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Insurance giant Allianz has warned the legal profession that its effort to clamp down on fraud will not stop at policyholders, after its investigations led to a solicitor being struck off for falsifying signatures on witness statements.

One in seven civil servants at the Ministry of Justice claim that they have faced discrimination in their job, and one in eight say they have been bullied or harassed. The figures from its annual “people survey” show that the department performs worse than the average across government on all measures.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has removed from the profession two people at opposite ends of their careers – an 80-year-old solicitor who held unpaid disbursements in his office account, and a trainee solicitor who used client money to try and hide her mistakes.

Forcing law firms to publish prices could “bias” clients in favour of choosing their solicitor on price rather than quality or consumer protection, the Law Society has warned. It came with research commissioned by the society that suggested that once consumers understood that some legal services providers were unregulated, they were strongly put off them.

Almost half of conveyancing clients complain of a lack of communication during the process, while two-thirds of conveyancers believe they keep consumers fully informed, a survey has found. Some conveyancers are finding ways of bridging the gap, with the proportion using online portals growing from 4% to 15% in three years.

The Supreme Court has given the green light to a barrister to bring a claim of racial discrimination against the Bar Standards Board, by overturning a decision that her case was brought out of time. Portia O’Connor, who is black, was the first barrister to become a partner in a legal disciplinary partnership.

Slater & Gordon is set to avoid insolvency after nearly 70% of shareholders approved a recapitalisation plan which will see its senior lenders – led by American hedge fund Anchorage Capital – take control in a debt-for-equity deal.

The Legal Services Board is to launch a project to investigate the regulatory implications of the latest technology, including artificial intelligence. It has also promised to be “an agent of change” for the legal services sector, encourage innovation by identifying measures to remove barriers to entry to the legal market and also stimulate competition.

A greater focus on specialist sectors is seen by senior managers as the biggest opportunity for law firms over the next two to three years, a survey has found. It comes at a time when firms believe that competitive pressures have increased but almost all are confident about the future.

The government yesterday damped down hopes that it would consider funding greater access to early legal advice. Support for a restore legal aid for early advice has been growing, with justice committee chairman Bob Neill MP and Supreme Court president Baroness Hale among those to talk up its benefits.