Solicitors
SRA: Cyber criminals stalking legal profession
The legal profession is one of the sectors of the economy most frequently the subjects of data breaches and increasingly the target of scams and attacks cyber criminals, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Legal regulators urge government to ease burdens on ABSs
Legal regulators have called on the government to make a series of changes to the Legal Services Act that will make it easier to approve and regulate alternative business structures. The move is part of the first output from joint work being done by all of the legal regulators to identify opportunities for deregulation.
Family law solicitors and barristers at war over advocacy competence
Barristers’ complaints about the quality of solicitor-advocates in family law cases are really about concerns over falling workloads, solicitors have said. Law Society president Jonathan Smithers accused the family Bar of “denigrating solicitor colleagues under the guise of a concern for quality”.
The danger of instant e-mail replies as SDT reprimands solicitor who called opponent “a plonker”
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has reprimanded a solicitor for calling his opponent in litigation, among other things, a “complete plonker” – conduct which it said would diminish the trust of the public in the profession
Barristers call for government review of inadequate advocacy by solicitors in family cases
Barristers have called on the Ministry of Justice to conduct a review of advocacy in publicly funded family cases, arguing that solicitors are letting down their clients and causing injustice by handling cases without counsel.
ABS applicants asked to use BARCO for client money, SRA says
Two firms applying to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become alternative business structures asked to keep their client money with the Bar Council’s third-party escrow account, BARCO, it has emerged.
A thousand more law firms exempted from submitting accountants’ reports
A thousand more law firms will no longer be required to submit accountants’ reports, the Solicitors Regulation Authority decided at yesterday’s board meeting. The change is set to be introduced on 1 November 2015.
SDT blames mySRA problems as it rejects misconduct charges against solicitor
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has rejected misconduct charges against a solicitor who said he was the victim of technology problems with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s online system, mySRA, that meant he was not aware of conditions attached to his practising certificate.
SRA to ask solicitors what they think about misconduct offences
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to ask solicitors how they judge the seriousness of misconduct offences in a new initiative on professional standards. The move will result in a policy statement and decision-making framework for the regulator’s staff.
Time for law firms to go back to school, says BPP chief
Legal apprenticeships “are going to be massive” and law firms will have to respond by recruiting A-Level students straight from school, the dean of BPP Law School has predicted. Peter Crisp said he also believed the SRA would “force through” a centralised assessment test for would-be solicitors.
Blog
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
Recruitment, retention and reward in the legal accounts world
Understanding the legal finance market is important – not just for those actively involved in it day-to-day but also for leaders within law firms.
