Solicitors

A former partner at Blake Lapthorn has agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he will apply for his name to be removed from the roll after admitting five improper withdrawals of client money totalling almost £222,000. He used client money, without consent, for the benefit of another client – known as ‘teeming and lading’.

A probate manager who admitting making 140 “improper withdrawals” over a period of 11 years, resulting in a client account shortage of £730,000, has been banned from working for law firms. Though he acted recklessly, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal did not find him dishonest.

A “potentially high-profile and contentious” dispute between the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Law Society is looming over how the latter spends money derived from practising fees. The LSB is to review its 2009 Practising Fee Rules after a hole was found in the Legal Services Act 2007.

Solicitors acting for both sides in property transactions are under a duty to disclose crucial details to lenders, the Court of Appeal has ruled. They are not expected to act as a “detective or bloodhound”, but should report adverse “non-confidential information”.

Documents drawn up by Clifford Chance for a special RBS committee dealing with the LIBOR scandal are protected by legal advice privilege, the High Court has decided, saying that lawyers must have able to give clients “candid factual briefings” as well as legal advice.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has closed a host of law firms in recent weeks, including two London firms on the grounds of suspected dishonesty.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has halved its budget for appeals from alternative business structures, as it has yet to receive one since the Solicitors Regulation Authority started licensing them in 2012.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority should drop its plans for a centralised assessment test for would-be solicitors at the point of qualification and instead introduce a centralised test for the legal practice course, young lawyers have argued.

The Legal Services Board has put a temporary block on plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to widen its net to cover providers that do not need to be regulated. It said the reforms “could be seen as a significant shift in the regulation of legal services”.

In-house lawyers, “bashed up” by justice secretary Michael Gove over the issue of pro bono, should have an “open debate” about making it compulsory, the chair of the GC100 Group has said. He was speaking during a panel debate to mark the start of National Pro Bono Week.