Compliance & Regulation

It is “five years too late” for regulators in the UK to provide “any meaningful response” to the challenges raised by AI, the chief executive of the Legal Services Board said yesterday.

There is “a group of clients who should not be represented by lawyers” and the profession should be discussing where to draw the line, a leading anti-corruption campaigner has argued.

The ‘Declaration of Conscience’ that has sparked a heated debate on the need for the cab-rank rule is just a “magician’s trick” and “a performative, protest document”, the chair of the CBA has said.

The public argument over the cab-rank rule looks set to rumble on after the Bar Council chair ratcheted up his criticism of barristers refusing to act against eco-causes.

A row about the cab-rank rule blew up today after barristers who have committed not to prosecute climate protestors or work for fossil fuel companies self-reported themselves to the BSB.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority does not appear to recognise the “severity of the risks” facing in-house lawyers indicated by its own research, a group of senior practitioners has warned.

An “inflationary” 9.6% increase in the Legal Ombudsman’s budget for 2023-24, to £16.8m, has been approved by the Legal Services Board.

A solicitor-turned-barrister has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for sending an offensive email that wished harm or even death on its recipients.

A full review of the reserved legal activities is not justified at the moment without a “fundamental” reappraisal of the Legal Services Act too, the Legal Services Board has concluded.

A large firm of licensed conveyancers and its senior partners have been reprimanded and fined £33,000 after a Covid-related work surge overwhelmed its ability to handle complaints.

A barrister infamous for his conviction for possession of drugs that led to the death of his boyfriend has now pleaded guilty to obtaining drugs from clients he was representing.

A trainee solicitor who stole more than £100,000 of client compensation to fund a gambling habit – severely damaging the law firm he worked for – has been jailed for two years.

A High Court judge was right to hold that a barrister’s conduct of litigation in her own right was not a private matter beyond the Bar Standards Board’s reach, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination was implemented well in its first year but has still to win over training providers, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found.

In-house lawyers are generally able to withstand pressures on their independence but a minority report demands to act unethically, according to Solicitors Regulation Authority research.