Practice Management
No duty on solicitors to check credit status of parties, High Court rules
Solicitors are not under a general duty to check the credit status of parties in a commercial transaction unless instructed to, the High Court has ruled. Who to trust in a business situation is “a commercial decision for the client to take and not the solicitor”.
Tax man expecting rush of solicitors declaring income as ‘naming and shaming’ looms
HM Revenue & Customs is expecting a rush of solicitors owning up to income they have not declared as next Monday’s deadline for the ‘Solicitors Tax Campaign’ draws near.
Consultancy chief challenges Susskind over impact of technology
Professor Richard Susskind, IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice, has warned lawyers that they have a “window of opportunity” before technological changes in the 2020s transform the way they work.
Law firm ‘named and shamed’ for failing to pay minimum wage
A law firm ‘named and shamed’ today by the government for failing to pay the minimum wage has hit back strongly. It was included in a list of 70 employers because it “neglected to pay £530.96 to a worker”.
Law to become “younger profession”, BLP managing partner predicts
The legal profession of the future is going to be younger, Neville Eisenberg, managing partner of City law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), told the Global Law Summit in London today.
Emerging countries and business will lead UK on court technology, experts say
Emerging countries and large corporations will lead the way on court technology while the UK and USA lag behind, experts at the Global Law Summit in London have predicted just a week after the Civil Justice Council unveiled its blueprint for online dispute resolution.
Survey: smaller law firms punching above their weight online
Eight of the ten most successful law firms at showcasing their expertise online and distributing it via social media fall outside of the UK’s top 50, even though as a whole there is a lot more that large firms can do to improve their standing on Twitter, new research has found.
Survey reveals poor morale of public sector lawyers
Fewer than half the lawyers in central and local government are satisfied with their jobs and only a third with their pay, research by the Law Society has revealed.
LSB to call on regulators to make law firms and chambers “accountable” over diversity
Regulators need to do more with the diversity data they now collect in order to drive improvements in recruitment and particularly progression and retention within the profession, the Legal Services Board will shortly say.
SRA apologies for training contract numbers “confusion”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has apologised for releasing information that made it appear as if there had been a massive rise in training places last year – when in fact the number has stayed static.
Blog
Our vision for 2026: A shared approach to AML
We want to see law firms start taking AML compliance as seriously as it deserves. This means treating it not as a tick-box exercise or a procedural necessity, but as a serious part of company culture.
Why later-life divorce requires a distinct professional framework
Later-life divorce, often described as ‘silver splitter’ or ‘grey divorce’ cases, is no longer a marginal feature of family law practice. It challenges long-standing assumptions about how divorce work is done.
Listening, learning and leading The Solicitor’s Charity with care
As I prepare to hand over the mantle of chair of The Solicitor’s Charity next month, it doesn’t feel like an end. Instead, it feels like a wonderful journey.
