Compliance & Regulation

A struck-off solicitor’s comparison of his treatment at the hands of the Solicitors Regulation Authority with that of George Floyd by US police has been branded a “disgrace” by a tribunal.

A partner in a law firm which acted mainly for Russian and Ukrainian clients has been suspended for nine months after admitting multiple breaches of the anti-money laundering rules. 

An experienced conveyancer has been struck off for falsifying the completion date of a transaction in a report to tax authorities in order to avoid a late registration penalty of £100.

A solicitor who was cautioned by the police for fraud after writing a cheque for £2,000 from client account to himself has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Solicitors generally fail to carry out due diligence exercises on the people behind what turn out to be dubious investment schemes, a review by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found.

A solicitor who falsified returns to HM Revenue & Customs so as to underpay stamp duty land tax and pocket the difference in a bid to keep his firm afloat has been struck off.

A City solicitor who received a second police caution for possessing cocaine – but failed to report it out of fear of losing his job and marriage – has been banned from practice for a year.

Legal regulators will have to explain more clearly how they spend their practising certificate fees under revised rules proposed by the Legal Services Board.

Two-thirds of solicitors do not consider the practising certificate fee value for money, with many expressing concern at the level being charged given the impact of Covid-19.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has today shut down a 16-office law firm consolidator with 180 staff across the country. It is highly unusual for the regulator to intervene in such a large practice.

The Legal Ombudsman has warned that if its poor performance over the last few months continues, it could take more than a year to process even the simplest complaints.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has decided to withdraw from legal services regulation and contract it out to CILEx Regulation, in the first move of its kind.

A law firm had to begin legal action to force a partner who had decided to leave to return the files she took home to work on during lockdown, it has emerged.

The president of the Queen’s Bench Division has strongly criticised lawyers at US firm McDermott Will & Emery after they allowed a trial to be live-streamed to observers without the court’s permission.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has overturned a ruling that a law firm was entitled to fire a partner who was accused of ‘topping up’ legal aid fees with cash from a client’s father.