Regulation

A new law ensuring that employees signing non-disclosure agreements receive independent legal advice will “increase the onus” on solicitors to act properly when drafting them, the government has said.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to check 7,000 law firms’ compliance with anti-money laundering regulations after an initial sweep found that too many were not complying.

The largest study of the ethics of in-house lawyers ever undertaken has shown a “gloomy picture” of lawyers wedded first to the commercial objectives of the companies they work for.

A finding of serious misconduct against a solicitor does not require striking off or an immediate suspension from practice, the High Court has ruled.

Dozens of UK law firms are providing corrupt individuals with services that enable them to “move, hide and defend their ill-gotten gains with impunity”, Transparency International has claimed.

An employment tribunal has rejected all the claims of discrimination, victimisation and whistleblowing made by a barrister who also acted as the chambers manager.

A barrister who posted a number of offensive and disparaging comments about a member of the public on Facebook has been suspended from practice.

The head of a bogus solicitors’ firm has received a 10-year director’s disqualification for running the business with a total lack of integrity.

Lawyers keen to protest in the streets with Extinction Rebellion should carry out their own “risk analysis” before taking part, a regulatory specialist has said.

A solicitor who “turned a blind eye” to the “clear and obvious hallmarks of fraud” in an early release pension scam – as he was looking to replace a lost income stream – has been struck off.