Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor who lied to client “to buy herself time” is struck off
A solicitor who admitted lying to a client about receiving a medical report “to buy herself time” has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
SDT rejects managing partner’s bid to blame junior solicitor for errors
A managing partner has failed to convince the SDT to blame the one-year qualified solicitor he was supervising for failures on a conveyancing transaction at an undervalue.
Another failure for SRA in Daily Mail sting cases
Two of the three solicitors accused by the Daily Mail of offering to help an undercover reporter concoct a false asylum claim have now been cleared of misconduct.
Suspension for solicitor who acted on both sides of transaction
A solicitor has been suspended over a “dereliction of duty” that saw him act on both sides of the transfer of an elderly and vulnerable client’s sole residence to a neighbour for nil consideration.
Tribunal strikes out immigration adviser’s appeal over failed exam
The First-tier Tribunal has struck out an appeal by an immigration adviser against the Immigration Advice Authority after she failed an exam.
Suspended suspension for solicitor over antisemitic and offensive posts
A solicitor whose use of “emotive and antisemitic language” on social media appeared designed to cause “maximum offence” has been given a six-month suspended suspension.
Large law firms could face prosecution for overbilling
Large law firms that overbill their clients or make false environmental and diversity claims could be prosecuted under legislation coming into force next Monday.
Third-party managed account first for licensed conveyancers
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has issued its first approval for a law firm to use a third-party managed account for its client funds.
Major City law firm apologies for Church abuse data breach
City law firm Kennedys has apologised unreservedly after accidentally disclosing the email addresses of people registered to receive updates on the Church of England redress scheme.
Solicitor paid £77,000 in fees into his own bank account
A solicitor who admitted paying almost £77,000 in fees into his personal bank account from over 100 clients has been struck off.
Lawyer “under new duty” to have functional understanding of AI
Lawyers have a new duty to have a “competent functional understanding” of artificial intelligence as its use spreads across the profession, a specialist has argued.
Associate who billed 23 hours in a day struck off
A senior associate at national firm Irwin Mitchell who recorded 23 hours of chargeable time in one day has been struck off for submitting dishonest timesheets.
SRA uncovers significant shortcomings among volume claims firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has uncovered a significant amount of poor practice in the way law firms are managing high-volume consumer claims.
LSB “must force” Legal Ombudsman to publish decisions in full
The Legal Services Board must take “a more proactive stance” in making the Legal Ombudsman publish complaint outcomes in full, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has argued.
BSB eyes targets to improve diversity of senior staff
Nearly half of staff at the Bar Standards Board are now from ethnic minority backgrounds but it is looking at targets to improve the diversity of its management.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
