Regulation

The husband in a divorce dispute cannot pay his lawyers a pound without paying a pound to his wife’s solicitors, the High Court has ruled.

A solicitor who fraudulently claimed £37,000 in income tax repayments has been struck off. Her sentencing judge had said she was “wholly unsuitable to be a solicitor”.

A solicitor who instituted a practice of “gross overcharging” in clinical negligence cases so as to maximise profits has been fined £30,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Consumers tend to shop around or use a public access barrister and ignore their solicitor’s recommendation only when trust had broken down, according to research.

Making chambers’ websites tell clients that they may contact the set for a quote “demonstrates a commitment to transparency and facilitating ‘shopping around’”, the BSB has insisted.

It would be “extremely disappointing” if barristers became more defensive in their behaviour once the standard of proof for disciplinary matters was lowered, the BSB has said.

A Dorset law firm has been rebuked after taking more money in costs than it was entitled to from a man subject to a deputyship order.

A solicitor who was caught drink-driving three times in four weeks has been fined £8,000 – reduced to £2,000 due to his finances – by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Small businesses are less price sensitive than expected, but value price certainty, unpublished research by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found.

A woman who falsely claimed to be a qualified immigration lawyer, and did not deliver on what clients paid her £68,000 for, has been jailed for five years.