Compliance & Regulation

An immigration lawyer who made what he described as “huge money” by facilitating a dubious international finance transaction has been suspended indefinitely by a tribunal.

A solicitor who overcharged two estates by £275,000 has been struck off, but his partner – and younger brother – has avoided the same sanction after saying he was “too trusting”.

Law firms have been urged to change their retainers now so they can charge clients for holding their money, given the “possibility, if not likelihood” of negative interest rates.

An employed barrister convicted of fraud after claiming expenses he was not entitled to has avoided being thrown out of the profession by a Bar disciplinary tribunal.

The 16-office law firm consolidator shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in August has been placed into liquidation owing creditors nearly £17m.

A solicitor who said he was “unable to take control” of his firm’s accounts when he started receiving client money – he admitted not knowing interest should be paid to clients – has been fined £10,000.

A property lawyer who used Tipp-Ex to change the dates of charges he needed to register at Companies House has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

A solicitor who obtained a rare costs award against the SRA is to ask the High Court to rule that the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was wrong to say it could not award them on the indemnity basis.

Not all mistakes made by solicitors are professional misconduct, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled in dismissing allegations that an assistant misled the court.

Co-operative Legal Services has been fined nearly £144,000 for recovering more costs in personal injury claims than it was entitled to – the largest fine the SRA has ever handed out to an ABS.

A senior solicitor who did a Ku Klux Klan impersonation at his Black secretary and repeatedly groped her bottom has been fined and urged to undertake diversity training.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has taken the unusual step of making a costs order against the Solicitors Regulation Authority for the “grave errors” it made in a case it eventually had to withdraw.

A personal injury lawyer who inflated costs, put false information before a court, misled her insurer and “wrecked lives” has been struck off.

A law firm has lost an appeal against a penalty imposed by HM Revenue & Customs for the late payment of tax under PAYE, with the tribunal saying it should have posted the cheque in good time.

Solicitors and accountants are at odds over whether the new economic crime levy should be calculated by reference to their income or the number of suspicious activity reports they made.