Regulation
English law experience “not required” to qualify as solicitor
Candidates for the qualifying work experience component of the new solicitor’s qualification process will not have to gain it in an English law jurisdiction, it has emerged.
Credibility at Bar linked to “masculine heterosexuality”
Macho masculinity and the alignment of what is generally considered professional at the Bar with heterosexuality, is creating problems for sexual minority barristers.
Solicitor agrees to leave roll over advice to disgraced bishop
A solicitor who acted in a conflict of interest when advising a then bishop over allegations of sexual misconduct was “partly” to blame for the Church of England not taking stronger action against him.
Non-binary barrister: “Judges can be ignorant of gender neutral address”
A barrister who identifies as non-binary sometimes has to endure a judge’s ignorance about how to address them correctly, a meeting heard this week.
Law Society and consumer panel join forces to oppose SIF closure
The Law Society and Legal Services Consumer Panel have joined forces to oppose the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s plan to close the Solicitors Indemnity Fund.
Aspiring barrister subjected to “extreme discrimination” launches disability group
An organisation aimed at making the Bar more accessible to disabled people and improving the diversity of the judiciary was launched last week.
City firms “must weigh cost of losing female talent” in reward strategy
Big City law firms should take into account in their balance sheet the cost of losing good people ‘by the back door’ by focusing so heavily on earnings ‘through the front door’ such as billable hours.
Clerks “must play bigger role in fair work allocation”
Barristers’ clerks must step up and ensure that both work coming in and marketing efforts by chambers are done with an eye to equality in the way they are distributed, a seminar heard this week.
Solicitor lost unencrypted USB stick full of client information
A solicitor who lost an unencrypted USB stick full of client information that was subsequently found by a member of the public has been rebuked by the SRA.
Retention improving at the Bar as average age of barristers rises
The proportion of barristers aged over 50 has tripled over the past 30 years, while the number of pupils has shrunk by almost 30%, research by the Bar Standards Board has found.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
