Regulation
SRA accused of “stonewalling” over health statistics
A solicitor who asked the SRA to confirm how many times conditions have been placed on practising certificates because of health concerns says he is being “stonewalled”.
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.
Blog
How you respond to mistakes matters more than the mistakes themselves
Mistakes in legal practice are inevitable. What truly differentiates well-run firms from those that stumble is not whether mistakes occur, but how they are handled when they do.
Litigation finance is not one product. It’s a strategy
Across the consumer claims market, litigation finance has developed into a broader set of funding options that can support different stages of a case.
The best legal AI doesn’t replace rules-based engines – it completes them
There is a belief circulating in legal tech that AI can solve everything – that LLMs are universally superior to what came before. It is not always true, however.
