Solicitors
City firm called in to advise on Legal Access Challenge
The innovation division of City law firm Ashurst has been appointed as technical adviser to the Legal Access Challenge, which aims to support and accelerate ideas to use technology to improve access to justice. The challenge is the centrepiece of… Read More
Motoring lawyer fails to overturn drink-driving fine
A solicitor specialising in motoring offences has failed to overturn a £15,000 fine imposed on her by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following a second conviction for drink-driving.
SRA received 70 workplace harassment complaints last year
The Solicitors Regulation Authority received 70 complaints about harassment in the workplace last year, many of which were about law firm working environments, it revealed yesterday.
Cry freedom: New rules “strengthen regulators’ independence”
The Legal Services Board has finalised revised rules to ensure clearer separation of regulatory and representative functions at bodies like the Law Society and Bar Council.
High Court rejects solicitor’s appeal against £15,000 fine
The High Court has rejected an appeal by a solicitor against a £15,000 fine for paying £900 from a client into his personal bank account, again testing the boundary between dishonesty and a lack of integrity.
Report calls for better regulation of criminal defence work
An “effective system” is needed for monitoring the quality of criminal defence lawyers, a report has argued, identifying the way “perverse financial incentives” bear on the provision of services.
Government to legislate for legal advice on NDAs
The government has pledged to change the law to ensure that employees signing non-disclosure agreements receive independent legal advice, and work with the SRA on updated guidance.
Cost of practising as a solicitor should fall, SRA board decides
Individual practising fee levels for 2019/20 should remain at the same level as the current year, with Compensation Fund contributions falling, the board of the SRA has decided.
Partner fined for paying £1.5m to widow in probate dispute
The former head of private client at London firm Kingsley Napley has been fined £15,000 for transferring over £1.5m from the estate of a wealthy foreign national to his widow when he should not have.
Clients “more likely to sue law firms than freelance solicitors”
Disgruntled clients are more likely to target law firms with “deep pockets” for negligence claims than underinsured freelance solicitors, an expert in law firm regulation has warned.
Blog
Your landlord clients have prepared for the wrong law
Lawyers advising major landlords and build-to-rent operators have spent the better part of a year on the Renters’ Rights Act. A good deal of that advice has been aimed at the wrong risk.
Your website is losing clients before they even pick up the phone
Your website visitor is likely already carrying stress before they arrive. If your site adds to it rather than relieves it, you have likely lost a prospective client.
The growing importance of higher limits in personal ATE
While the personal litigation market is undergoing a period of significant change as claims become more complex, much of the ATE insurance market has remained relatively static.
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