Solicitors

A solicitor who was convicted of harassment offences in Norway at the start of the century, and did not report them to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, has been struck off.

Two solicitors have been handed 13-year director disqualifications after they misled people to invest £1.4m in a legal insurance product they never actually developed.

A “disorganised” legal aid lawyer who said he wanted “to direct his time and focus to the legal work” of his practice has been fined £25,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

A solicitor who admitted that he had “lost control of events completely” in the final months of his firm – due to his “ineptitude and incompetence” – has been suspended for two years.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is pushing on with plans to cut the upper limit for Compensation Fund awards from £2m to £500,000, while modifying other proposals to reduce the cost of the scheme.

A solicitor has been struck off after nearly 40 years in practice after admitting that the difficulties of relying on payment from criminal legal aid work overwhelmed him.

A law firm should not have refused to hand over £330,000 from the sale of a house in South London for nearly four years despite having “reasonable grounds for suspicion” over the seller’s identity.

A network for freelance solicitors that is “ready to launch immediately” cannot get off the ground because it cannot secure professional indemnity insurance, it has emerged.

A trainee solicitor who admitted multiple offences, including rape, committed in quick succession against two women in July 2019 was jailed last week for 14 years.

A partner who admitted acting recklessly in failing to warn investor clients about the risks involved in off-plan property development schemes has been fined £17,500 by a disciplinary tribunal.