Regulation
‘Named and shamed’ barrister gets judge removed from disciplinary appeal hearing
Tariq Rehman, the barrister ‘named and shamed’ by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) for the number of complaints against him, has succeeded in a last-minute bid to remove the judge hearing his appeal.
BSB promises “lighter weight and less costly” regulation as it applies to licence ABSs
The Bar Standards Board has promised to provide “lighter weight and less costly” regulation than its rivals as it applied to become a regulator of alternative business structures last week. “Many potential entities” wanted to “exploit the greater flexibility” that operating as an ABS could provide.
1532 law keeps English barrister out of Scotland’s highest court
Scotland’s most senior judges have rejected a bid to allow an English barrister to appear before the country’s highest civil court for the first time in nearly 500 years. They said that the College of Justice Act 1532 remains good law.
Tax fraud barrister loses appeal against confiscation order
Michael Stannard, a former barrister convicted of cheating the public revenue of over £3m, has failed in his latest attempt to challenge a confiscation order made against him. The judge said she had “formed the clear impression” that he was “wholly unrepentant”.
High Court halves solicitor’s “excessive and inappropriate” suspension
A decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) to suspend a solicitor for two years has been reduced to one by the High Court, which described the penalty as “clearly excessive and inappropriate”.
Immigration solicitor who left “trail of destruction” sentenced
A district judge has described how an immigration solicitor who continued to practice despite being suspended left behind her a “trail of destruction”.
Number of QCs continues to fall
The number of QCs is continuing to fall, statistics from the Bar Standard Board have shown, dropping by more than 200 in four years. This contrasts with the steady rise in the total number of practicing barristers.
Big firms will “push non-reserved work into unregulated businesses”
Major law firms will soon “eschew the solicitor brand” in favour of conducting non-reserved legal business in the unregulated sector, the compliance officer at a top City firm has predicted.
Coroner turned crook is referred to SDT
William John Owen, a former coroner for Carmarthenshire, has been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Mr Owen, 79, was jailed for theft in November last year for five years.
Regulate lawyers by “competence not title”, chair of CILEx Regulation says
Alan Kershaw, chair of CILEx Regulation, has said lawyers should be regulated “by competence, not by title” and urged the different branches of the profession not to give up on common training.
Blog
The cost of systemic failure and childbirth injuries
Recent reports show that the NHS has paid almost £3.5bn in medical claims around childbirth injuries over the past six years.
Mazur: when regulators make simple things complicated
What the last six months have shown is that supervision cannot be treated as a background compliance obligation quietly managed somewhere in a firm’s operational processes.
How unstoppable AI is reshaping UK legal practice
At a time when most technology innovation still flows from the US and China, UK lawtech is attracting growing international attention and capital.
