Compliance & Regulation
Law firm owners suspended for accounts breaches dating back to 1980s
The veteran husband and wife owners of a Midlands law firm have been suspended for manifest incompetence after allowing dormant client balances to build up over decades.
CA rejects latest challenge to costs deduction from damages
The time for a client to challenge a solicitor’s deduction from their damages runs from the time the deduction is made, without the client having to agree the specific amount.
SRA happy with standards of law firms handling LPAs and deputyships
Law firms are maintaining a good standard of service despite increased demand for lasting powers of attorney and deputyship work, an SRA review has found.
LSB bids to reduce regulatory barriers to tech adoption
Regulators need to bring down the barriers to technology adoption and innovation in the interests of reducing unmet legal need, the Legal Services Board has said.
Solicitors to pay extra £13.5m to Law Society and SRA
Individual solicitors and their firms will have to pay an extra £13.5m to be regulated and represented in the coming year, it emerged today.
Small firms at heart of AML reports made by SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority reported transactions potentially involving money laundering worth over £75m to the National Crime Agency in the last financial year.
SRA granted civil restraint order against struck-off solicitor
The High Court has granted the Solicitors Regulation Authority an extended civil restraint order to stop a struck-off solicitor from taking further legal action against it.
Government commits to end barriers holding back CILEX lawyers
The Ministry of Justice has set out its vision of ensuring that “there are no unnecessary barriers preventing CILEX members progressing their careers”.
Ban for paralegal who lied on CV to get job at law firm
A paralegal who lied on his CV about his experience, signed a statutory declaration and held himself out as a solicitor has been banned from working in the profession.
Bar chief backs feminist barrister abused by other counsel
The chair of the Bar Council has spoken out in support of a feminist barrister who said yesterday that she has complained about abuse from more than 50 “mainly White male” barristers.
Ex-DLA partner avoids strike-off for trying to fake witness’s signature
A former equity partner at DLA Piper has avoided being struck off despite admitting to trying to fake a witness’s signature on a mortgage deed.
Solicitor struck off for lying about links with illegal money lender
A solicitor who lied to both his employer and his regulator by denying he had any kind of relationship with a convicted illegal money lender has been struck off.
LeO resolves record number of complaints in performance “step change”
The Legal Ombudsman has achieved the required step-change in performance in the last year, it has declared, with waiting times finally falling as 44% more cases were resolved.
New AML supervision regime for lawyers moves step closer
HM Treasury has launched a long-awaited consultation that could see a new public body replace legal regulators in supervising lawyers’ anti-money laundering activities.
BSB chief: Many practices at the Bar have “outlived their usefulness”
There are many working practices at the Bar “which may have outlived their usefulness and no longer work in the interests of consumers”, the director general of the Bar Standards Board said yesterday.
Blog
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
Recruitment, retention and reward in the legal accounts world
Understanding the legal finance market is important – not just for those actively involved in it day-to-day but also for leaders within law firms.
