Solicitors

The Legal Ombudsman is going too far in proposing to allow prospective clients and third parties to complain about lawyers, the Law Society has claimed. Chancery Lane found support from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

A key section of the final consultation on the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates has been condemned as “misleading and inaccurate” by a member of the Bar Standards Board, amid controversy over advocacy standards in the youth courts.

The fourth edition of the SRA Handbook in less than 10 months was published yesterday. It includes the delay in the introduction of the compliance officer regime, and the SRA has guaranteed that there will be no further hold-ups.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has taken the highly unusual step of throwing out proceedings taken against a solicitor, finding that the actions of the Solicitors Regulation Authority constituted an abuse of process.

The impending ban on referral fees in personal injury could result in a “steep increase” in the number of financial failures amongst small law firms – but may not actually discourage spurious claims – the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.

Insurance companies could buy law firms and use them as conduits to sell their products to consumers if the Solicitors Regulation Authority changes the rules on referring clients to financial advisers, it has been warned.

Dissatisfaction with the response of the Solicitors Regulation Authority to allegations of misconduct by solicitors is the most common source of complaints against the authority, with the introduction of risk-based regulation making the situation worse, its independent reviewer has found.

The Legal Services Board has told the Solicitors Regulation Authority that it needs to complete its review of in-house practice as soon as possible because the current regulatory arrangements are not sustainable.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has rejected calls for it to have greater powers to fine ABSs than traditional law firms. It has also dismissed suggestions by the Law Society that it should not have substantial fining powers at all.

The High Court has rejected a bid to replace conditions on a solicitor’s practising certificate with undertakings despite claims that the current state of the professional indemnity insurance market made them the “kiss of death” to a continuing career.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched a bid to regulate non-lawyer immigration advisers. However, at the same time the body that oversees them – the Office for the Immigration Services Commissioner – is seeking to take over the regulation of specialist lawyers.

Law firms are to have an extra year before they must publish staff diversity data, after the Legal Services Board approved Solicitors Regulation Authority plans for a delay. But it was unhappy with the Bar Standards Board’s proposal to exempt chambers of fewer than 10 people.

Eighteen solicitors were sanctioned by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last year for breaches of anti-money laundering obligations, the Law Society has reported. It has also identified alternative business structures as among the increased risks of money laundering facing the profession.

Fifteen solicitors have had sanctions imposed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal – including indefinite suspensions – for failing to pay the premiums demanded while their firms were in the assigned risks pool, with 15 more still to face the tribunal.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has had the tables turned after receiving a monitoring visit of its own from the Insolvency Service which then criticised the way it regulates solicitor insolvency practitioners.