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The UK has its first law firm owned by a hedge fund after Slater & Gordon’s UK operation completed its separation from the Australian parent. The newly independent business has appointed a chief executive in the shape of the former vice-chairman of an American technology company.

A solicitor has been struck off for bringing judicial review claims on behalf of immigration clients that he knew were hopeless but would thwart or delay their removal from the UK and potentially even lead to their release from detention.

A boutique London sports and entertainment law practice has converted to an alternative business structure just three months after launching itself, with the aim of being “nimble” in future. It counts the likes of Usain Bolt, Anthony Joshua and Chris Froome among its clients.

The process of publishing up-front price information should be achieved through “prescriptive templates” across the legal profession, the Legal Ombudsman has suggested. It said publication needed to be more than simply displaying likely prices, stressing the importance of lawyers providing context to their quotes.

A doctor who fraudulently submitted false medical claims worth £183,000 to unwitting solicitors has been jailed for two years has been ordered to repay the money or face another two years in prison. Benjamin Chang was found guilty of one count of fraud by false representation and for being in possession of articles for use in fraud and money laundering.

The government review of its legal aid reforms should reflect this summer’s Supreme Court ruling on access to justice as a constitutional right, the justice select committee said. It has also highlighted the merits of investing in early legal advice, even though the government recently pushed back on the notion.

Premier League footballers including former Manchester United and England striker Andrew Cole are set to be among high-profile sporting clients of a law firm that has taken investment from a sports and media group after becoming an alternative business structure.

A boutique City litigation practice has successfully settled claims by a group of 48 investors against US law firm Locke Lord, it has emerged. Last month, the firm was fined a record £500,000 after a former partner was found to have run dubious high-yield investment schemes.

The current framework of legal regulation is “inconsistent”, the Ministry of Justice accepted today, but said it could not commit to the formal review sought by the Competition and Markets Authority and others. It also said it would not take forward the plan to completely separate legal regulators from representative bodies.

The Ministry of Justice has rejected the idea of diversity targets for the judiciary and magistracy in its response to the Lammy review of the treatment of black and minority ethnic people in the criminal justice system. It said it would investigate giving accused people a choice of duty solicitor and early access to a barrister, subject to a “cost-benefit analysis”.