Regulation
Consumer panel urges more fixed fees and SRA fining powers
More use of fixed fees and an increase in the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s fining powers are among recommendations made today by the Legal Services Consumer Panel.
Ban for legal executive who used own money to cover error
A chartered legal executive who covered up a mistake by paying a client her own money to increase her settlement has been banned from working for solicitors’ firms.
Covid-19 round-up: BSB reassures barristers about rule breaches
Barristers who follow official guidance on Covid-19 will not be in breach of their professional obligations, the BSB has said amid a range of developments in the courts, PI and conveyancing.
SRA to make immigration regulation permanent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is set to extend indefinitely the suspension of immigration work from its removal of restrictions on solicitors providing non-regulated services.
SRA rebukes Withers for money laundering training delay
Leading London law firm Withers has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for failing to ensure staff received timely anti-money laundering training.
SRA: “Solicitors conceal disability for fear of harming careers”
Many disabled solicitors have downplayed the extent of their disability because they don’t trust law firms to treat them equally with their able colleagues, new research has revealed.
Law firm rebuked for breach of undertaking
A law firm in Suffolk has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for breaching an undertaking in a conveyancing transaction.
Solicitor overlooked AML because client was law firm partner
A solicitor acting in a property transaction has admitted not following anti-money laundering procedures because her client was a partner at a large international law firm.
Flight delays solicitor suspended for “taking shortcuts”
One of the first solicitors to enter the flight delay compensation market expanded his firm too quickly and took “shortcuts in the way he managed the claims”, a tribunal has found.
71 bang on the drum for freelance solicitor status
Some 71 solicitors have so far taken advantage of new rules allowing them to practise as freelancers, it has emerged. The SRA is also to issue 20 pieces of new guidance on the STaRs.
Blog
SEO is changing: Are you measuring the right things?
AI means firms may see falling organic traffic and wonder if SEO is still working. The more interesting question is whether traffic is still the right measure of success.
Forms are evolving – and more interesting than you might think
I have spent much of my working life thinking about something most people would probably prefer not to think about at all: legal forms.
The questions that determine if the SRA’s client money reforms will work
Both reforms respond to real and well-evidenced gaps in the current framework. The SRA’s changes after consultation feedback shows it’s listening. But structural change on paper is only half the job.
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