Regulation
From 100% to 37% – huge variation in LPC providers’ pass rates
Some institutions teaching the legal practice course have recorded 100% pass rates, while others are under 50%, and a performance gap based on student ethnicity continues.
“Less talk, more action” needed to tackle female barrister crisis
There needs to be less talk and more action to tackle the “crisis” of female criminal law barristers leaving the profession, the head of the Criminal Bar Association has argued.
CA: “Bully” judge forced mother to agree to care orders
A judge effectively bullied a mother into agreeing to interim care orders for her children against her wishes, the Court of Appeal has found. The “oppressive behaviour” meant there was not a fair hearing.
Court refuses to overturn solicitor’s sole practitioner ban
The High Court has rejected a solicitor’s appeal against a decision to ban him from working as a sole practitioner, after a tribunal found he had been “sloppy, lazy and careless”.
Supervising solicitor “told paralegal to lie” to barrister
An experienced personal injury paralegal who lied to a barrister and legal expenses insurer “on instruction from her supervising solicitor” has been prohibited from working for law firms without permission.
SRA defends tribunal over bullied whistleblower
The chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority has spoken out in defence of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over its decision to strike off bullied whistleblower Emily Scott.
“Web sweep” of 500 firms to check prices are published
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to carry out randomised “web sweeps” of around 500 law firms over the next few months to check they are publishing fees for certain consumer and business transactions.
Unqualified adviser admits acting for 200 clients
A man who admitted acting for 200 clients who wrongly believed he was qualified to give them immigration law advice is one of three such offenders to be sentenced recently.
Four QCs have switched gender identity, BSB report reveals
Four QCs and 24 other barristers say their gender is no longer the same as that featured on their original birth certificates, a report by the Bar Standards Board has found.
Firm sent letters with Latin phrases despite client’s learning difficulty
A law firm sent a vulnerable client letters full of Latin and technical phrases, despite being repeatedly told the client had a learning difficulty and needed communications to be in plain English, according to the Legal Ombudsman.
Blog
Firms need to move faster on AI pricing
Law firms are trying to rethink pricing while still operating on business models fundamentally built around time.
The overlooked hate crime reform in Crime & Policing Act
Reforms introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 mark a significant development in hate crime law in England and Wales, recognising hostility related to sex as an aggravated offence.
The SRA’s strict liability gamble has failed. Good
The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Dentons v SRA on 27 April, and the profession is right to welcome it. It is the second time in short succession that the court has corrected the SRA.
