Regulation

Members of the public would take a stricter line on senior solicitors who err in their private lives than would solicitors themselves, research has suggested. The public would also be kinder to young lawyers, according to the findings from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The Claims Management Regulator has handed out its biggest fine to date – £570,000 – and raided the offices of three other claims management companies as it tries to crack down on bad practices in the sector.

There is no reason why solicitors setting up a new law firm should not do so as an alternative business structure, the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said. Mr Philip predicted that solicitors would in the future be ” business people first”.

A solicitor who deceived his firm and his clients for 13 months into thinking that he was pursuing their group employment tribunal claims, when in fact they had been struck out because of his inactivity, has been removed from the profession.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has closed down the UK’s leading mental health practice, Blavo & Co, and named seven law firms to handle the outstanding case load. The regulator said it had acted because there was “reason to suspect dishonesty”.

Barristers are to be allowed to operate through agencies and corporate vehicles under proposals released today by the Bar Standards Board. As things stand, employed barristers in a non-authorised body (that is, not regulated by a legal regulator) are not allowed to supply legal services to clients of their employer without a waiver.

A criminal lawyer who failed to report a drink-driving conviction to the Solicitors Regulation Authority has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Gail Evans said she was aware of the need to report convictions but “panic had set in”.

There should be no question of the Solicitors Regulation Authority “bargaining” with solicitors about sanctions, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has made clear. The tribunal rejected a “suggested outcome” proposed by the SRA and a solicitor, and imposed harsher penalties.

A barrister who withdrew £2,000 from a lay client’s bank account without permission or warning, and also failed to co-operate with both the Bar Standards Board and Legal Ombudsman over complaints against him, has been suspended for three months.

There is evidence to suggest that some of the largest law firms are making errors on the ethical approach of their corporate lawyers, while solicitors’ code of conduct is “hopelessly silent” on the problems of commercial practice, according to a leading academic.