Solicitors
Rebuke for male solicitor handed caution for assaulting woman
A solicitor who received a caution for assault by beating a female family member has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It accepted the conduct was “out of character”.
Privilege waived in litigation between law firms
Legal professional privilege was waived by the liquidators of a company when they released a file to a litigant to help her sue her law firm for negligence, the High Court has ruled.
Solicitor who misled potential employer suspended indefinitely
A solicitor who twice misled a potential employer into believing he was still in a job – when in fact he had been sacked six months earlier – has been suspended indefinitely.
SRA: New areas of practice and legalised cannabis present AML risks
Firms getting into new areas of work because of the impact of Covid, along with handling funds generated through the legal sale of cannabis abroad, are among emerging money laundering risks.
Prospect of negative interest rates and law firm dilemma moves closer
The possibility of negative interest rates moved a step closer yesterday amid continuing uncertainty over whether law firms could pass on to clients the cost of holding their money.
“Ignorance” the main barrier to law firm EOTs, says newest adopter
The managing director of the latest law firm to become an employee ownership trust has said the biggest barrier is the “ignorance” of solicitors.
Solicitor’s mismanagement combined with COFA’s incompetence
A solicitor whose “reckless mismanagement” of her law firm’s finances damaged the profession’s reputation has been struck off, and her COFA banned for “manifest incompetence”.
Conveyancer blamed secretary to “cover up lack of progress”
A solicitor who lied to a lender, a client, his law firm and the Land Registry to cover up the lack of progress made on his clients’ matters – but blamed his secretary – has been struck off.
AI can form part of anti-money laundering armoury, law firms told
New technologies such as biometrics, machine learning and artificial intelligence can now form part of the anti-money laundering armoury, law firms have been told.
Solicitor jailed for money laundering returns to profession
A solicitor who was jailed for four years for money laundering offences has been readmitted to the roll after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found he had been “totally rehabilitated”.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
