Solicitors

The many ways in which fraudsters try to trick solicitors, property owners, buyers, sellers, borrowers and lenders have been laid out in new guidance issued jointly by HM Land Registry and the Law Society. Meanwhile, a top London law firm has warned solicitors to beware of the HMRC stamp duty land tax calculator.

A solicitor has been struck off after being found by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to have dishonestly charged an estate “manifestly excessive” fees for probate work – almost nine times the agreed amount. The solicitor had told the executor he would charge 3% of the estate but ended up charging 26%.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned law firms that they are not doing enough to weed out “false or dubious” holiday sickness claims and that some are engaging in shady practices like encouraging clients to delete evidence. It is also investigating 31 firms over potentially improper referral arrangements with claims management companies.

There is a massive demand for unbundled – or limited scope – legal services, not just in famiy law but in almost all areas of legal practice, according to a report into unbundling. Lawyers’ nervousness about possible professional negligence risks associated with unbundling meant a “structured framework within which to practice” was worthwhile to encourage their participation.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority should reconsider the advice it gives to solicitors who enter into sexual relationships with clients, a tribunal has said as it fined one £8,500 for the conflict of interest such a relationship caused. He was twice told by the SRA’s ethics helpline that the only issue was whether he could provide independent and impartial advice.

A long-serving clerk at a Stockport law firm and her husband have been jailed after more than £300,000 was syphoned from the firm and spent on cars and a boat among other extravagances. Rachel Swettenham, 54, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to four years in prison.

A solicitor whose judgement was affected by the fact he was in a personal relationship with his client has been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for misleading a court. The tribunal warned that such relationships are “potentially fraught with difficulties, even if entered into with a good understanding of those difficulties”.

Law firms have been warned not to charge excessive fees for payment protection insurance claims, while claims management companies were told that becoming alternative business structures was not a way to avoid caps on their fees.

The Law Society has failed in its bid to strike out a negligence claim by a law firm that was the victim of a fraud after the details of another firm it had checked on the society’s online ‘Find a Solicitor’ facility turned out to be false.

A trainee solicitor has been handed a suspended jail sentence after being convicted of providing illegal immigration advice and services. The judge said he had set out to deceive vulnerable clients seeking help with immigration applications.