Barristers
City lawyers “privately regulated by clients”
A “tranche” of top commercial lawyers “has effectively become privately regulated by the clients they seek to serve”, a leading academic has said. Dr Steven Vaughan said some were “happy to be captured” by clients.
Barristers who work for free could be breaching referral fee ban, Bar Council warns
Criminal barristers who agree to work for law firms “for no fee” could be breaching the referral fee ban, the Bar Council has warned. The Bar Council said law firms were “wrong to suggest no fee is available” where counsel was “unassigned”.
Barrister who claimed to have “same freedoms” as solicitor loses appeal against suspension
A barrister who told a direct access client he had “all the same freedoms” as a solicitor to conduct litigation, when he did not, has lost a High Court appeal against his three-month suspension. Garnham J described Oliver White’s misconduct as “serious”.
Court of Appeal: judges working as barristers do not have to disclose “every ongoing piece of litigation”
Appeal judges have ruled that part-time judges who are working as barristers do not have to reveal details of “every ongoing piece of litigation” they are dealing with to ward off accusations of bias.
BSB metes out hefty punishment to pupil who copied skeleton for moot
A pupil barrister who dishonestly copied his skeleton argument for a moot has been reprimanded and fined £1,000 by the Bar Standards Board – the strongest penalty meted out directly by the regulator this year.
BSB reveals low expectations of ABS take-up
The Bar Standard Board expects to regulate just 20 alternative business structures each year in the first three years after it becomes a licensing authority. Its prediction likely reflects caution prompted by the weaker than expected take-up of BSB-regulated entities.
First law firm regulated by the SRA gains access to BARCO
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued its first waiver to a law firm it regulates to allow it to use the Bar Council’s escrow service BARCO, with three other firms in the pipeline, it has emerged.
Legal regulators should work “much more closely together”, Conservative MP says
An influential Conservative MP has said he is “very keen” to see how the legal regulators could work “much more closely together”. Alberto Costa is a solicitor and member of the justice select committee.
New Bar chairman: the BSB is independent enough
The current arrangements for the regulation of barristers are “relatively cost-efficient” and there is no need to make the Bar Standards Board (BSB) fully independent, the incoming chairman of the Bar Council has said.
New advocacy panel could confuse public, CILEx Regulation warns
Setting up a new panel of criminal defence advocates could confuse the public, CILEx Regulation has warned. It said the legal regulators should control standards and quality.
Blog
From ‘year zero’ to £6.5m – how a law firm found its second life
In 2018, I hit what I call ‘year zero’. On paper, Olliers Solicitors was a top-tier criminal defence firm but beneath the surface, I could see we were at a crossroads.
Linklaters’ chief growth officer takes the ‘blank sheet’ challenge
In the third and final part of this series, Lucy Murphy, chief growth officer at magic circle firm Linklaters, outlines her vision for the law firm of the future.
The ‘blank sheet’ challenge, part 2 – what would you do differently?
In the second part of this blog series, Shainul Kassam, managing director of small London firm Fortune Law, sets out how she would set up a law firm now.
