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The Law Society has failed in its bid to strike out a negligence claim by a law firm that was the victim of a fraud after the details of another firm it had checked on the society’s online ‘Find a Solicitor’ facility turned out to be false.

A trainee solicitor has been handed a suspended jail sentence after being convicted of providing illegal immigration advice and services. The judge said he had set out to deceive vulnerable clients seeking help with immigration applications.

A firm responsible for pressuring people into making holiday sickness claims had its licence cancelled by the Claims Management Regulator last week. It had encouraged holiday-goers to fabricate or embellish symptoms of gastric illness to get compensation.

Two solicitors have been jailed for a total of six years and one month for their part in committing a fraud and perverting the course of justice in bringing a £20,000 breach of contract claim against a former employee. One of the giveaways was that the Law Society copyright at the foot of each page was incorrect.

A Sussex solicitor lost in a “fog of confusion” over a failed multi-million pound investment scheme has been fined £50,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, one of the highest individual fines it has handed out. It found that despite being a “very experienced solicitor” and former law lecturer, her “primary failings” had been incompetence.

City giant Allen & Overy has named the seven companies which will work in Fuse, its new lawtech incubator, including a well-known artificial intelligence business and a charity working on a platform to assist asylum seekers in gaining access to pro bono advice.

Solicitors have been warned about what they say in emails and on social media in both their professional and personal lives, in the wake of an increase in reports about offensive and inappropriate posts. Just last week, we reported on a solicitor who was sanctioned for “violent” anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist comments he made on Facebook.

The High Court has rejected a challenge by two solicitors to an intervention into a south London law firm which was accused by a judge last year of making “largely dishonest” claims for unpaid fees. The SRA has now referred them to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to face multiple allegations.

A paralegal who pretended to be a barrister with several people, including a terminal cancer sufferer he tricked out of her life savings, has been sent to jail for eight years. The police described him as “a fantasist and vindictive when challenged”. He also falsely claimed to have a law degree from the University of London.

Two commercial solicitors are attempting to break into the online legal templates market with an ambitious strategy to expand into non-law professional services. So far Legalo has around 100 templates for sale and plans a further 250. Its website also has a find-a-solicitor type referral service.