Regulation
Solicitor paid away £290k of sale proceeds after falling for email fraud
A veteran solicitor who was tricked by an email fraud to pay out £290,000 in proceeds from a conveyancing transaction to a third party has been fined £10,000.
Petition calls for SRA to allow unsolicited approaches online
A solicitor has begun a petition urging the Solicitors Regulation Authority to allow firms to make unsolicited approaches to consumers online, saying the blanket ban goes too far.
No TUPE protection for staff after firm’s owner made bankrupt
There was no protection for staff under the TUPE after the sole owner of a law firm was made bankrupt and the practice taken over, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled.
“No evidence” of worse outcomes from unregulated firms
There is “no conclusive evidence” to show that consumers who use unregulated services obtain worse outcomes than those using regulated firms, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.
QC’s opinion “crudely altered” to mislead third party, court finds
A QC’s opinion was dishonestly altered to reassure a third party charged with marketing an investment scheme that eventually collapsed, the High Court has found.
Tribunal awards ex-Kingly solicitors £37k in compensation
Five solicitors, a solicitor apprentice and a legal assistant who worked at one of the largest law firms to be shut down by the SRA have been awarded more than £37,000 by an employment tribunal.
Law firms should advertise unbundled advice, says consumer panel
Law firms should advertise unbundled services or offer them directly to clients, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said, highlighting the “untapped potential” to support consumers in accessing advice.
Negative perceptions of Bar “still a barrier to social mobility”
A shortage of money and negative perceptions can still be deterrents to working class barristers entering the profession, a seminar on diversity in the legal profession was told last week.
Senior judge criticises counsel for withdrawing from case without explanation
A supervising judge has criticised counsel who withdrew on the eve of an important consequentials hearing for not specifying the concerns they had raised about the conduct of the trial judge.
US court lifts prosecution risk for City firm holding disputed funds
City law firm Clyde & Co has been given permission to pay into court $325m it is holding in an escrow account, after an American judge removed the risk of it being prosecuted for doing so.
Blog
The questions that determine if the SRA’s client money reforms will work
Both reforms respond to real and well-evidenced gaps in the current framework. The SRA’s changes after consultation feedback shows it’s listening. But structural change on paper is only half the job.
The new metrics for success in conveyancing
While technology has made much of the conveyancing process faster, there remains a practical limit to how many matters anyone can manage while still keeping standards intact.
The UK legal market is polarising – and the middle is disappearing
Consolidation and the boutique boom are not contradictory. They are the same market stretching apart at both ends – and it changes what your firm is worth, and to whom.
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