Solicitors

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has had to suspend rules due to come into force today that would allow solicitors to operate from firms regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel and Criminal Law Solicitors Association have both strongly criticised Solicitors Regulation Authority ideas to improve advocacy standards – but from opposite standpoints.

A solicitor who practised without insurance has been spared an appearance before a disciplinary tribunal, in part because he was suffering from depression at the time.

A solicitor and former East London councillor was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to two counts of housing fraud. He also paid compensation of £125,000 to Tower Hamlets Council.

A solicitor discarded an undertaking he had given and tried to take advantage of a mistake made by the law firm on the other side of a conveyancing transaction, it has emerged.

Approval of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam is not a foregone conclusion, the Legal Services Board is to make clear to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Issues such as quality and cost must be addressed.

Law schools are not taking advantage of the “enormous regulatory freedom” they have and instead are largely all offering the same kind of law degree, new research has found.

Claimant personal injury solicitors are buying leads obtained illegally and in breach of the referral fee ban, a leading insurance company has claimed. Aviva said solicitors should have to declare their source.

A solicitor who transferred the title of a property from a joint owner without checking whether they had agreed to it – and when they knew nothing about it – has been rebuked by the SRA.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal is expecting to adjudicate on a steady stream of sexual misconduct cases in the coming year, its annual budget has revealed.

A solicitor who forged three documents to help him in an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has been struck off. He also forged the dates of legal charges and a mortgage deed.

A woman who set up a fake law firm email address so as to provide a bogus reference to a real firm looking to employ her has been banned from working in the profession.

The low number of suspicious activity reports made by solicitors relating to possible terrorist financing indicates under-reporting, a senior policeman told the profession this week.

A study of 40 law firms which suffered a cyber-attack over the past three years has found that more than £4m of client money was stolen from 23 of them.

A new law ensuring that employees signing non-disclosure agreements receive independent legal advice will “increase the onus” on solicitors to act properly when drafting them, the government has said.