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A judge has ruled that the advice lawyers gave in ancillary relief proceedings was negligent and that if the claimant had been properly advised, he would have settled on better terms. But he dismissed an allegation that the solicitor had fabricated her file notes.

A barrister who was disbarred after the Employment Appeal Tribunal made a ‘restriction of proceedings’ order to prevent him bringing further vexatious claims, has had his appeal to the High Court rejected.

Low-value road traffic accident claims “are not so complex that claimants routinely require legal representation to pursue them”, the government has argued – and suggested that claims management companies and paid McKenzie Friends could help instead.

The Ministry of Justice announced today that it is to press ahead with radical personal injury reforms aimed at curbing a “rampant compensation culture” – including raising the small claims limit and scrapping or capping general damages. But with the detail still to be unveiled, they appear also to go further than expected.

More serious criminal defence work should be restricted to barristers, and solicitor-advocates who want to do it should have to requalify, the former Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has suggested. He also called for a “higher-quality filter” for those wanting to become barristers and reiterated his support for a levy on City law firms to aid those less fortunate.

Today’s announcement of government plans to reform personal injury claims has predictably split the market, with claimant representatives incensed and defendants pleased. Claimant lawyers accused the government of having been bullied by the insurance industry.

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.