Latest news

An internet conveyancing platform last week completed what it claimed was the first property to be digitally exchanged online and moved instantly to a live blockchain. It reported the property – in Trowbridge, Wiltshire – went from initial marketing to a verified online exchange in just seven days.

The Solicitor General has urged chartered legal executives to apply for judicial appointment in a bid to help make the bench more diverse. At the same time, a Sikh circuit judge told them that those entering the law from a non-traditional background had to have the mindset that they are better than those from a traditional one.

A personal injury solicitor convicted of benefit fraud after being paid for case referrals while receiving employment support allowance has been struck off. He was convicted of dishonestly failing to promptly notify the Department for Work and Pensions of a change in circumstances which he knew would affect his entitlement to benefit.

Female barristers need to actively encourage and mentor the next generation of women at the Bar amid the continuing difficulties of achieving equality, a leading silk said last week. Jo Delahunty QC said it was the responsibility of those who have climbed the ladder “to lean down to offer a hand for others to hold as they try and climb up”.

The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law has put together a high-powered group of 26 legal, constitutional and other experts under the chairmanship of former Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC MP to consider the implications of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill for the rule of law.

The new president of the Supreme Court yesterday joined what appears to be a growing clamour to reinstate public funding to provide early legal advice. Lady Hale also reiterated her concern about the possible downgrading of the objective in legal regulation to encourage an “independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession”.

The Bar Standards Board is to consult on removing the rule that allows one person to veto their chambers reporting anonymised data on the sexual orientation, religion and belief of all members, in a move it said was supported by LGBT+ members of the Bar.

Shine Lawyers, the personal injury law firm that followed Slater & Gordon into listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, now finds itself on the receiving end of a shareholder class action, just like Slater & Gordon. The A$250m (£149m) action alleges that Shine misled investors in a series of representations it made to the market.

Riverview Law has become the first law firm to offer its trainee solicitors a six-month seat in technology services, having obtained approval from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We also have news from ABSs Co-operative Legal Services, Express Solicitors, Keoghs, gunnercooke, Gateley and Astute Dynamic – with diversification a notable theme.

A solicitor who was suspended indefinitely after failing to pay his firm’s indemnity insurance premiums and later became bankrupt has been allowed to return to the profession by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Imposing conditions to prevent him managing a firm, the SDT said the bankruptcy had wiped out the debt relating to the insurance premiums.