Regulation

A man who falsely claimed to be a solicitor has been jailed for 15 months after being guilty of providing unregulated immigration advice and services, while another who was actually a bus driver has been handed a suspended sentence.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating an immigration law firm condemned by Sir Brian Leveson for a “systemic failure” in the way it allowed an unqualified caseworker to issue a judicial review without supervision.

A senior barrister has been fined £4,000 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal for conduct “of sexual nature” towards his female pupil. Meanwhile, another barrister has been rebuked after his clients were absent from court when he knew they had been told to arrive later, but did not tell the court.

In a rare move, a barrister has been allowed to finish her pupillage at a personal injury law firm. Henrietta Hughes is set to become the first in-house counsel at Cheshire and London firm Hilary Meredith Solicitors when her pupillage ends in August.

A solicitor whose firm was shut down last year after failing to effect an orderly wind-down has agreed never to practise again in a deal struck with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. John David Arnott admitted to five charges relating to his practice in Witney, Oxfordshire.

A solicitor who is in a relationship with his client while she goes through an acrimonious contact dispute is to be investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, with a High Court judge saying that the lawyer is “in a situation where he cannot give independent professional advice”.

Will writers have become the first practitioners to sign up to a new register of paralegals, which is set to be launched next month as part of an effort to set standards for the non-authorised legal professionals.

A solicitor struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has won the right to a new hearing in front of a different tribunal after the High Court ruled that the tribunal was wrong to accuse her of dishonesty.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has allowed a solicitor to continue to practise despite the fact he used “his incompetence as a shield” against the lack of integrity that was alleged, after he unwittingly facilitated a mortgage fraud that cost his lender client £744,000.

A retired solicitor has been made subject to a maximum 15-year bankruptcy restriction order for misappropriating funds from his clients’ accounts, overcharging clients and falsifying his records to cover up his actions. Meanwhile, a solicitor from Essex has been disqualified as a director for five years.