Latest news
CAT makes costs support and public funding agreements standard
People bringing collective actions should always instruct costs specialists to assist them with scrutinising their lawyers’ fees and also make their funding agreements public, the CAT has ruled.
BSB gives undertakings over performance improvements
The Bar Standards Board has given the Legal Services Board a series of voluntary undertakings about how it will improve its performance over the next three years.
SRA and FCA join forces to warn over motor finance misconduct
Regulators have issued a warning to law firms and claims management companies about their conduct of motor finance claims ahead of tomorrow’s Supreme Court ruling.
LeO eyes £600 case fee for lawyers who do not handle complaints well
LeO has decided against introducing a ‘polluter pays’ principle to penalise firms which repeatedly fail to deal with complaints properly – but wants to increase the case fee by 50%.
Solicitor fails to overturn SDT finding over misuse of client money
A solicitor struck off for using client money to prop up his firm has failed in his appeal to the High Court – and also in his effort to remain anonymous.
OPRC consults on inclusion framework and pre-action model
The Online Procedure Rule Committee has launched its first public consultation, on an inclusion framework and pre-action model that would set standards for digital services.
Solicitor failed to do proper checks on PEP and misused client account
A solicitor who failed to undertake proper AML checks on a client who was a politically exposed person and also allowed him to use his firm’s client as a banking facility, has been fined.
Rapist’s conviction not unsafe due to his advocate’s later strike-off
A man convicted of rape has lost an appeal against conviction that was based partly on the fact that his solicitor was facing disciplinary action by the SRA at the time.
Firms missing out with lawyers “reluctant to cross-sell”
Cross-selling is the biggest missed opportunity to boost law firm profits, according to research that says lawyers fear looking too pushy.
Regulators told how to implement new economic crime duty
The LSB has made a series of relatively minor changes to its new statutory guidance on how legal regulators should implement the new regulatory objective to tackle economic crime.
Blog
From ‘year zero’ to £6.5m – how a law firm found its second life
In 2018, I hit what I call ‘year zero’. On paper, Olliers Solicitors was a top-tier criminal defence firm but beneath the surface, I could see we were at a crossroads.
Linklaters’ chief growth officer takes the ‘blank sheet’ challenge
In the third and final part of this series, Lucy Murphy, chief growth officer at magic circle firm Linklaters, outlines her vision for the law firm of the future.
The ‘blank sheet’ challenge, part 2 – what would you do differently?
In the second part of this blog series, Shainul Kassam, managing director of small London firm Fortune Law, sets out how she would set up a law firm now.
