Latest news
Retired solicitor gives undertaking not to hold himself out as practising after complaints
A retired, non-practising solicitor who helped “friends and acquaintances” with legal matters but misled third parties into believing that he was still in practice has given an undertaking to the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he will not repeat his misconduct. He was also rebuked and fined £500.
Online contract review pioneer launches new venture
The entrepreneur who developed a web-based contract checking service almost five years ago is to launch another venture along the same lines, it has emerged. Ralph Ehlers launched Check-A-Contract in 2012 and sold the website two years later, and has now gone live with contractreviewexperts.co.uk.
Solicitor who paid ‘undercover policeman’ over £80,000 from client account is struck off
A solicitor who loaned between £80,000 and £100,000 from the firm’s client account to a client claiming to be an undercover policeman has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal said it was “possible” that she had been deceived by the client.
MoJ ignores own consultation and presses ahead with price competition for housing advice
The Ministry of Justice is moving ahead with the introduction of price competition and larger contracts for court-based duty solicitor advice for housing cases, despite overwhelming opposition from respondents to its consultation. Just five out of 51 respondents agreed with it on price competition.
Senior Crown Prosecutor jailed for expenses fraud committed in bid to help indebted son
A Senior Crown Prosecutor who put in £5,800 worth of false travel expenses to help pay off his son’s university debt has been jailed for six months. He pleaded guilty to one count of fraud after submitting 62 bogus claims for journeys from his home address in Devon to Bristol Crown Court over six months.
Panel tells SRA it must do more to protect consumers using solicitors in unregulated firms
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has fired a warning shot across the bows of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, saying it needs to put more consumer protections in place before pressing ahead with its controversial plan to allow solicitors to practise from unregulated firms next year.
The Law Superstore sold to property comparison site with focus on leads rather than instructions
Legal comparison website The Law Superstore is to focus on generating lower-cost leads rather than more expensive solid instructions, after it was bought by a similar site for property services. According to the outgoing managing director, it was the decision of the site’s private equity backers to sell the business to reallymoving.com.
Solicitor struck off for taking historic client balances because his firm “needed the money”
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor who took £112,000 of historic client balances, having twice rejected agreements between him and the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he would instead just remove himself from the roll. He told his fellow director that he was transferring the funds to office account because “we needed the monies”.
Group that delivers unregulated legal services launches ABS
A business that supplies unregulated legal services to SME clients worldwide via a virtual law firm using more than 100 consultant lawyers, has added an alternative business structure to its group to offer regulated services to UK consumers.
Solicitor who helped himself to money in client account “tidying-up” exercise is struck off
A solicitor who helped himself to client money while carrying out what he claimed was a “tidying-up” exercise of historic client account balances has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal decided that his actions showed a “lack of moral soundness, a lack of rectitude and no adherence to an ethical code”.
Blog
The SRA’s strict liability gamble has failed. Good
The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Dentons v SRA on 27 April, and the profession is right to welcome it. It is the second time in short succession that the court has corrected the SRA.
How AI presents real opportunities for barristers
AI presents real opportunities to improve access to justice and to support barristers in day-to-day legal practice. But we all need to understand and mitigate the risks.
Not everything can be a competition issue – a new dawn for consumer redress
Last month, the Law Commission launched a new project to “consider the potential introduction of a consumer class actions regime” in England and Wales.
