Solicitors
Unlimited annual leave policies “work for right firms”
Unlimited paid holiday leave has helped raise overall productivity, improved teamwork and reduced sick leave, according to one of the first law firms to adopt it.
Law lecturers demand delay to SQE
Five associations representing law lecturers and academics have urged the Solicitors Regulation Authority to delay the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam.
Beckwith “not a future risk”, tribunal rules
Former Freshfields partner Ryan Beckwith is not a “future risk” to the public or the profession despite his “inappropriate conduct” with a junior colleague, the SDT has said in its long-awaited ruling.
Lawyers hit back at complaint publication plans
The Law Society and Bar Council have strongly attacked plans by the Legal Ombudsman to extend its publication of information about complaints, arguing that it would not help consumers.
Solicitor sanctioned for dealing with unregulated CMCs
A solicitor who took holiday sickness leads from unregulated claims management companies has been rebuked by his regulator – as has one convicted of assaulting an emergency worker.
Ex-civil servant takes on SRA strategy and innovation role
A former civil servant who also held a senior role at the Co-operative Group has been appointed to the new role at the Solicitors Regulation Authority of executive director for strategy and innovation.
HMCTS told to fund lay advocates to lift solicitors’ burden
A High Court family judge has ordered that public funds be made available to pay for lay advocates to support intellectually impaired parents so as to lift the load from their solicitors.
“Surprisingly incompetent” solicitor fined over instructions failure
An experienced solicitor who acted in a “surprisingly incompetent manner” has been heavily fined for failing to clarify whether instructions from a client living in Pakistan were genuine.
Solicitor who made “catastrophic decisions” is struck off
An immigration lawyer who made “catastrophic decisions” to channel fees from an “inherently vulnerable” asylum seeker into her personal bank account has been struck off.
Legal advice must be “dominant purpose” for privilege to apply
Legal advice privilege only applies where documents were created with the “dominant purpose” of seeking or providing legal advice, appeal judges have ruled.
Blog
Law firms need to go beyond document checks
At the root of every failed compliance review is a familiar phrase: a calm assertion of “but we did a document check”.
How you respond to mistakes matters more than the mistakes themselves
Mistakes in legal practice are inevitable. What truly differentiates well-run firms from those that stumble is not whether mistakes occur, but how they are handled when they do.
Litigation finance is not one product. It’s a strategy
Across the consumer claims market, litigation finance has developed into a broader set of funding options that can support different stages of a case.
