Litigation/Dispute Resolution
High Court: Solicitor “turned blind eye” to money laundering concerns
A partner at a London law firm “dishonestly assisted” in misappropriating a company’s funds by turning a blind eye to money laundering issues raised by property transactions, the High Court has ruled.
“Little improvement” in dilapidated courts, says Law Society
Solicitors have reported “little improvement” in the dilapidated state of court estate over the past three years, with problems including rotting seagulls and maggots “raining down” into a lobby.
SRA checking if it gave others wrong advice like in Mazur case
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is checking if it provided any other law firms with incorrect advice on whether non-authorised people can conduct litigation.
Alarm over High Court “bomb” on conduct of litigation
Last week’s High Court ruling on unqualified fee-earners conducting litigation will cause “nationwide disruption”, with firms urged to review their approach to supervision.
SRA could ban ‘no win, no fee’ label in volume claims shake-up
A ban on using the term ‘no win, no fee’ and enhanced oversight of law firms are among ideas put forward by the SRA to make the high-volume consumer claims market work better.
Upfront payments would filter out weak class actions, says think tank
Litigation funders should have to purchase a small percentage of class actions before they are certified as part of efforts to improve the system, a think tank has recommended.
Judge heavily criticises solicitor whose client “did not exist”
A tribunal has heavily criticised a solicitor who acted for a woman the judge decided did not actually exist, in a bid to stop a property sale, in a case he described as “quite extraordinary”.
Claimant did not take “reasonable steps” to serve law firm negligence claim
A claimant failed to take reasonable steps to serve a claim form in a £572,000 professional negligence action against a law firm, a judge has ruled.
Law firm raises £50m to fund cases brought by other lawyers
Cardiff’s Capital Law has set up a litigation funding arm and secured backing of up to £50m to finance smaller commercial cases run by other mid-market law firms.
SSB victims “have questions” as lender wipes off loans
Former clients of SSB Law have welcomed the decision of Novitas Loans to halt any recovery of the loans given to them to pursue cavity wall insulation claims.
Blog
Lawyer burnout is not inevitable: what to do differently
Burnout is not simply an unavoidable cost of being a lawyer. Law firms cannot talk seriously about burnout without talking about how they design the work.
What the Equality Act adds to a housing claim
For those working across housing disrepair, there is a danger in viewing every case primarily through the condition of the property.
The SRA and privileged material – this is not the end
All disclosure to the SRA must now exclude privileged material, which will not only hamper investigations but also cause additional work for firms providing disclosure.
Reports
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