Regulation

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is investigating two law firms which it said should have closed at the end of last year, having failed to find indemnity insurance.

A barrister from Essex has been given a five-year bankruptcy restrictions order for neglecting his business affairs. Such an order is made on application to the court if the Official Receiver considers that the conduct of a bankrupt has been blameworthy in some other way.

Many lawyers, particularly solicitors and barristers, complain about their practising certificate (PC) fees, but there are high levels of ignorance about what they are paying for, a major cost of regulation survey has found.

A third of Bar disciplinary tribunals last year led to disbarment, nearly twice the proportion of 2013, the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service’s (BTAS) annual report has shown.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has delayed the introduction of the second phase of its reforms of the rules on submitting accountants’ reports from next month to November this year.

MPs have called on the government to consult on whether there should be formal regulation of McKenzie Friends, whether or not they charge fees. They said encouraging the use of McKenzie Friends “may in some circumstances amount to a counsel of despair”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority adopted a new way to judge lawyers’ competence yesterday, which will for the first time mean it does not need to rely entirely on expert opinion or case law.

Almost three months after the Solicitors Regulation Authority opened up its database to comparison websites, only one is actually receiving any information, it has emerged. Meanwhile the Bar Standards Board has opened its Barristers’ Register to the public.

The number of lawyers demanding an independent review of their treatment at the hands of the Solicitors Regulation Authority has gone up, despite a decline in members of the public making a similar request.

The Law Society’s outgoing Freedom of Information adjudicator has told the Solicitors Regulation Authority that it does not consider the public interest sufficiently in too readily refusing to release details of its investigations.