Compliance & Regulation
SRA bids to increase number of senior ethnic minority staff
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced plans to improve the number of senior ethnic minority staff, although its ethnicity pay gap is “heading in the right direction”.
SDT clears ex-Law Society president Greene after private prosecution
Leading litigator David Greene was yesterday cleared of wrongdoing by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as the long-running saga that saw him resign as Law Society president neared an end.
Fine for solicitor who failed to register clients’ interests
A conveyancer who failed to register her clients’ interests at the Land Registry within the time limit, in breach of undertakings, has been fined £10,000 for her misconduct.
Solicitor who dishonestly confirmed witnessing signature struck off
A solicitor who dishonestly confirmed that he had witnessed a signature on a lease when he actually had not has been struck off the roll.
Inns under fire for sluggish approach to disability access
The inns of court are slow to act on behalf of disabled barristers and the Bar Standards Board is to set push them to improve access in listed buildings.
Big disparity in Bar course pass rates across providers
There is a significant attainment gap between providers of the Bar training course, ranging from a pass rate of 94% at the highest to 49% at the lowest.
“Deconstructed SQE” could be end-point test for three professions
The SQE could be deconstructed and its modules used to form the “final end-point test” for chartered legal executives and licensed conveyancers as well as solicitors.
Bar regulator faces formal LSB action over performance crisis
The LSB has begun talking about taking formal action against the BSB over shortcomings in its performance, which it has emerged include how it has dealt with the Post Office scandal.
Bar regulator counts cost of “extremely challenging year”
The Bar Standards Board has described how it “struggled” to hit timeliness targets in an “extremely challenging year” for its enforcement work.
LSB bids to improve legal sector’s focus on vulnerable clients
Encouraging lawyers to embed client vulnerability into the design of their services is set to be a new Legal Services Board project next year, it said yesterday.
Tweeting barrister sues BSB for belief discrimination
A barrister who overturned a Bar Standards Board sanction for a tweet about Muslims that it said would cause offence is now suing the regulator for discrimination.
BSB mulls SLAPPs guidance as Zahawi’s solicitors are referred to SRA
The BSB is considering following the SRA in issuing guidance on SLAPPs. It comes as the solicitors acting for Conservative Party chairman Nadeem Zahawi have been reported under the SRA notice.
Solicitor jailed for 12 years for castle fraud after private prosecution
A solicitor has been jailed for 12 years for fraud by abuse of a position of trust following a private prosecution brought by his former client.
Ban for conveyancer who took second job with client on the quiet
A licensed conveyancer who took a second job working for a client without telling her firm, and then failed to follow its procedures when dealing with him, has been sanctioned for her misconduct.
Chambers focusing diversity efforts on access to the Bar, not retention
Chambers are focusing their efforts to improve racial diversity on recruitment rather than progression or retention, a Bar Council report has found.
Blog
Why law firms are getting AI supervision wrong
The profession’s response to AI supervision failures misunderstands the nature of LLM output – there needs to be for a shift in the culture.
Beyond the PII premium – rethinking risk
Professional indemnity insurance renewal is often treated as an annual pricing exercise. But it is also a chance to show how effectively you identify, manage and mitigate risk.
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
Reports
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