Solicitors

Two law firm partners have been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for failing to properly supervise a legal cashier who stole over £30,000 from their firm’s office account. She also cashed cheques made out to the firm, but these were repaid by the bank as it was not meant to allow anyone other than a partner to do so.

Outgoing Law Society chief executive Catherine Dixon is to take up the same role at one of the largest agricultural and further education colleges in the UK. Askham Bryan College, which is near York, has nearly 4,000 students at sites across the north of England.

A solicitor who built up residual client balances of nearly £200,000 has been rebuked and fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – six years after he was advised as to his conduct for the same failure. He also admitted failing to register lasting powers of attorney on behalf of clients.

One of the longest-serving members of the QualitySolicitors network has quit after six years as it bids to refocus on its local market and expand the range of services it offers. Kent-based Martin Tolhurst Solicitors revealed plans for what it called “a major investment” in the non-conveyancing parts of its business.

A newly qualified solicitor, described as “completely incompetent” and “like a rabbit caught in headlights”, has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. His firm admitted twin allegations of failing to operate an adequate system of supervision and to provide a good standard of service to clients.

A solicitor who faked documents and used his own money to pay compensation to clients as he struggled to keep on top of his workload, has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. A sympathetic tribunal said his naivety and inexperience “had been his downfall”.

The Law Society’s freedom of information adjudicator has ordered the Solicitors Regulation Authority to disclose an investigator’s report, saying the regulator had overlooked “the public interest in transparency as a good in itself”.

Law Society chief executive Catherine Dixon has resigned after two years in the role, citing the society’s failure to embrace governance reform, Legal Futures can reveal. She said the Law Society would not be perceived to have changed and be representative of solicitors without changing the way it is governed.

Tough sanctions for lawyers and other advisers who enable offshore tax evasion came into force on Sunday despite considerable disquiet expressed by the Law Society and others. The new powers will see individuals or corporates who take deliberate action to help others evade paying tax facing fines of up to 100% of the tax they helped evade.

A partner who altered a client file in an effort to conceal a mistake that made an estate liable for inheritance tax has agreed to leave the profession to halt her prosecution before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. We also report on the ex-solicitor and judge jailed for forging a will and other disciplinary matters.

Three solicitors, including a former senior partner and managing partner, have been suspended by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for their roles in a collapsed Brazilian property investment scheme. It comes in the wake of a major SRA campaign to warn the public about solicitors giving credibility to high-yield investment schemes.

A solicitor who did not honour the terms of his consultancy agreement with a law firm and sought £140 in fees directly from clients through his unregulated business has been fined £2,000 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – nearly 15 times the money at stake.

The Competition and Market Authority’s report on legal services yesterday provoked a predictably mixed response that pitted the Law Society against the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and found support from the body representing paid McKenzie Friends. Meanwhile, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers called on the Legal Services Board to use its powers to force regulatory independence to happen.

A solicitor has been struck off for practising without being authorised by the regulator and, when challenged, dishonestly claiming he had not handled client money when he had an account set up for the purpose.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published a blueprint for simplifying its system for granting waivers to regulations in order to promote innovation, which it suggests will particularly benefit small firms. The new policy would guarantee no enforcement action would be taken if innovations create technical breaches of the rules.