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The failure to give Scottish notaries public the right to practise in England and Wales is having a “significant impact on clients in terms of cost and inconvenience”, the Law Society of Scotland has claimed. While intra-UK practice rights for solicitors have been in place since 1990, there are no corresponding provisions concerning notaries public.

Slater & Gordon’s core UK business lost A$64m (£37m) in the year to 30 June 2016, while it spent A$33m on reorganising operations over here, the listed firm’s annual results have revealed. The company had already prepared the market for the group’s headline loss of A$1.02bn but still its shares fell 15% in trading.

The insurance industry had a taste of its own PR medicine over the weekend after The Times accused insurers of “cheating motorists” by not passing on whiplash savings. Meanwhile, cold-calling was back on the agenda after separate announcements by Which?, the Information Commissioner and National Accident Helpline.

A solicitor who oversaw “financial chaos” in his practice has been suspended, with a tribunal imposing conditions on his return to the profession in the future to ensure he does not hold a management position. He was also sanctioned for failing to co-operate with the Legal Ombudsman.

A lawyer-matching service for SMEs has raised £50,000 in less than three days as it bids to crowdfund £360,000 for the next stage of its development. LawyerFair told potential investors that “legal services are an inefficient, low innovation marketplace” and that within three years it would be turning over £4.6m.

A woman who obtained a grant of letters of administration and then used a firm of licensed conveyancers to defend herself against a claim from other potential beneficiaries, has been told by the High Court that she has to pay back to the estate nearly £87,000 given to the firm that has been lost.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor who forged correspondence with the Legal Aid Agency, but in an unusual coda to its ruling said he still had “something to offer to the public and providers of legal services generally”.

The Legal Services Board has fired a warning shot across the bows of the Law Society in the wake of the latter’s decision to spend £61m over four years on new IT systems for both its representative and regulatory arms.

Slater & Gordon has seen its performance improve significantly in the first half of 2016 – with changes in the UK starting “to bear fruit” – and its upcoming annual results will show that the acquisition of Quindell’s professional services division has nearly doubled its turnover.

A solicitor who acted on both sides of a conveyancing transaction without written consent has agreed to leave the profession. Meanwhile, a solicitor who abused a potential client and sent a “threatening” e-mail to another practitioner has been rebuked and fined £750.