Compliance & Regulation


BSB panel rejects complaints over barrister’s Royal baby tweets

30 March 2022

A Bar Standards Board panel has rejected more than 80 complaints made against a barrister accused of making racist comments on Twitter about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby last year.


Ex-Law Society president fails in bid to strike out SDT case

30 March 2022

David Greene, the former president of the Law Society, has failed in his attempt to halt a private prosecution of him at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, although its scope has been narrowed.


GPs attack “bullying” solicitors over Covid exemption letters

29 March 2022

The British Medical Association has accused solicitors of bullying GPs by threatening legal action if the doctor does not provide a Covid vaccination exemption for their client.


Council lawyer lied about husband’s company to get invoices paid

29 March 2022

An in-house solicitor at Corby Borough Council who lied about giving work to her husband’s company in a bid to have two invoices paid has been struck off.


Digital ID tools “do not breach legal services regulation”

29 March 2022

Solicitors should not view digital identity verification as a second-best option after traditional manual checks, according to a joint statement by LawtechUK and the legal regulators.


Barrister sanctioned for “offensive” Muslim tweet wins appeal

28 March 2022

A Bar Standards Board panel applied too low a threshold in sanctioning a barrister for a tweet about Muslims that it said would cause offence, a tribunal has ruled.


Standard cyber-security form to aid solicitors instructing barristers

28 March 2022

A standardised form for solicitors to assess the cyber-security arrangements of chambers they instruct has been launched by the Law Society and Bar Council.


The SRA’s first ABS – still going strong, 10 years on

25 March 2022

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the first alternative business structure licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and the firm is still going strong.


Legal Ombudsman budget to top £15m after 5.8% increase approval

25 March 2022

The Legal Services Board has approved a 5.8% increase in the budget of the Legal Ombudsman for the coming year, amounting to an extra £850,000 cost levied on the profession.


City firms urged to agree common approach to social mobility

25 March 2022

City law firms need get on with agreeing a common approach to measure social mobility in their recruitment processes, a roundtable has heard from a former MP and solicitor.


SRA to reintroduce annual process and fee to stay on roll

23 March 2022

Non-practising solicitors will have to apply to the Solicitors Regulation Authority every year once again and pay an annual charge of £30-£40 if they want to stay on the roll from April 2023.


“Core of dissatisfaction” with lawyers fuelling complaints to LeO

22 March 2022

There is an “underlying core of dissatisfaction with legal service provision, expressed through the complaints system, that is not changing or being sufficiently addressed”, the chief legal ombudsman has said.


Solicitor misled law firm and SRA about driving convictions

22 March 2022

A solicitor who made misleading statements to his law firm and the SRA about convictions for drink-driving and driving while disqualified has been struck off.


SRA to urge big firms to report ethnicity pay gap

21 March 2022

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to encourage large law firms to start reporting their ethnicity pay gap and introduce ‘exit questionnaires’ for solicitors leaving the profession.


Solicitor who misled court fails in appeal against strike-off

21 March 2022

A former partner at leading US firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher found by a High Court judge to have deliberately misled the court has failed in his appeal against being struck off.

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Blog


The SRA and privileged material – this is not the end

All disclosure to the SRA must now exclude privileged material, which will not only hamper investigations but also cause additional work for firms providing disclosure.


Legal Ombudsman fee reforms risk widening the justice gap

Charging firms simply because a complaint moves through the process weakens the present connection between fees and fault. It could also encourage firms to settle for commercial reasons.


Why upfront information could transform home buying

The success of upfront property information will depend on more than simply making the information available.