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The government review of the Legal Services Act needs to give clients of unregulated providers access to the Legal Ombudsman so as to close off a “competitive advantage” enjoyed by those that are regulated, the complaints body said this week.

A City solicitor who qualified at Ashurst has set up a contract lawyer and paralegal matching service designed particularly for firms needing help with e-discovery. Toby Gascoyne said the web platform was currently working with three law firms and around 100 lawyers and paralegals.

The Law Society has apologised to its freedom of information adjudicator after failing to provide him with an “additional and substantial” body of information relating to ‘Harry Potter solicitor’ Alan Blacker, also known as Lord Harley. Adam Sowerbutts described the incident as “troubling”.

A property management firm specialising in residential blocks of flats has turned itself into an alternative business structure, in what is understood to be first move of its kind. “At the moment we’re a property management company with a legal capacity. In 10 years’ time, it is likely to be the other way round,” said director Matthew Young.

Raleys, one of the law firms most strongly criticised for misconduct during the miners’ compensation scandal, has entered administration. Administrators have been appointed and Leeds firm Ison Harrison has taken over existing clients.

Responses to Lord Justice Briggs’ recommendation to create an Online Court (OC) have pitted sceptical solicitors and barristers against others who have given the scheme a more generous reception. Lawyers were worried about the impact of a change in the approach to justice represented by the OC, and the dangers of removing them from it.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering creating an ‘innovation space’, which it said would “help existing firms develop their businesses and encourage new firms to come into the market”. “An innovative legal sector is essential for delivering the efficient, affordable services the public needs,” it said.

A barrister who gained a pupillage by lying about her age, faking references and falsely claiming she had been an assistant district attorney in New York has been disbarred. Her scheme began to fall apart when a clerk at the chambers became suspicious that she was not 29 – she was actually in her late 40s.

Britain’s changing demographics will mean a huge shift in demand for legal services, towards managing the wealth and lives of the growing proportion of elderly people in the population, according to a study forecasting legal needs in 2025.

A rare bid by a solicitor to overturn an intervention into her practice has failed in the High Court, with the judge finding there was good reason to suspect dishonesty. The bulk of the allegations were that she employed a struck-off solicitor, while later dishonestly denying this.