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Small law firms have the most to lose if a Solicitors Qualifying Examination is introduced as it may downgrade the value of being part of the profession, a leading legal academic has warned. Professor Anthony Bradney said the exam could be a way for solicitors to “very rapidly lose their reputation”.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor who failed to meet a deadline to submit applications to the First-tier Tribunal, and then fabricated documents which purported to show that he had, in an attempt to deceive both the tribunal and the other side.

There is still a long way to go before there is “effective competition” in the legal market, the Legal Services Board has told the Competition and Markets Authority. The oversight regulator urged the CMA not to rule out the possibility of conducting a full market investigation at this stage.

A solicitor convicted of perverting the course of justice for sharing information about police activities with drug dealers has won the right to a further appeal hearing on the issue of legal professional privilege. Basharat Ali Ditta was jailed for three years by Liverpool Crown Court.

Knights, the law firm backed by leading businessman James Caan, is targeting accountants, tax specialists and town planners as part of a plan to recruit a 100 more professionals this year. Chief executive David Beech said he expected around half of the new recruits to be non-lawyers.

Elite Insurance, one of only three unrated indemnity insurers of law firms and the only one based in Britain, announced yesterday that it is leaving the market. Elite cited increased risks of client account fraud and the government’s planned increase to the small claims limit as reasons for the move.

A High Court judge has said there is a “strongly arguable case” that collapsed firm Blavo & Co, formerly the UK’s leading mental health practice, made “many thousands” of false legal aid claims. The court heard that following its collapse, the firm owed the Legal Aid Agency over £22m.

Law firms should be required by their regulators to publish details of complaints and average prices on their websites, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said. The panel also called for the publication of firms’ litigation outcomes and success rates.

A solicitor who allowed her firm’s client account to be used as a banking facility by a property investment company has been suspended by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Theresa Quartey was described by the SDT as “inconsistent, contradictory and at times evasive” in her evidence.

A barrister’s advice to a claimant to settle her case at the doors of the court after a key witness failed to appear was not negligent, the High Court has ruled. It has been described as good news for the profession given “a climate of post-settlement remorse” among claimants.