Solicitors

Disclosing documents relating to disciplinary proceedings against Leigh Day for its handling of Iraq war claims would involve a manual search of 5,000 documents and cost over £10,000, the Ministry of Justice has argued. The details emerged in a ruling by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Court of Appeal has rejected a City law firm’s second appeal against being shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority over improper charges. Lord Justice Singh said there was “an air of unreality” about the appeal by Neumans against the High Court ruling.

More than one in ten law firms assessed for compliance with government money laundering obligations brought in last June have been referred to the disciplinary process, a proportion which if extrapolated to the wider profession would amount to over 1,200 firms.

A solicitor jailed for his role in a Ponzi scheme – in which he used his professional credentials to persuade people to invest– has been struck off. Stephen Pickard, formerly of Leeds firm Lupton Fawcett, is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence.

A well-known London law firm that let one of its partners use its client account as a banking facility, with millions of pounds going in and out, has been fined £35,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The partner was fined £15,000, but the tribunal made no order in relation to three other partners who became inadvertently involved in the events.

A solicitor compelled to give evidence about a billionaire Russian client’s assets, and forbidden from revealing his court appearance to the client, has lost his appeal against those orders. He complained about being given just three days’ notice to attend court, which he described as an “ambush”, and that the issues he was questioned about were covered by legal advice privilege.

A solicitor who agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he would be struck off for his role in dubious investment schemes involving carbon credits has ended up being suspended for a year after a tribunal decided that the sanction was not justified.

Personal injury lawyers, conveyancers and other solicitors who arrange or advise on insurance policies have been given a stay of execution from complying with new rules under a European directive that was due to come into force last Friday.

Another solicitor has been struck off for his involvement in the Axiom Legal Financing Fund, while his junior partner has been suspended indefinitely after a tribunal found that he had bullied her. The firm borrowed just shy of £6m, but its total liability to the fund was more than £10m, none of which has apparently been repaid.

Struck-off solicitor Phil Shiner has had his bankruptcy extended by five years after he gifted away nearly £500,000 worth of assets to family members before declaring himself bankrupt and was unable to pay £6.5m back to his creditors. The Official Receiver is now in the process of selling his house.