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It is time to consider “targeted and time-limited affirmation action” to deliver a significant increase in the number of women in the senior judiciary, the Shadow Attorney General has argued. Baroness Chakrabarti, the barrister who used to head Liberty, said she had seen “the enormous catalysing effect” such measures can have.

A well-known London law firm that let one of its partners use its client account as a banking facility, with millions of pounds going in and out, has been fined £35,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The partner was fined £15,000, but the tribunal made no order in relation to three other partners who became inadvertently involved in the events.

MPs have expressed concern about the government’s “evident preference” for virtual and online justice over traditional, court-based models without the evidence base to justify it. They also said HM Courts and Tribunals Service has not done enough work on how those unable to use online tools will be supported.

A paralegal who was subjected to a “long accumulation of abuse” by the senior partner of a London law firm was the victim of harassment on the grounds of age and sex, an employment tribunal has found. However, most of the specific incidents cited did not amount to harassment because the paralegal received the same kind of general abuse that all staff did.

A bank that relied on inaccurate information supplied by its borrower’s solicitor should not have won a negligence claim against her, because it failed to carry out its own checks, the Supreme Court has ruled. It restored the ruling of the judge at first instance, who held that the bank did not act reasonably.

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.