Compliance & Regulation
Suspension for solicitor who did not comply with SDT order
A solicitor who failed to comply with an order made by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2020 has now been suspended for a year.
Three law firm staff disqualified from profession for drugs convictions
Two fee-earners at conveyancing giant ONP Solicitors have been disqualified from the profession after they were jailed for drug dealing.
Non-lawyer owner of ABS banned for operating without lawyer
The non-lawyer former owner of a law firm has been disqualified from involvement in another one after breaching the terms of its authorisation as an ABS.
SRA: Solicitors “lack confidence” over artificial intelligence
Solicitors’ lack of confidence about lawtech and AI could lead to them missing out on the opportunities – and put their clients at risk too, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.
City firm partner fined for unwitting role in property fraud
A property partner who failed to undertake proper anti-money laundering checks on a client involved in a “substantial fraud” has been fined £27,500.
Solicitors with civil higher rights poised to overtake criminal
The number of solicitors with civil higher rights of audience is poised to overtake criminal for the first time, Solicitors Regulation Authority figures have shown.
New Bar Council chair urges proactive coaching for all barristers
Having a coach to support wellbeing should be part of everyday practice at the Bar like having an accountant and insurance, the new chair of the Bar said last night.
KPMG to break new ground by launching ABS in America
KPMG is set to become the first of the Big Four accountancy firms to set up a regulated law firm in the US after applying for a licence in the state that allows non-lawyer owners.
Regulators accused of doing “nothing” to improve client-care letters
It is “an indictment” on all the legal regulators that “nothing substantial” has been done to tackle the problem of “complex and difficult to read” client-care letters.
Paralegal disqualified for attendance notes of calls he didn’t make
A paralegal who did not make the dozens of phone calls he recorded in attendance notes has been disqualified. He also reallocated his files to colleagues without telling them.
Suspended suspension for solicitor who fabricated email
A solicitor who dishonestly created and backdated a letter to the landlord of a vulnerable client has been handed a 12-month suspension, suspended for 24 months.
SRA imposes control order on CILEX lawyer who misled lender client
A CILEX lawyer who misled her lender client so as to complete a residential property transaction has been made subject to a control order by the SRA.
SRA issues £1.5m in fines since enhanced power came on stream
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has used the enhanced fining power to issue more than £1.5m fines on solicitors in its first two years, new figures have shown.
Blacker fails in challenge to Inner Temple’s membership refusal
Alan Blacker – the struck-off solicitor once dubbed by a judge as dressing “like something out of Harry Potter” – has failed in a challenge to a decision refusing him membership of the Bar.
Junior solicitor struck off for misleading probate clients
A recently qualified solicitor at Irwin Mitchell who misled multiple contentious probate clients about the progress of their cases has been struck off.
Blog
The cost of systemic failure and childbirth injuries
Recent reports show that the NHS has paid almost £3.5bn in medical claims around childbirth injuries over the past six years.
Mazur: when regulators make simple things complicated
What the last six months have shown is that supervision cannot be treated as a background compliance obligation quietly managed somewhere in a firm’s operational processes.
How unstoppable AI is reshaping UK legal practice
At a time when most technology innovation still flows from the US and China, UK lawtech is attracting growing international attention and capital.
