Regulation

The Solicitors Regulation Authority approved a radical overhaul of the separate business rule at its board meeting yesterday, despite strong opposition from the Law Society. The changes are planned to come into force on 1 November this year.

Solicitors, barristers and legal executives have been told by their professional bodies to be polite and non-judgemental when dealing with litigants in person (LiPs), and take “extra care to avoid using inflammatory words or phrases”.

A solicitor has been jailed for five and a half years for his role in a £4.3m land-banking scam. Dale Walker was convicted of possessing criminal property and of aiding and abetting the carrying on of a regulated activity without authorisation.

Only 5% of solicitors would be interested in transferring their client accounts to a third party, a survey of firms in the south east has suggested. The SRA is consulting on whether to allow the move.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has begun work on developing a “centralised assessment of competence” that potential solicitors would have to pass to qualify, it has emerged. It comes as Mayer Brown became the first City law firm to unveil a six-year ‘articled apprenticeship’ programme.

The number of personal injury claims management companies (CMCs) has fallen below 1,000, it has emerged, down from 2,300 at the start of 2013. Smaller CMCs have been hit hard by ban on personal injury referral fees, the cuts in portal fees and ban on inducements.

Lawyers do not have the same rights to speak out on sensitive and high-profile cases as journalists, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. It said that if lawyers are to make value judgements in public, they must have a factual basis.

Two men who posted a YouTube video showing them burning a box of court bundles to the sound of Arthur Brown’s 1968 number one hit ‘Fire’ have been found liable for contempt at the High Court.

Law firms should ensure they have a proper exit strategy, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned, after five solicitors were fined for failing to close their firms properly in the space of just nine days.

A solicitor who lied to High Court and was found guilty of contempt – leading the now Lord Chief Justice to refer him to the Solicitors Regulation Authority – has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.