Regulation

Partners who withheld cheques for a total of over £530,000, intended to pay the fees of barristers and experts, have been sanctioned by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The architect of the scheme admitted that certain counsel were targeted as they would not kick up a fuss about payment being delayed.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has moved to ensure greater monitoring of future members of the profession who complete their workplace training in firms without any solicitors, under its plans for a new qualification regime. The SRA said external solicitors who sign off work experience in such firms must have “direct experience of the candidate’s work”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has refused a request to disclose all the correspondence it had with the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice over the Leigh Day case as it announced its intention to appeal the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision to clear the firm and three of its lawyers.

US firm Locke Lord and its insurer have already paid out millions of pounds to settle claims brought by investors who lost money in the dubious investment schemes a former partner ran through the firm, it has emerged. Some £21m passed through the client account of its London office as part of the schemes.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has made unprecedented public criticism of the Solicitors Regulation Authority over how it presented last week’s decision to fine US law firm Locke Lord a record £500,000. It accused the regulator of issuing “inaccurate and misleading quotations” to the media.

A solicitor who “sold himself to greed” was last week sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in a crime gang which committed a £108m tax fraud. Mr Justice Edis said he was used as general counsel to the scheme, “in particular to deal with the parts which were too dishonest to be shown to any honest solicitor”.

A “steady stream of disagreements” between legal regulators and representative bodies means the rules governing their relationships may need to be rewritten, the Legal Services Board said yesterday. The oversight regulator said it had been notified of 30 disputes over the past three years.

A solicitor who was “over his head” in running his own firm, and used a settlement with a vulnerable client to prevent them complaining to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Legal Ombudsman, has been suspended from practice. He was also found guilty of a number of other breaches.

The president of the Family Division has set aside 21 fraudulent divorce petitions produced by a disbarred barrister. Sir James Munby found that, in each case, the underlying proceedings were “tainted by deception”. The applications were made by the Queen’s Proctor – an official of the Crown able to intervene in divorce and probate cases.

A US law firm has received the largest ever fine handed out by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and also become the first firm to be found to have lacked integrity in its conduct. The tribunal has approved an agreement between Locke Lord and the Solicitors Regulation Authority that means there will not be a hearing.