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A solicitor who lied to clients and ignored a High Court costs ruling has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and ordered to pay costs of nearly £100,000. His ABS was the first to be closed by the SRA on the grounds of a manager’s suspected dishonesty.

Lawyers must be prepared to give their clients advice rather than a range of options, the managing director of a fast-growing wealth management and legal services firm has said. The Progeny Group has doubled in size in the past year to 70 staff, including 15 lawyers, and aims to grow just as quickly this year.

A solicitor who thought he was selling his practice so that he could retire, but in fact inadvertently allowed criminals into his practice to commit property fraud, has been suspended after admitting he was naïve and had behaved like “an idiot”.

Lawyers who attract a sufficient number of positive client reviews are able to charge higher fees, the head of an online lawyer-matching service has claimed. He also said that having a single “odd-ball review” among a dozen good reviews could increase a lawyer’s standing.

A non-lawyer housing specialist has been named interim chief executive of the Law Society ahead of Catherine Dixon’s departure tomorrow. Paul Tennant has worked for various housing associations since 1982 and most recently was chief executive of Orbit Group.

Eyebrows were raised yesterday after a freedom of information request on ‘touting’ by criminal defence law firms – in which agents for rival solicitors poach potential clients even if they have representation – suggested few complaints have been made to the regulator.

City law firm Fieldfisher has created an ‘alternative legal solutions’ platform that offers financial services clients “customisable and process-efficient services, all of which go beyond the traditional law firm offering” – and at a lower cost.

The Legal Ombudsman has investigated almost 5,000 complaints about claims management companies in the two years since its jurisdiction was expanded to cover them. But it has been warned to expect a major influx of more complaints if the government’s personal injury reforms come to pass.

A solicitor, legal executive and non-lawyer consultant at a West Sussex-based law firm have been sentenced to over 14 years in prison after being found guilty of embezzling almost £700,000 of client funds over seven years. Sole principal Simon Kenny was also a deputy district judge.

There have been “frustrations” with the speed of governance reform at the Law Society, its president has admitted as he tried to calm the shock caused by the resignation earlier this month of its chief executive over that issue. But he also claimed the threat of losing its guaranteed funding was being used to “create fear” within the organisation.