Regulation

The Legal Services Board has announced a change in its practising certificate fee rules, which will put the spotlight on spending by professional bodies such as the Law Society and Bar Council. Both professional bodies opposed the change.

A sole practitioner who claimed to be “unable to distinguish right from wrong” has been fined £10,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal said Claire Flood’s decision to transfer money from client accounts to pay her tax bill lacked “moral soundness, rectitude and a steady adherence to an ethical code”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority yesterday unveiled a seven-page code of conduct for solicitors and six-page code for firms as part of a radical shake-up of the way it oversees the profession. The most significant change, if approved, would mean that solicitors could deliver unreserved services to the public from organisations that were not regulated by the SRA.

Half of in-house lawyers face having to advise on ethically or legally debatable actions, while a similar number complain that actions are sometimes taken against their advice on “legally important matters”, a major report has revealed.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has bowed to fierce opposition from universities and law schools, and put its plans to introduce a new centralised assessment test for future solicitors on hold. The SRA’s board was due to decide on whether to go ahead at its meeting yesterday.

A bogus solicitor who provided immigration advice while using the name of a legitimate law firm has been handed a suspended prison sentence. Peter Campbell, 40, of Forest Gate, London, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to 10 charges of providing unregulated immigration advice and services.

The Legal Services Board has said that “further discussion and evidence” is needed before it is prepared to back proposals to force law firms to publish average prices. The LSB was responding to a report by the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

The High Court has rejected an appeal against striking off from a solicitor who “neither thought nor cared about” the rules governing his profession. Robert Scott argued that because he had been found not to have acted dishonestly, he could not be found to have lacked integrity.

A third judge removed from the bench for watching pornography on judicial IT equipment has admitted not telling the Solicitors Regulation Authority about it when applying for a practising certificate shortly afterwards.

The government yesterday accepted recommendations for stronger fining powers for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, a lower burden of proof before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, and the need to introduce further measures to discourage ‘late’ personal injury claims, in the next stage of its crackdown on fraudulent behaviour.