Compliance & Regulation
LeO halves amount of time that staff need to be in office
The Legal Ombudsman is bucking the wider trend of requiring staff to spend more time in the office and is instead halving it to the equivalent of one day a week.
Law Society and Bar Council attack LSB’s “huge” budget hike
The Law Society and the Bar Council have strongly attacked plans by the Legal Services Board to increase its budget by 14% to over £6m for the year ahead.
Solicitor “cannot complain” to JCIO about judge’s criticism
The High Court has rejected a solicitor and his client’s bid to challenge the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office’s refusal to entertain their complaints about three Court of Appeal judges.
SRA issues sanctions for breaches of undertakings
The SRA yesterday handed out a fine and a rebuke for breaching undertakings, one relating to property transactions and the other to a divorce matter.
BSB: No need for “anxiety” over barrister training standards
The evidence “does not support anxiety about standards” for qualifying as a barrister, despite rising numbers seeking to do so, the Bar Standards Board has said.
Lawyers and regulators oppose 10% rise in LeO’s budget
The profession has come out strongly against Legal Ombudsman plans for a 10% budget hike, arguing that throwing more money at it has not worked to date.
Director and law firm fined £50,000 for multiple compliance failures
The director of a law firm and the firm itself have each been fined £25,000 for a series of compliance failures, including widespread accounts rule breaches and anti-money laundering shortcomings.
CMC regulator warns about poor service standards
The regulator of CMCs has highlighted poor service standards, inappropriate sourcing of customers and misleading advertising as among its key areas of concern.
SRA under fire for not taking action on “textbook” SLAPP
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has come under fire for closing a complaint about a law firm that represented a Russian warlord without any further action.
Anglo-Scottish firm under close SRA scrutiny over McClure files
The collapse of an Anglo-Scottish law firm in 2021 continues to have significant reverberations, with the firm that took on its business now under close scrutiny from the SRA.
Are AML breaches misconduct? High Court hears SRA appeal
A significant appeal that should decide whether a breach of the Money Laundering Regulations is also a breach of the SRA code of conduct starts in the High Court today.
Veteran barrister disbarred for “recklessly misleading” tribunal
A veteran barrister who attempted to recklessly mislead the court and failed to provide his direct access client with a competent service has been disbarred.
SRA can keep disciplinary decisions online for longer
The Legal Services Board has approved plans by the SRA to change its publication policy and keep details of misconduct on its website for longer.
Solicitors “letting down” women subjected to economic abuse
Lawyers giving independent legal advice in cases of potential economic abuse of women are helping the abusers more than their clients, new research has suggested.
Ban for trainee who misled employer over reason for day off
A trainee solicitor who misled her employer over why she wanted a day off work, seemingly to hide the fact that she was in court over planning breaches, has been banned from the profession.
Blog
When the person who needs help is the partner
A law firm can have excellent support on paper and still have a serious gap. The gap is the person who cannot imagine using it.
SRA supervision and AI: what firms will be asked to prove
AI intensifies scrutiny of whether firms can demonstrate that they were in control of the systems through which legal services were delivered.
How ELD NextGen will improve employers’ liability tracing
The Employers’ Liability Tracing Office is continuing work towards the launch of ELD NextGen, the next generation of the employers’ liability database, in early 2027.
Reports
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