Regulation

An experienced solicitor has been fined £7,500 over misconduct in relation to clients who left him gifts in their wills, including a house that later sold for £478,000.

The Bar Standards Board has been urged to take control from the Inns of Court of deciding whether someone is ‘fit and proper’ to be called to the Bar.

A criminal sole practitioner has been fined for offences which he blamed on having dispensed with his accounts manager after the firm suffered from legal aid cuts.

The Legal Services Board has received unprecedented lobbying against the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s plans to allow solicitors to practise from unregulated businesses.

National law firm DAC Beachcroft has had mixed success in fighting off a bid by HM Revenue & Customs to access a conveyancing file involving offshore clients.

Four solicitors have been struck off for their role at a Preston law firm which collapsed owing the scandal-hit Axiom Legal Financing Fund £61m.

Barrister Michael Shrimpton – who was jailed for a bomb hoax at the London Olympics – has been disbarred by a disciplinary tribunal.

An end to owners of CMCs closing down a distressed firm and opening another – known as ‘phoenixing’ – is on the cards under new proposals from the Financial Conduct Authority.

A solicitor and barrister have separately been sanctioned for drink-drive offences, although only the latter appeared before a disciplinary tribunal.

The Bar Council has reacted with outrage to training reforms that it says would automatically ‘passport’ solicitors with higher rights of audience to become barristers.