Regulation

There is “some uncertainty” as to whether non-lawyer partners of ABSs can be banned from working in the profession, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has admitted.

A solicitor who sued the Lord Chancellor for £4.4m after his legal aid contract was taken away has been fined £4,000 by a disciplinary tribunal.

The big CMCs will be hit hardest by fee increases planned by the Financial Conduct Authority to fund the £17m cost of their new regulatory regime.

A barrister has been suspended for six months by a Bar disciplinary tribunal for acting as an advocate in the High Court before and during his pupillage.

A barrister who failed to give “unwelcome advice” to an “over-enthusiastic client” has been suspended for a month by a Bar disciplinary tribunal.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has made struck-off solicitor Alan Blacker bankrupt over unpaid costs. Mr Blacker gained a measure of notoriety for using the title ‘Lord Harley’.

An experienced barrister should not have been suspended for “mere gossip” in the robing rooms of Crown Courts, the High Court was told this week.

The Bar Standards Board was told yesterday that it will be held to account over how it deals with poor-quality criminal advocacy after its decision to ditch QASA.

Any fees not yet paid to a barrister at the time of his bankruptcy do not vest in his trustee in bankruptcy if they arise on a non-contractual basis, the High Court has ruled.

A barrister already suspended multiple times by Bar disciplinary tribunals has been fined a total of £4,000 and permanently banned from direct access work.