Solicitors

The ownership structure of law firms is “completely irrelevant” when assessing risk, a director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority said yesterday. Crispin Passmore also reaffirmed the regulator’s determination to change the approach to the minimum cover limit for professional indemnity insurance.

Lutfur Rahman’s actions in running for re-election as mayor of Tower Hamlets in London were “reprehensible, orchestrated, deliberate and dishonest”, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled in striking him off. It was well known that Mr Rahman was a solicitor and “this would have had a significant detrimental impact on the reputation of the profession”.

The government was accused yesterday of “pulling its punches” and “shilly shallying” over introducing a ban on cold-calling for personal injury claims. The comments came after work and pensions secretary Esther McVey appeared to fudge the commitment the government had previously given in the House of Lords.

A sole practitioner who misappropriated over £170,000 from four vulnerable clients in her role as court-appointed deputy has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. She admitted all the allegations against her, apart from dishonesty, arguing instead that she “got into a muddle”.

Former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain has launched a blistering attack on leading UK/US law firm Hogan Lovells over what he said was its role in the Gupta family scandal in South Africa. The veteran anti-apartheid campaigner said he has asked the Solicitors Regulation Authority to withdraw Hogan Lovells’ authorisation and discipline “leading partners”.

Solicitors setting up an alternative business structure this month in Marlborough, Wiltshire, have chosen to be regulated by the Bar Standards Board. It is understood to be the first time a BSB-regulated ABS has been created without barrister involvement.

Howard Kennedy has become the latest large London practice to face action from the Solicitors Regulation Authority after four solicitors and the firm itself were referred to a disciplinary tribunal over alleged accounts rules breaches.

The charity LawCare has called on the profession to reconsider its culture in the wake of the case this week of a solicitor who avoided being struck-off for dishonesty offences because of the pressure she was put under at work and her mental ill-health. It said the case of Sovani James depicted “a scenario that we are very familiar with”.

A solicitor who deliberately kept money from clients for barristers’ fees and told his accounts manager to cover it up – in a bid to prop up his firm – has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal described as “extraordinary and incredible” evidence given in his defence.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has decided against striking off a solicitor it found had created and backdated correspondence and lied to both her client and her employer, after finding that a root cause of her misconduct was the firm’s culture and the pressure it exerted on her to meet billing targets. Her mental ill-health was the other factor.