Compliance & Regulation

The Bar Standards Board is to step up efforts to encourage more reporting of bullying and harassment but says ultimately the onus is on the Bar to change its culture.

There is “no real appetite” among consumer law firms for an accreditation scheme or other recognition denoting the quality of their transparency, a report has found.

The majority of respondents to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s discussion paper on post-six-year run-off cover supported retaining the Solicitors Indemnity Fund, it has emerged.

A senior City partner who told a client to “burn” a private messaging app after it was served with a search order has avoided jail for criminal contempt of court, in part because of the impact on his career.

The results for the second sitting of SQE1 – part of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination – show the exact same pass rate as the first, and the continuing racial disparity.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has allowed a struck-off solicitor to work for a law firm, having successfully opposed his bid to return to the roll earlier this year.

A solicitor caught with cannabis in a court building, which he said he had to calm his anxiety after the start of lockdown in 2020, has been censured for his misconduct.

A former solicitor, labelled a “dishonest crook, swindler and cheat” by a Crown Court judge 14 years ago after being convicted of assisting illegal immigration, will not be returning to practice.

UK law firms will be unable to provide “transactional legal advisory services” to Russians after the government ratcheted up the sanctions regime yet further.

A solicitor panicked after realising she had missed a court deadline and under-settled her client’s personal injury claim before leading them on for more than four years about its progress.

The Bar Standards Board has pushed back the deadlines set for clearing backlogs in its handling of misconduct reports and authorisations.

Lawyers are not “neutral technicians” and “cannot hide from responsibility for what clients do with the legal advice they provide”, a leading legal academic has warned.

The introduction of alternative business structures in two US states is “spurring innovation”, the first research into the initiatives has found – but how reform is introduced matters.

The Bar Standards Board is planning a “statement of consolidated good practice” for chambers, which sets out how to go “above and beyond” the minimum regulatory requirements.

An experienced private client lawyer who backdated his client’s signature on lasting powers of attorney has been banned from working for law firms.