Compliance & Regulation
Solicitor who lied to his law firm about having cancer is struck off
A solicitor who lied to his law firm about having cancer and forged a medical report relating to it has been struck off.
Justice minister urges regulators to toughen up on CFAs
The government has told the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority of the need for “tougher, more consistent regulation of conditional fee agreements”.
Court orders LeO to reconsider decision due to missed evidence
The Legal Ombudsman has been ordered to reconsider part of its findings of poor service by a direct access barrister after it overlooked a key piece of evidence.
Mazur: Local government lawyers eye legislative change
The Lawyers in Local Government group is to seek “legislative clarification and reform” in response to the Mazur ruling, instead of intervening in the Court of Appeal
Lay prosecutors for train company “not a Mazur-style breach”
A judge has rejected a Mazur-inspired attempt to throw out charges against a serial rail fare dodger on the basis that they were brought by lay prosecutors for the train company.
Tribunal fines solicitor for source of funds and lender failures
A solicitor has been fined £7,500 for failing to carry out source of funds checks and keep lenders properly updated about where purchase money was coming from.
Paralegal to appeal after SDT refused adjournment for representation
A paralegal denied an adjournment by the SDT so she could be legally represented – even though the SRA backed one – is to appeal the ban that followed the hearing.
Judge given formal advice after creating “hostile environment”
A controversial employment judge has been issued with formal advice for misconduct after he was found to have created a “hostile environment” for a party.
Revealed: SRA withdraws complaints-handling rule changes
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has suddenly withdrawn proposed rule changes to improve how solicitors handle complaints from approval by the Legal Services Board.
Tribunal “right” to take Sidhu’s status into account in disbarment
The tribunal that disbarred Jo Sidhu KC was “certainly not wrong” to regard his status as rendering his conduct towards a mini-pupil particularly serious, the High Court has ruled.
LSB names chief executive as BSB starts search for a new one
The Legal Services Board has named Richard Orpin as its new chief executive, having been acting up in the role for the last six months.
Paralegal banned for dishonest emails as supervisor cleared
A paralegal who lied to solicitors in one email and to a client’s relative in another has been banned – but the solicitor who supervised her exonerated.
Billing practices and fair briefing among new Bar chair’s priorities
A campaign to improve billing practices at the Bar and work with solicitors on fair briefing are among the priorities outlined last night by the new chair of the Bar Council.
The new Mazur? ‘Solicitor agent’ does not have rights of audience
A so-called solicitor’s agent did not meet the Legal Services Act 2007 requirements for rights of audience, a district judge has ruled.
Tribunal strikes out part of barrister’s claim against BSB
A barrister’s claim that hundreds of people accessed details of a complaint about her held by the Bar Standards Board has been struck out by an employment tribunal.
Blog
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
Information isn’t oversight – lessons from the PM Law review
The PM Law review’s real findings perhaps point to a failure mode applying to any organisation sitting on scattered risk information.
AI can do the work but it cannot inherit the lawyer’s duty
What happens when lawyers delegate cognitive work to AI but remain personally responsible for judgements they may no longer have independently reasoned through?
Reports
Associates
