Regulation

Making a shared parental leave policy a professional conduct issue for chambers will help break down the stereotype that women have to choose between a career at the self-employed Bar and having a family, the Bar Standards Board has argued.

The Lord Chief Justice has called for judges to be appointed to the boards of the main legal regulators to ensure “tough standards of ethical behaviour and competence” in litigation. Lord Thomas said it seemed “very odd” that the judiciary was not represented on the boards of the SRA, BSB and CILEx Regulation.

The chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) yesterday tried to cool emotions after former Lord Chancellor Michael Gove’s criticism of solicitor-advocates, saying that “the label matters less than the content of the bottle”.

A barrister who was disbarred after the Employment Appeal Tribunal made a ‘restriction of proceedings’ order to prevent him bringing further vexatious claims, has had his appeal to the High Court rejected.

More serious criminal defence work should be restricted to barristers, and solicitor-advocates who want to do it should have to requalify, the former Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has suggested. He also called for a “higher-quality filter” for those wanting to become barristers and reiterated his support for a levy on City law firms to aid those less fortunate.

Privately educated people still dominate the legal profession, with barriers to entry for those from less affluent backgrounds are even more acute at the Bar than among solicitors, the Social Mobility Commission said yesterday.

A solicitor who has failed to comply with a decision of the Legal Ombudsman and then a court order enforcing it is facing jail after she did not show up at the committal hearing. She has been given one final chance to explain herself or go to prison for 14 days.

An insurance claims handler who admitted to illegally passing on customer details to a law firm and adding friends and family to genuine claims has been ordered to pay back £37,000 by Liverpool Crown Court at a confiscation hearing or face an extended jail term.

The High Court has given the green light to a solicitor to pursue claims against the Crown Prosecution Service and South Wales Police for malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office. He argues that they engaged in an improper operation designed to prevent him practising as a solicitor.

A personal injury solicitor who put his relationship with work referrers ahead of his duties to the clients they passed on to him has been struck off. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found one instance where he paid a client’s damages to a referrer without authority “extraordinary”.