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One of the longest-serving members of the QualitySolicitors network has quit after six years as it bids to refocus on its local market and expand the range of services it offers. Kent-based Martin Tolhurst Solicitors revealed plans for what it called “a major investment” in the non-conveyancing parts of its business.

The government’s proposed personal injury reforms have to at least match the current 86% pre-court settlement rate of the RTA portal or there will be serious consequences for the justice system, one of the few cross-profession respondents to the Ministry of Justice consultation has said.

The senior judiciary has acted to remind the profession that implementation of Lord Justice Briggs’ Civil Courts Structure Review will cover much more than just the introduction of the Online Court. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, and Master of the Rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, today issued an unprompted joint statement.

A newly qualified solicitor, described as “completely incompetent” and “like a rabbit caught in headlights”, has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. His firm admitted twin allegations of failing to operate an adequate system of supervision and to provide a good standard of service to clients.

The recently ratified Paris Agreement on ending human-caused CO2 emissions offers “huge new opportunities” for law firms to assist with the transition to a zero-emissions economy, a report has claimed. It said firms should consider “getting in on the ground floor” with advising companies producing electric vehicles.

An AIM-listed provider of online B2B platforms – which white labels MoneySupermarket’s conveyancer search – has bought Conveyancing Alliance for an initial £7.2m as part of its strategy to become the country’s leading handler of conveyancing.

A solicitor who faked documents and used his own money to pay compensation to clients as he struggled to keep on top of his workload, has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. A sympathetic tribunal said his naivety and inexperience “had been his downfall”.

The Law Society’s freedom of information adjudicator has ordered the Solicitors Regulation Authority to disclose an investigator’s report, saying the regulator had overlooked “the public interest in transparency as a good in itself”.

Law Society chief executive Catherine Dixon has resigned after two years in the role, citing the society’s failure to embrace governance reform, Legal Futures can reveal. She said the Law Society would not be perceived to have changed and be representative of solicitors without changing the way it is governed.

National direct access chambers Clerksroom is to offer clients pay-as-you-go video conferences with barristers by the end of this year, it has emerged. Clerksroom has also won a place in the final of Disruptive Tech TV’s sales pitch competition – recruiting one of the judges as a client in the process.