Solicitors

A solicitor who was “over his head” in running his own firm, and used a settlement with a vulnerable client to prevent them complaining to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Legal Ombudsman, has been suspended from practice. He was also found guilty of a number of other breaches.

A US law firm has received the largest ever fine handed out by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and also become the first firm to be found to have lacked integrity in its conduct. The tribunal has approved an agreement between Locke Lord and the Solicitors Regulation Authority that means there will not be a hearing.

A tribunal has rejected a solicitor’s plea not to strike him off so he could rebuild his life after being convicted of taking £100,000 from people who thought they were investing in vintage wines. Meanwhile, another tribunal has struck off a solicitor convicted of two counts of making an indecent photograph or ‘pseudo-photograph’ of a child.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating allegations made by a south-west law firm that a company employed by a large number of police forces to assist with road traffic prosecutions has been carrying out reserved activities without authorisation.

A law firm has been ordered to reveal to the tax man aspects of the advice it gave to a client after a tribunal found that the client had waived privilege in its grounds to bring an appeal out of time. However, to ensure that advice irrelevant to the issue at hand was not disclosed, the tribunal said it would review all redactions considered appropriate by the firm.

Legal jobs are already being lost to technology, with the figure climbing to tens of thousands over the next two decades as automation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) take hold, according to the Law Society. In the shorter term, the society also predicted that growth in the turnover of law firmswould be modest, with little or no ‘Brexit dividend’.

A chartered legal executive who amended clients’ wills for her own benefit and a drink-driving solicitor are among those whose misconduct has been handled internally by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in recent weeks, rather than referring them to a disciplinary tribunal.

A director of the National Crime Agency has told solicitors that the legal profession is worse than any other financial services sector in reporting money laundering suspicions. Donald Toon said solicitors were “absolutely at the front line of the detection mechanism for money laundering” but “something is not working effectively”.

White male solicitors are almost six times more likely to become a partner than women from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background, research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has concluded. This was particularly because large corporate firms account for nearly 70% of partners in England and Wales.

The High Court has granted an injunction restraining a former in-house solicitor from acting in proceedings against her former employer, saying that even if she was aware of the danger of disclosing confidential information, she might still subconsciously use it.

Legal services continue to be at high risk of attracting criminals intent on money laundering, but are not considered to be a target for terrorist financing, according to the latest government assessment, which also warned that innovation in the legal sector could provide criminals with new opportunities.

A personal injury lawyer has been sanctioned for launching claims without checking that the details he received from a claims management company were correct. Taher Zia Shad has accepted a rebuke and £2,000 fine, the most the Solicitors Regulation Authority can do without referring him to a tribunal.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service has launched a new consultation on flexible operating hours pilots which accepts the possibility that extending the hours of courts, although desirable, might not be possible. It presented a range of options to be trialled, including double shifts and mixed Crown Court and magistrates’ court sittings.

Almost half the staff at SME law firms say their firms have been attacked by fraudsters within the past 12 months, a survey has found. At the same time, the research into how firms are responding to risk management and compliance found evidence more generally that firms are “turning regulation into a business driver”.

Personal injury lawyers, conveyancers and other solicitors who arrange or advise on insurance policies face new rules under a European directive coming into force next February, dealing with issues such as conflicts of interest and commissions.