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An online legal services pioneer has described the current rules preventing solicitors from practising at unregulated firms as “insane”. Former solicitor Tessa Shepperson backed plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to change the rules – a move strongly resisted by the Law Society.

A young woman who worked for a Derbyshire sole practitioner was an employee and entitled to maternity pay, the First Tier Tribunal has held. Rebecca Scothern was the niece of Karen Burley, office manager at Paul Brook Solicitors in Chesterfield.

Tribunal judgments in the cases of two non-lawyers involved in the finances of defunct law firm Cobbetts LLP have been published, marking the latest chapter in the disciplinary aftermath of the failure. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal approved agreed outcomes relating to allegations against the firm’s former financial director and partnership tax accountant.

Applications were up in the latest round of an accelerator programme for lawtech start-ups run by a London law firm, with smart contracts among technologies of particular interest, it has emerged. Six companies will win through to work with Mishcon de Reya from the “concept through to revenue-generating stage”.

Times are tough for claimant personal injury lawyers, but while many expect substantial consolidation in the market over the coming 18 months, competition is becoming fiercer than ever, according to new research. Advertising spend and costs were spiralling upwards both online and on TV as firms look to grab greater shares of the market.

‘Silver splitters’ are finding their way to a pioneering online divorce service, which uses divorce coaches instead of lawyers as part of its goal of making the process as painless and low-cost as possible. Amicable App, launched in January this year, has recently raised £473,000 from a range of angel investors.

A firm responsible for pressuring people into making holiday sickness claims had its licence cancelled by the Claims Management Regulator last week. It had encouraged holiday-goers to fabricate or embellish symptoms of gastric illness to get compensation.

The Legal Ombudsman has pledged to avoid pursuing an “expansionist” strategy when considering expanding its jurisdiction, but nevertheless welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority’s suggestion that it could handle complaints against unregulated legal providers.

A prominent solicitor-turned-barrister specialising in insurance litigation has set up a chambers under the oversight of the Bar Standards Board, which eventually will offer litigation in addition to advocacy. Stephen Hines is also the vice-chairman of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.

A solicitor who applied to vary a condition on his practising certificate made when a disciplinary tribunal suspended a five-year suspension from practice, now instead faces the possibility of having the ban activated after it emerged during his application that he had breached the condition.