Compliance & Regulation

A solicitor has been handed a suspended prison sentence for making false claims of damage to his car from potholes.

Work to agree a definition of unbundled legal services with professional indemnity insurers is close to completion as part of efforts to make unbundling easier for solicitors.

The increasing number of sexual misconduct cases being handled by the SRA and SDT is fuelling a rise in anonymity requests, regulatory lawyers have said.

The London office of a US law firm has been rebuked for breaching the conditions of a Treasury licence to act for sanctioned Russian clients.

A solicitor who changed the terms of a lasting power of attorney and the date on a cheque without the client’s consent did not act dishonestly, the SDT has ruled.

A solicitor who diverted some of his client’s damages to a rehabilitation company connected to his wife – and created fake invoices that said it had treated the client – has been struck off.

A male solicitor caught up in a ‘work hard, play hard’ culture at the London office of a US law firm has been suspended for a year for two instances of sexually touching female colleagues.

Tech adoption by small law firms is being held back by cost, uncertainty and a reluctance to invest in systems that quickly become outdated or non-compliant, according to SRA research.

The Law Society has advised the Solicitors Regulation Authority against “knee-jerk responses” in attempting to tackle the issue of ethical standards in the profession.

The collapse of Axiom Ince is now set to cost the solicitors’ profession £41m in payouts from the SRA Compensation Fund, it has emerged.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority issued 173 fines to law firms and individuals in its last financial year, more than twice the number of the previous year.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has approved the sale of DLG Legal Services – the alternative business structure owned by insurer Direct Line – to Aviva.

Prices for basic legal services have increased by more than inflation in recent years, while law firms offering fixed costs are significantly cheaper than those giving estimates.

The SRA has decided not to take action over business secretary Jonathan Reynolds calling himself a solicitor – but warned him of possible prosecution should he do it again.

The Court of Appeal has rejected a solicitor’s challenge to judicial criticism of his “indefensible” conduct, motivated by money, in using leaked privileged material to help win an arbitration.