Solicitors
Anti-solicitor campaigners who burned court bundles found liable for contempt
Two men who posted a YouTube video showing them burning a box of court bundles to the sound of Arthur Brown’s 1968 number one hit ‘Fire’ have been found liable for contempt at the High Court.
Law firms need an exit strategy, SRA says
Law firms should ensure they have a proper exit strategy, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned, after five solicitors were fined for failing to close their firms properly in the space of just nine days.
Immigration lawyer who lied to High Court is struck off
A solicitor who lied to High Court and was found guilty of contempt – leading the now Lord Chief Justice to refer him to the Solicitors Regulation Authority – has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Judge castigates “by far the worst solicitor witness I have ever seen”
A judge has launched an extraordinary attack on “by far the worst solicitor witness I have ever seen giving evidence in the witness box”. Edward Abenson told Legal Futures that the judge was “very harsh” on him.
Lack of clarity on fees causes one in four complaints, major LeO survey finds
More than a quarter (26%) of complaints to the Legal Ombudsman are triggered by lack of clarity on fees, a major internal survey has found. Family law has emerged as the biggest offender, followed by wills and litigation.
Larger law firms switch to new SRA competence regime
A poll of larger commercial law firms has shown that a higher number than expected, around a quarter, have opted to introduce the new ‘hours-free’ continuing competence regime for solicitors.
High Court rejects challenge to closure of ABS from solicitor who “lost ethical compass”
The High Court has rejected a challenge to the closure of an alternative business structure by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It was the first time an ABS closure decision has been tested in the High Court.
SRA widens definition of ‘small firms’ by doubling turnover limit
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has widened its definition of a ‘small firm’ by doubling the annual turnover limit from £200,000 to £400,000. The limit of four on the number of managers is not changing.
High Court halves solicitor’s “excessive and inappropriate” suspension
A decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) to suspend a solicitor for two years has been reduced to one by the High Court, which described the penalty as “clearly excessive and inappropriate”.
Immigration solicitor who left “trail of destruction” sentenced
A district judge has described how an immigration solicitor who continued to practice despite being suspended left behind her a “trail of destruction”.
Blog
The AI question law firms should answer before a client asks it
Most law firms we speak to are already using AI, whether or not they have approved it, because fee-earners are doing it anyway. The tool people settle on is often Claude.
From chat to Cowork: preparing your law firm for agentic AI
AI is evolving quickly. For law firms still working out how to get consistent value from the tools they already have, the conversation has moved on again to agentic AI.
Why good governance matters when managing Law Society forms
Everyday legal transactions rely on Law Society forms. But they are often treated as static templates rather than what they really are: living documents that change over time.
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