Compliance & Regulation
APIL urges regulators to act over “scattergun” dishonesty claims
Abuse of the fundamental dishonesty rules by some defendants in personal injury cases is likely to escalate if regulators do not address the issue, according to APIL.
Law firm slapped with £80,000 fine for AML breaches
A London law firm has been fined nearly £80,000 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for failures to comply with the anti-money laundering rules, one of the largest to date.
Still no timeline for ABSs in Scotland despite new law
The Law Society of Scotland has declined to confirm when it will introduce alternative business structures now that all ownership restrictions on them have been removed.
No “generalised” ethical failure among solicitors, insists Law Society
High-profile scandals like the Post Office are “not indicative of a generalised failure of ethical standards within the profession”, the Law Society has insisted.
CJC calls for “urgent” government review of SSB-style funding
The government needs to urgently investigate the type of litigation funding used by collapsed law firms like SSB Law and Pure Legal, the Civil Justice Council said yesterday.
City partner “erroneously” paid out £2.2m to developer client
A partner at DWF has been fined £14,000 for wrongly approving £2.2m in payments to a developer which later went bust, leaving the firm to recompense out-of-pocket buyers.
Solicitor who worked for three firms at same time struck off
A locum solicitor whose timesheets claimed for the same time from two different firms – while employed full-time at a third – has been struck off.
Law firms “must tell clients how to complain at end of cases”
Law firms must tell their clients how to complain at the end, as well as the beginning, of their cases, under new rules proposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Property lawyers attack “punitive” AML fining regime
The “punitive” fining regime for anti-money laundering rule breaches operated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has left lawyers feeling “fearful”.
Court quashes part of LeO’s £51,000 award against law firm
The Legal Ombudsman was wrong to find that a law firm failed to adequately assess a client’s capacity and should pay her £15,700 in compensation, the High Court has ruled.
Barristers “should tell chambers and regulator” about complaints
Barristers will be required to inform both their chambers and their regulator about the complaints they receive, under plans published yesterday by the Bar Standards Board.
LSB lays out actions for SRA to avoid another Axiom Ince
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has been given statutory directions to address the multiple failures in its oversight of Axiom Ince.
Law firm fined £120,000 for 15 years of AML failures
A Southend law firm that failed to comply with anti-money laundering rules for more than 15 years has been fined £120,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Solicitor struck off for allowing use of closed firm’s client account
A solicitor who allowed his firm’s client account to facilitate a suspicious £1.1m property transaction 20 months after it had closed has been struck off.
Bar regulator drops plan for controversial new equality duty
The Bar Standards Board has ditched its controversial proposal to require barristers to “act in a way that advances equality, diversity and inclusion”.
Blog
Beyond the PII premium – rethinking risk
Professional indemnity insurance renewal is often treated as an annual pricing exercise. But it is also a chance to show how effectively you identify, manage and mitigate risk.
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.
Reports
Associates
