Compliance & Regulation
New Bar chair calls on Ministry of Justice to review LSB
The new chair of the Bar Council has called on the Ministry of Justice to review the Legal Services Board, prompting a tart response from the oversight regulator.
Legal regulators “need to work on building trust” with their communities
Legal regulators can reduce the amount of enforcement work they need to undertake if they can build enough trust that lawyers will approach them before things go wrong, an event has heard.
SRA hires competition specialist to drive strategy
A competition specialist is to join the Solicitors Regulation Authority as its new executive director for strategy and innovation, while the LSB’s policy chief is leaving to oversee bailiffs.
Solicitor shifted client money around to cover mistakes
A partner who used client funds to make payments for other clients – on occasion to hide the fact that they had been made subject to costs orders – has been struck off.
SRA can enforce costs order against solicitor struck off in 2010
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can finally enforce a £15,000 costs order against a struck-off solicitor more than 12 years after it was made, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled.
Solicitor agrees to quit roll until 2030 over report on title dishonesty
A solicitor who dishonestly amended a report on title to correct an error she had made more than two years earlier has agreed to remove herself from the roll until 2030 at the earliest.
CILEX backs move to grant members higher rights of audience
CILEX – the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives – has urged its regulator to press ahead with plans to seek the power to award higher rights of audience to members.
Scotland shies away from single legal regulator but backs ABSs
The Scottish government has chosen the least radical option for regulatory reform of the legal profession, rejecting the ideas of either a single or an oversight regulator.
Solicitor struck off after stringing along immigration clients for years
A solicitor who strung along two clients for several years that he had applied for their indefinite leave to remain in the UK when he had not has been struck off.
Foreign lawyer was duped by suspected fraudster to front firm
A registered foreign lawyer has been suspended for 18 months after being duped to front a law firm where likely fraudulent conveyancing transactions took place behind his back.
Slater & Gordon accepts £82k fine for Quindell system failures
Slater & Gordon has accepted a fine of nearly £82,000 for historic shortcomings in the legal services business it acquired from Quindell.
Pupil who ripped off others’ work was suffering from mental illness
The pupil barrister who passed off other people’s work as his own on three occasions avoided disbarment because he was suffering from a serious mental illness exacerbated by lockdown.
SRA to step up action over non-compliance with transparency rules
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to take a “more robust approach” to enforcing its transparency rules after its latest work indicated widespread non-compliance.
Law Society at odds with local solicitor groups over future of SIF
SRA plans to replace the Solicitors Indemnity Fund with an in-house solution have been backed by the Law Society but opposed by the ‘Joint V’ of the major local law societies.
It puts the national body at odds with the ‘Joint V’ of major local law societies
Metamorph’s empire continues to crumble as two more firms are shut
Two more firms in the Metamorph Law group – including the one to which the caseloads of several others were being transferred – were shut down today.
Blog
Why later-life divorce requires a distinct professional framework
Later-life divorce, often described as ‘silver splitter’ or ‘grey divorce’ cases, is no longer a marginal feature of family law practice. It challenges long-standing assumptions about how divorce work is done.
Listening, learning and leading The Solicitor’s Charity with care
As I prepare to hand over the mantle of chair of The Solicitor’s Charity next month, it doesn’t feel like an end. Instead, it feels like a wonderful journey.
Is competition in the legal sector stifling innovation?
As the legal sector’s competitive landscape continues to evolve, Nobel laureates remind us that innovation is not inevitable,and that competition may not always be an incentive to innovate.
