Regulation

The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that a barrister who successfully defended herself in disciplinary proceedings should not be paid costs at the £120 hourly rate allowed by a tribunal-appointed assessor. But it upheld the basic principle that barristers in such situations can claim their costs at a rate higher than that of a normal litigant-in-person.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has joined the Solicitors Regulation Authority in opposing a ban on professional McKenzie Friends. The LSB said the judiciary had not explained why a ban was necessary, what harm it would address or what the consequences might be for consumers.

The High Court has thrown out two appeals against Bar disciplinary tribunal decisions by “named and shamed” barrister Tariq Rehman. It has also refused permission for him to proceed with two judicial reviews and had no truck with the arguments he put forward.

The Council of Licensed Conveyancers has announced its intention to apply to the Legal Services Board to approve the introduction of a solicitor-style open market indemnity scheme. The move has triggered warnings that law firms may switch regulator from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to the CLC for the wrong reasons.

Law Society spending on non-regulatory ‘permitted purposes’, such as law reform and practice support, surged by £6.3m in the four years between 2010 and 2014, research by the Legal Services Board has revealed. The research was part of the LSB’s investigation into the cost of legal services regulation.

One of three judges removed from the bench last year for viewing pornography from a work computer, along with another who resigned before he was removed, have accepted rebukes from the Solicitors Regulation Authority for their conduct.

A ‘fake’ lawyer and three non-solicitor staff who have taken money from their firms have received banning orders from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. All are now subject to so-called section 43 orders, which prevent non-solicitors from being employed or remunerated by solicitors and their firms without permission from the regulator.

Richard Barnett, the senior partner of collapsed conveyancing firm Barnetts, has attacked what he describes as the “incredibly unfair” disciplinary regime for solicitors. Mr Barnett lost an appeal against his striking off at the High Court earlier this week.

Large numbers of barristers’ chambers are flouting an obligation to publish diversity data and the Bar Standards Board has been “unsophisticated” in its implementation of Legal Services Board diversity rules, a significant study has concluded.

The full scale of the allegations of misconduct against law firm Leigh Day, senior partner Martyn Day and partner Sapna Malik were published on Friday, including claims that they had made allegations over the British Army’s conduct in Iraq when it was “improper” to do so.