Compliance & Regulation
Second paralegal at firm banned for falsifying time records
A second paralegal working at National Accident Law has been banned from the profession for charging clients for more calls than she actually made.
Non-practising barrister fined for calling herself “barrister-at-law”
A non-practising barrister has been reprimanded and fined for describing herself as a “barrister at law” on emails and telling a client she could represent her.
Sister and brother struck off for work on dubious investment schemes
A sister and brother have been struck off as solicitors for putting their own financial interests ahead of clients who lost money in dubious parking space and storage pod investment schemes.
LegalZoom is first business to have ABSs in England and the US
LegalZoom has become the first business to have an alternative business structure license in both the US and England and Wales after winning approval in the pioneering state of Arizona.
Scotland mulls single regulator for all lawyers
The possibility of a single regulator for all lawyers in Scotland – and the title of ‘lawyer’ having statutory protection – is being canvassed by the Scottish government.
SRA bans non-solicitors for theft, fabrication and forgery
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has banned a string of non-solicitors from working in the profession for dishonesty, including theft of electronic devices, fabricating letters and faking a client’s signature.
Solicitor misled own relatives about their conveyancing fees
A conveyancing solicitor who misled clients he was related on how their fees would be calculated has been fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Rebuke for solicitor whose failures inadvertently facilitated fraud
A solicitor’s failure to conduct proper client ID checks and to confirm that the client owned the property he said he did inadvertently facilitated a fraud, it has emerged.
Barrister disbarred after council tax conviction
A barrister convicted of failing to disclose a change in her circumstances for the purposes of council tax, and who was then found to have lied at a re-hearing, has been disbarred.
30% of barristers have faced bullying, harassment and discrimination
Nearly one in three barristers have personal experience of bullying, harassment and/or discrimination in the past two years, Bar Council research has revealed.
Treasury rejects SRA and Law Society pleas over economic crime levy
The government has rejected a call from the Solicitors Regulation Authority that small law firms should have to pay its new economic crime levy.
SRA launches investigations into 10% of firms checked for AML compliance
More than 10% of law firms whose compliance with anti-money laundering rules was checked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the last year have been referred for investigation
“Patronising” solicitor struck off for comments made to young women
A “patronising” solicitor who made multiple “racially, ethnically or religiously motivated comments” to young women at an event – whom he later accused of being ‘woke’ – has been struck off.
Regulators issue new standards to improve practice in coroner’s courts
The Bar Standards Board, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and CILEx Regulation have joined forces in a bid to improve the standard of practice in coroner’s courts.
Compensation funds could be “wiped out”, panel warns
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has warned that interim compensation funds put in place by two of the smaller legal regulators could be quickly “wiped out”.
Blog
Beyond PCP: Can regulators and lawyers work better together next time?
Nearly a decade after the Financial Conduct Authority began investigating the car finance industry, the story of the PCP commission scandal is still unfinished.
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
