Regulation

A former manager of Cheshire firm Bott & Co’s flight delay team has been fined £4,000 by the Solicitor Regulation Authority for lying to clients. He was also banned from owning or working in ABSs, in a rare use of the power in section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007.

A partner who made a series of improper withdrawals from law firms’ client accounts totalling almost £2m has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Though he had used money from his father-in-law’s client account to pay his own tax bill, in general the tribunal could not identify his motivation.

The former partner whose conduct in a dubious investment scheme led to the record £500,000 fine for US law firm Locke Lord last year has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Multiple allegations against Jonathan Denton – including that he acted dishonestly – were found proven and it emerged that he is now also facing criminal charges.

Women barely feature among the top 100 criminal defence barristers when judged by earnings, new figures have shown, and the Bar has been warned that the government could use EU rules on equality in procurement to force change. It all comes as the Bar Standards Board has laid out its plan to improve the position of women in the profession

A young solicitor who “panicked” has been suspended for six months for lending his mobile to a criminal suspect who used it to silence a witness, and then denying it when questioned by police. Mohammed Abid’s barrister said he had made a “grave unforgivable error… he was a rabbit in headlights”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority and the solicitors it prosecutes have been warned that disciplinary tribunals are not there to rubber-stamp any agreed outcome they reach to avoid a full hearing. There have been examples in recent months of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal rejecting agreed outcomes to proceedings

Headbutting a litigant-in-person in the High Court may have been a “moment of madness” but the solicitor involved could not stay in the profession, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled. He argued that the headbutt, which left his victim with a broken nose, was “temporary insanity” which should result in a suspension.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority should do more to combat a “quite alarming” lack of understanding of equality laws, the Conservative chair of the House of Commons women and equalities select committee has said during a parliamentary debate on public legal education.

Conveyancers are facing higher professional indemnity insurance costs – and their clients higher fees as a result – due to yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling in Dreamvar, experts have predicted. One said the judgment “will provide greater protection to buyers, but will shake up the conveyancing industry with much greater risk of liability”.

Two family law barristers have set up what is believed to be the first service allowing separating couples to obtain advice from a single legal expert at any point in the process. They are launching The Divorce Surgery as an alternative business structure regulated by the Bar Standards Board later this week.