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Privately educated people still dominate the legal profession, with barriers to entry for those from less affluent backgrounds are even more acute at the Bar than among solicitors, the Social Mobility Commission said yesterday.

A solicitor who has failed to comply with a decision of the Legal Ombudsman and then a court order enforcing it is facing jail after she did not show up at the committal hearing. She has been given one final chance to explain herself or go to prison for 14 days.

The University of Law is to stop claiming that it is the “leading” law school in the UK in the wake of a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority. The watchdog upheld a complaint about an advert published by ULaw after finding the evidence supplied by the university incompatible with such a claim.

Black and minority ethnic (BME) consumers of legal services are getting a “raw deal” when choosing and using legal services, according to the Legal Services Consumer Panel, after its research showed levels of trust, loyalty and satisfaction lower among BME groups that white British consumers.

An insurance claims handler who admitted to illegally passing on customer details to a law firm and adding friends and family to genuine claims has been ordered to pay back £37,000 by Liverpool Crown Court at a confiscation hearing or face an extended jail term.

An alternative business structure specialising in alternative investments has acquired two non-legal businesses as part of its strategy to become “the pre-eminent advisory and infrastructure business in alternative assets”. Our round-up includes news from Gateley, Triton Global, Callan Legal, Fletchers, Dezrezlegal and Knights.

The High Court has given the green light to a solicitor to pursue claims against the Crown Prosecution Service and South Wales Police for malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office. He argues that they engaged in an improper operation designed to prevent him practising as a solicitor.

The Legal Services Board may look for ways in which it can increase the independence of the frontline regulators from representative bodies if the proposed government consultation on full independence does not materialise, it emerged last night.

A personal injury solicitor who put his relationship with work referrers ahead of his duties to the clients they passed on to him has been struck off. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found one instance where he paid a client’s damages to a referrer without authority “extraordinary”.

Being an alternative business structure (ABS) “definitely gives us an advantage as compared to a typical law firm”, according to the managing director of the unique practice founded by Cherie Blair QC. She said the firm was born from “a recognition of the gap between what law firms can provide and what clients want”.