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A solicitor who did not honour the terms of his consultancy agreement with a law firm and sought £140 in fees directly from clients through his unregulated business has been fined £2,000 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – nearly 15 times the money at stake.

National law firm Setfords Solicitors has become the latest to take external investment after securing a £3.75m injection from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) to support its expansion plans. It has taken a minority stake, the second time it has done so with a law firm after putting £5m into McMillan Williams in early 2015.

Lawyers who meet new standards of transparency over the price and service standards they offer could display a logo to show the public that they meet best practice, the Competition and Markets Authority has suggested. The detail of its 518-page report showed significant concerns that the lack of transparency was leading to some consumers being overcharged.

There is fast-growing growing demand for free legal advice, with family law now the most requested area of law, according to the experience of LawWorks, the solicitors’ national pro bono charity. Its clincis responded to over 53,000 enquiries, a 24% increase on the previous year.

The Law Society, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and Motor Accident Solicitors Society last week put a ban on cold calling at the forefront of their joint campaign to ward off the personal injury reforms. They said the government should focus on ending the activities of cold callers “who seek to profit from bogus or exaggerated claims”, rather than introduce the reforms,

The Competition and Market Authority’s report on legal services yesterday provoked a predictably mixed response that pitted the Law Society against the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and found support from the body representing paid McKenzie Friends. Meanwhile, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers called on the Legal Services Board to use its powers to force regulatory independence to happen.

A solicitor has been struck off for practising without being authorised by the regulator and, when challenged, dishonestly claiming he had not handled client money when he had an account set up for the purpose.

A boutique commercial firm with strong links to south-east Asia has become an alternative business structure as part of its growth plans, which include forming an alliance with several Middle East law firms.

Regulators need to deliver a “step change in standards of transparency” so that lawyers’ clients can both understand the price and service they will receive, and compare providers, the Competition and Markets Authority said today. The watchdog also called on the government to review the whole regulatory regime, and backed full independence for legal regulators.

The incoming chairman of the Bar last night questioned the way court modernisation is being carried out, expressing concern that there is “no plan B” if digitisation does not work and that the justice system would lose its essence by moving to online hearings. His wide-ranging inaugural speech also focused on the travails of the junior Bar.