Solicitors

A solicitor who received a caution for possessing a small number of indecent images of children has been suspended from practice for a year. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal accepted that he had “stumbled” across the images, which were in the lowest category of severity.

The Law Society has told MPs that plans to give the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and other regulators full independence should be shelved because of the uncertainty caused by the EU Referendum. The society and SRA also clashed on the former’s bid to take over control of setting professional standards.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed all charges made against a solicitor including alleged breaches of accounts rules and money laundering regulations, and failing to supervise properly a consultant who had been struck off the roll. It is unusual for charges to be thrown out wholesale.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has placed conditions on the practising certificate of a solicitor who safeguarded more than £100,000 of stolen cash for a charismatic conman posing as the Pope’s banker, and is investigating whether further disciplinary action should be taken.

The Law Society has suffered a £5m loss on a botched internal IT project to go with the £7m loss caused by failed conveyancing portal Veyo, it has emerged. The news came as it announced a 9% fall in the proposed practising certificate fee for 2016-17 to £290 – mainly thanks to the society dipping into its reserves.

A paralegal who sent abusive text messages to a client has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Ewelina Niemczyk agreed to the sanction after admitting her conduct was unacceptable.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation, after medical records relating to personal injury claims were found in a skip outside a law firm’s former office in St Helens, Merseyside. Separately, evidence has emerged of bodyshops releasing personal data to third-party law firms and CMCs.

A director of collapsed Devon law firm Eastleys who made “blatantly false” statements to third parties has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal described Matthew Roddan’s behaviour as “intolerable”.

An “old-fashioned solicitor” whose firm “became a mess and spiralled downwards” has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. “Even if the respondent’s actions were not pre-mediated when he made the first transfer, by the one hundred and forty seventh transfer they must have been,” it said.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of solicitors appearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal amid claims that some “do not have the rounded set of skills to run a business”. The SDT’s annual report also revealed that it will be looking at whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is to blame for delays in hearings.