Regulation

International standards for lawyers advising on offshore commercial structures have been put forward at the same time as parliamentarians called for stronger laws on foreign ownership of UK property.

There should be a 50% target of women in all chambers, along with an independent office that is responsible for furthering equality and diversity at the Bar, a campaigner has argued.

An experienced partner has been struck off after dishonestly drawing on hundreds of thousands of pounds of client money to top up private investments, and then covering it up with fake documents.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor whose conduct in a sensitive child contact case it described as “atrocious”. He was “motivated by his desire to cover up his incompetence”.

The boss of a high street law firm who paid over £1.5m in staff salaries from client account over more than five years has agreed to leave the profession. She blamed salary software for what happened.

An experienced solicitor who tried to save an elderly client the cost of updating her power of attorney by dishonestly purporting to have witnessed it seven years earlier, has been struck off.

The body that regulates licensed conveyancers is looking at steep reductions in the cost of practising, arguing that “good regulation does not have to come with an onerous price tag”.

A dubious ‘hotel room’ investment scheme involving a law firm cost nearly 900 investors up to £52m, a decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has revealed.

The Inns of Court are to re-enter the student training market and become the first to unveil plans to deliver the new Bar training course at a price 30% cheaper than the current BPTC as it is not-for-profit.

The president of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has outlined his opposition to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s campaign for greater powers to fine errant solicitors.