Compliance & Regulation

The High Court has rejected an appeal by a solicitor struck off after he “turned a blind eye” to the warning signs of fraud in an early release pension scam.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has written to 8,000 law firms to demand a declaration that their websites are compliant with the transparency rules and display its clickable logo.

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision not to aggregate as one the claims a Yorkshire law firm’s indemnity insurer is facing because of a multi-million pound fraud run by one partner.

A trainee solicitor convicted of stalking nearly five years ago has been banned from working in the legal profession by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Clients referred to barristers by solicitors were unaware that they had a choice of barrister, “nor did they feel able or equipped to make that choice”, a report for the Bar Standards Board has found.

Researchers have called for an investigation into whether lawyers involved in the Post Office Horizon litigation committed professional misconduct, calling it a “scandal within a scandal”.

A partner who lied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and her indemnity insurer, and allowed her firm to continue trading without insurance, has been struck off.

A solicitor involved in property transactions where due diligence on clients and funds was severely lacking has agreed to leave the profession rather than face a disciplinary tribunal.

The Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service has rejected the argument that a starting point of 12 months’ suspension for sexual misconduct is too much for some less serious types of behaviour.

It is “impossible for solicitors to leave their practising certificates at home completely” when it comes to behaviour in their personal lives, the president of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has said.

Clients should be put at the heart of legal technology by law firms, including being asked for consent before artificial intelligence is deployed, solicitors have been told.

High-profile solicitor Karen Todner is to face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over allegations of financial mismanagement. The tribunal is also to hear a case involving leading London firm Mishcon de Reya.

A solicitor who lost an unencrypted USB stick full of client information that was subsequently found by a member of the public has been rebuked by the SRA.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has described as “bizarre and not credible” an account given by a City partner of how she valued at £220,000 legal work for a client she had billed at only £3,800.

The past year has seen a “step change” in the adoption of legal technology and innovation, in part as a result of Covid-19, a major piece of new research has found. However, significant barriers remain.