Regulation

A criminal law solicitor who admitted telling secretaries to fabricate and backdate letters, attendance notes and other documents to regularise his files has been suspended for nine months.

The Law Commission has rejected pleas from the legal profession to narrow the rule that all criminal activity that generates funds or other property is caught by the anti-money laundering regime.

A solicitor who held on to money meant for counsel, experts and others for several years so as to aid his firm’s cash flow has been struck off. He only paid those who chased him for payment.

Nearly half of solicitors’ firms that are part of the regulator’s relationship management regime have been referred to the disciplinary process for anti-money laundering failures, it has been disclosed.

Employees should be given a “cooling-off period” before signing non-disclosure agreements, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has suggested.

The Law Society has performed a rapid u-turn and agreed to review its controversial practice note on non-disclosure agreements, it confirmed today.

The body that oversees legal regulators’ anti-money laundering efforts needs to show the same level of transparency that it is demanding of them, the Bar Council has said.

Legal aid lawyers in serious cases deal with trauma that is bound to have an impact on them, and they also have to start showing compassion to junior staff who suffer from burnout.

The Law Society has indicated that it has no plans to review its controversial practice note on non-disclosure agreements, despite the urging of MPs. But it may have over-egged the SRA’s support for the note.

Individuals share responsibility with their firms and the regulator for mental health issues affecting misconduct, a specialist solicitor has argued, but said the SRA is inconsistent in its approach.