Regulation

A veteran solicitor who made an “inappropriate and offensive remark” while trying to pay a compliment has been fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Seven of the eight frontline regulators have “confirmed their continued commitment” to the Legal Choices website, despite the Solicitors Regulation Authority no longer wanting to run it.

The future for the Bar is “bleak” if work streams and earnings do not improve, with over half of barristers now working less than 18 hours a week, the Bar Council has warned.

The Legal Services Board is launching a formal review of the Bar Standards Board’s leadership and decision-making in the wake of its controversial decision to stop funding the Legal Choices website.

Changes to the list of reserved activities that only authorised lawyers can do has been floated as one way the ways legal regulation could be flexed to help the profession recover from the Covid-19 crisis.

A solicitor who “dipped into” a divorce client’s money, repeatedly lied about it and warned her not to complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Legal Ombudsman has been struck off.

Trainee solicitors will be able to qualify without first completing the professional skills course because of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided.

Young barristers are being especially badly hit by the coronavirus crisis and they are unlikely to get much help from the government’s self-employment income support scheme.

The non-solicitor who headed up Coops Law – the successor practice to controversial personal injury law firm Asons – has been sanctioned for frustrating efforts to protect Asons’ clients.

A former junior solicitor who was struck off after lying about losing documents she was working on while acting for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, is appealing against the decision.