Compliance & Regulation


Solicitors rebuked for frying pan attack and non-disclosure agreement

19 November 2021

A solicitor who hit a person around the head with a frying pan, and another who tried to use a settlement agreement to prevent disclosures to HMRC, have been rebuked.


Lawyer faces jail for contempt after failing to hand over files to SRA

18 November 2021

A lawyer who failed to comply with court orders to hand over his firm’s files to the Solicitors Regulation Authority is facing possible jail time after being found in contempt.


Regulator presses Simplify to help clients change conveyancer

17 November 2021

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is pressing the Simplify group to reach a position where it can provide its files to clients who wish to change lawyer following the recent cyber-attack.


Consumer panel and Bar Council at odds over future of aptitude test

17 November 2021

The evidence for abolishing the Bar course aptitude test is “compelling” as it has failed to achieve its purpose, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.


Tribunal: Barrister’s ‘fundamentally dishonest’ claim was not fraudulent

16 November 2021

A barrister found to have brought a fundamentally dishonest personal injury claim was not disbarred after a tribunal did not accept that his case was actually fraudulent.


Solicitor who used client account like a “piggy bank” is struck off

15 November 2021

A solicitor who plundered her client account to meet her personal financial obligations and her ex-partner’s car debts has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.


Conveyancing giant told to improve communication after cyber-attack

12 November 2021

The country’s largest conveyancing group has been told by its regulator to improve communication with clients in the wake of a paralysing cyber-attack this week.


“Significant weaknesses” in legal regulators’ approach to money laundering

12 November 2021

There are “differing levels of achievement and some significant weaknesses” among the UK’s legal regulators in their approach to anti-money laundering, their oversight body has reported.


“Lessons for other legal regulators” from Faculty Office review

12 November 2021

The Legal Services Board has said other legal regulators could learn lessons from a highly critical review it has published on the Faculty Office, the regulator of notaries.


Not our job to help retired solicitors “sleep easy”, says SRA

11 November 2021

It is not the job of the Solicitors Regulation Authority to help retired solicitors “sleep easy” by protecting them from historic negligence claims, its director of regulatory policy has warned.


Commercial lawyer fined for providing banking facility to client

11 November 2021

A solicitor at a commercial law firm in Cardiff has been fined £24,000 for recklessly providing a banking facility for a client over a period of almost two years.


Partner struck off for telling “outrageous” lies to SRA

10 November 2021

A tribunal has condemned a partner’s “outrageous” lies to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, made in a bid to frustrate its investigation into her firm.


Less than half of barristers happy with their working lives

9 November 2021

Only 47% of barristers feel generally content with their working lives, a report for the Bar Council has found, while just 45% felt they could “cope with the competing demands” of their job.


Law firm subject to UK’s biggest ever proceeds of crime forfeiture

9 November 2021

A law firm is at the heart of the largest ever proceeds of crime forfeiture in the UK after an investigation spanning three continents.


Incompetent conveyancer’s conduct “a warning to the profession”

8 November 2021

The case of a solicitor who was manifestly incompetent in handling a conveyancing transaction is “a warning to the profession” of stepping beyond their expertise, a tribunal has said.

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Blog


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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

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Why upfront information could transform home buying

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