society’s diversity strategy to focus on disabled solicitors
The Law Society is putting the focus on disabled solicitors, access to senior roles for all under-represented groups and improving workplace cultures in a three-year diversity strategy.
CAT strikes out challenge to Scottish Bar rules
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has struck out a challenge to the rules of the Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish Bar, over a restriction on who can instruct barristers.
KC: Law of agency and delegation could help challenge Mazur
The “basic principles of agency and delegation” could be used to argue that the Mazur judgment was wrongly decided, a KC and judge has suggested.
Solicitor suspended for hiding firm’s financial problems from SRA
A law firm partner who failed to disclose to the Solicitors Regulation Authority that her firm was facing a winding-up petition has been suspended for three months.
Barristers’ job satisfaction on the rise
The proportion of barristers saying they are satisfied with their jobs has increased significantly to almost seven out of 10, according to a Bar Council report.
FCA car finance scheme “patently influenced” by lender profits, MPs say
The FCA car finance compensation scheme has been “patently been influenced by the profit margins of the lenders”, a report by MPs has found.
FCA to have extensive powers over lawyers in AML role
Deeper checks of law firm owners and the ability to bring criminal prosecutions are among the powers proposed for the FCA once it takes over supervising lawyers’ AML activities.
Court to rule on SRA’s powers to see privileged material
The High Court is set to decide on whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority has the power it claims to examine legally privileged material as part of investigations.
SDT clears solicitor of dishonesty over costs claim
A solicitor accused of dishonestly seeking more costs than his client was entitled to claim has been cleared by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Survey: Profits up in the City, down in the regions
City law firms are outperforming their regional counterparts, with partner profit pools rising by 12% in London but falling by 11% outside of it, according to new research.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
