Solicitors

An immigration solicitor who signed a statement of truth on a blank claim form which was then accidentally passed to a claimant who used it to launch a judicial review, has been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. She had been referred for investigation by the president of the Queen’s Bench Division, Sir Brian Leveson.

A solicitor’s convictions for money laundering have been overturned by the Court of Appeal in a case involving corrupt payments linked to a multi-million dollar UN medical aid contract for the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was convicted despite the judge finding him unfit to be cross-examined.

The public view information security failings at law firms more seriously than solicitors do, according to the “most surprising” outcome of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Question of Trust exercise. A “significant” number of lawyers said a balance needed to be struck between client confidentiality and taking files out of the office to work on.

The Law Society and Council for Licensed Conveyancers have clashed plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to make it easier for law firms to switch regulator. The society warned that clients could be left without proper cover.

The Law Society’s ruling council yesterday agreed to spend £61m over four years on new IT systems for both its representative and regulatory arms – although it is forecasting that savings generated will bring the net cost down to £37m. There will be “robust governance processes” around the work.

The chief executive and chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority have hit back over criticism of their plans for a comprehensive rewrite of the handbook. They said allowing solicitors to work outside authorised entities would contribute to improving access to legal services and enforcement of civil rights.

A sole practitioner’s wife, who worked at the firm as bookkeeper before being dismissed by her husband, is set to escape a hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

A sole practitioner who decided not to sack a fraudulent employee after discovering he had stolen almost £90,000 from the firm’s office account has been fined £5,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. However, the SDT rejected 20 of the 24 allegations made against her by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The “chaotic” situation at a solicitor’s firm was no excuse for her failure to pay stamp duty to the HMRC, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled. It said her recklessness in failing to make the payments needed to register title to a property in London amounted to a lack of integrity, and ordered her to be struck off.

The Law Society has blasted Solicitors Regulation Authority plans to allow solicitors to practise from unregulated businesses, saying they risk creating a two-tier profession and eroding the standing of the profession. Chancery Lane said they would also leave clients with less protection.

A personal injury lawyer who faced “what could almost be described as a perfect storm” of legal aid cuts and a doubling of his rent has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The SDT said that rather than approaching his bank, the solicitor took a decision to “plunder client account”.

Friday’s Competition and Markets Authority report on legal services has reignited the debate over independent regulation, with both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board welcoming the call for separation from their representative bodies.

An academic audit of a law firm’s business has broken down its offering into more than 300 ‘products’ as part of a radical and so far successful attempt to increase profits. It was carried out under a government-backed knowledge transfer partnership with Oxford Brookes University’s business school.

A sole practitioner who “simply buried his head in the sand” over his failure to secure indemnity insurance and carry out an orderly wind-down of his firm has been reprimanded by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has banned a paralegal at an alternative business structure and a trainee solicitor at former Hull firm Ward Legal from working for law firms. The SRA said the paralegal sent e-mails to his partner at another law firm making comments that “failed to encourage equality of opportunity and respect for diversity”.