Solicitors

The sanctions and appeals regimes of the frontline regulators are an inconsistent “jumble” of different powers that may protect lawyers rather than consumers, according to the Legal Services Board.

A law firm which offers personal injury claimants a £2,000 up-front payment has been told to make it clear to potential clients that the offer is subject to significant qualifications, after a complaint about one of its television adverts was upheld.

The number of law firms suspected of involvement in money laundering trebled last year, with some solicitors mixed up with the Russian mafia as well as “inappropriate transactions” following the Arab Spring, the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed yesterday.

Statutory guidance that requires legal regulators to move away from assuming would-be lawyers have to spend a certain amount of time training before they qualify was published yesterday by the Legal Services Board.

Key players in the legal profession have welcomed the second phase of a government-backed scheme that will create apprenticeships which for the first time will lead to qualification as a solicitor, while a new apprenticeship in conveyancing will also be developed.

The number of reported attempts trying to defraud the public by using bogus law firms soared by 57% last year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed yesterday as it brought forward publication of a cybercrime guide.

A solicitor who faces the unusual sanction from the Office of Fair Trading of being excluded from the group consumer credit licence held by the Law Society is appealing against the decision.

Solicitors have been warned about a new e-mail ‘phishing’ scam containing a computer virus that is targeted at the profession and purportedly sent by the SRA. Meanwhile, the regulator has reported a new scam involving cash converter type stores.

The Legal Services Board is heading for another confrontation with the Law Society after proposing to take away its responsibility for appointing the chairman and board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The frontline regulators will be required to have lay chairs in future after the Legal Services Board (LSB) pressed ahead with its controversial change to the internal governance rules.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has lost its appeal against an employment tribunal decision that it discriminated against a female employee after revoking her part-time working agreement.

The legal challenge to the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) is not yet dead after it emerged that the claimants have gone to the Court of Appeal to seek permission to appeal.

A failure to pay debts – and the increasing willingness of creditors to pursue solicitors for their money – is the most common feature of law firms in financial difficulty, Solicitors Regulation Authority research has found.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority recorded a sharp rise in the number of interventions last year that involved suspected dishonesty, new figures have revealed. It also highlighted growing delays in cases going through the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

A Birmingham solicitor has been struck off for practising while suspended, including appearing in court. Peter Chahal was removed from the roll of solicitors by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last week.