Compliance & Regulation

A High Court ruling casting uncertainty over the immunity of advocates for what they say and do in court could have a “chilling effect”, the Bar Council has warned.

A barrister disbarred for supervising an immigration firm whose registration had been cancelled by the Immigration Advice Agency has failed in his appeal against the decision.

The government has outlined how it will improve the anti-money laundering regime by publishing a slew of planned changes to the underlying regulations.

The profession has failed to make “significant progress in tackling the structural and cultural barriers to encouraging equality and diversity”, the LSB has declared.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to demand assurances from firms conducting volume consumer claims that they are meeting their professional obligations.

The emergence of third-party managed accounts “may, in time, reduce” the risk of law firms’ client accounts being used by criminals for money laundering, the government said yesterday.

The Bar Standards Board has rejected a complaint against high-profile KC Jolyon Maugham over his criticism of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the For Women Scotland case.

The chief operating officer of a law firm found to have used her company credit card for £300,000 of personal expenses has been disqualified from working in the profession.

The chief executives of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board yesterday recommended MPs adopt a principles-based approach to regulating outside interests.

The cost of practising as a solicitor is set to increase by 11%, or £16.6m, in the next year, although the financial impact will be felt by firms rather than individuals.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined an East London law firm £58,000 for anti-money laundering rule breaches over a six-year period.

The number of clients complaining to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about its failure to retrieve their documents after it shut down a firm has shot up by over 50%.

One of the law firms named by the Legal Ombudsman in the first three full findings it has published has described the decision to do so as “egregious”.

Garden Court Chambers has distanced itself from comments made by a pro-Palestinian member, which included him telling one X user to “Get my name out of your mouth, fascist-Zionist scum”.

The proportion of consumers choosing unbundled legal services has hit its highest ever rate at just over a fifth, according to research for the Legal Services Consumer Panel.