Solicitors

An online poll of 900 solicitors by the Law Society has revealed that 15% failed to do 16 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) last year – the minimum required. The poll found that 17% had already moved to the new hours-free ‘continuing competence’ regime.

A former president of Bolton Law Society, described by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as a “fundamentally decent man”, made 61 improper transfers from client account and used a personal credit card to keep his firm afloat. He is now working as a paralegal for the deputy vice-president of the national Law Society.

A solicitor who absconded the day after the Solicitors Regulation Authority began investigating his firm has been struck off in his absence for overbilling and for taking money from client accounts. One of his partners said his behaviour changed once the investigation started.

The vast majority of solicitors who responded to a Law Society survey on the practising certificate fee said they thought it did not represent value for money. Many said the Law Society should get a bigger share and the Solicitors Regulation Authority a smaller one.

The Law Society has been told by its freedom of information adjudicator to disclose letters and reports involving the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the charity run by Alan Blacker, the solicitor also known as Lord Harley, Legal Futures understands.

A former solicitor and barrister have both been convicted and sentenced by magistrates for the providing unregulated immigration advice and services. They are the latest in a string of convictions for this offence.

A solicitor who withdrew money more than 150 times from client accounts so as to keep his firm afloat has been struck off for his “disgraceful” behaviour. In mitigation, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was told that the solicitor had “treated his practice as his family”.

Solicitors’ professional indemnity insurers cannot aggregate multiple related claims when the terms of the transactions are not conditional or dependent upon each other, the High Court has decided in a ruling said to protect law firms from financial risk.

Vulnerable people could lose out under the latest plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for the regulation of consumer credit work, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has warned. Meanwhile the Law Society called for greater clarity on payment of legal fees by instalments.

The Legal Services Board has expressed concern that the cost of practising as a solicitor remains the same even though the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s budget continues to fall. In all, Chancery Lane is looking to raise £105.8m.

A retired solicitor who was not clear about his status with a client, and provided reserved legal activities in the mistaken belief that he could do so, has accepted a rebuke and fine from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Meanwhile, a solicitor convicted of bringing fraudulent PI claims has agreed to remove himself from the profession.

An assistant solicitor has admitted to having “fabricated” advice from counsel, two expert reports and a series of letters on a medical negligence case because she felt “completely panicked and couldn’t see a way out”. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that she “had not been thinking rationally at the time”.

Legal professional privilege can be qualified in the “rare circumstances” where it is necessary to impose a requirement that other people are present at discussions between lawyers and clients, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

A former partner at a top City law firm with a history of drink-driving has been given a suspended sentence by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), following a conviction for drink-driving with his five-year-old son in the car.

GT Law, one of the two firms referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) by Mr Justice Jay over the Sonae litigation, has said that it “strongly denies any wrongdoing”. The SRA is considering “appropriate action”.