Litigation/Dispute Resolution
Lawyers “need to find new ways to charge” in AI world
The advent of AI means that lawyers will need to become more creative in how they charge their clients, with the billable hour unlikely to survive, it has been claimed.
High Court: Solicitor “turned blind eye” to money laundering concerns
A partner at a London law firm “dishonestly assisted” in misappropriating a company’s funds by turning a blind eye to money laundering issues raised by property transactions, the High Court has ruled.
“Little improvement” in dilapidated courts, says Law Society
Solicitors have reported “little improvement” in the dilapidated state of court estate over the past three years, with problems including rotting seagulls and maggots “raining down” into a lobby.
SRA checking if it gave others wrong advice like in Mazur case
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is checking if it provided any other law firms with incorrect advice on whether non-authorised people can conduct litigation.
Alarm over High Court “bomb” on conduct of litigation
Last week’s High Court ruling on unqualified fee-earners conducting litigation will cause “nationwide disruption”, with firms urged to review their approach to supervision.
SRA could ban ‘no win, no fee’ label in volume claims shake-up
A ban on using the term ‘no win, no fee’ and enhanced oversight of law firms are among ideas put forward by the SRA to make the high-volume consumer claims market work better.
Upfront payments would filter out weak class actions, says think tank
Litigation funders should have to purchase a small percentage of class actions before they are certified as part of efforts to improve the system, a think tank has recommended.
Judge heavily criticises solicitor whose client “did not exist”
A tribunal has heavily criticised a solicitor who acted for a woman the judge decided did not actually exist, in a bid to stop a property sale, in a case he described as “quite extraordinary”.
Claimant did not take “reasonable steps” to serve law firm negligence claim
A claimant failed to take reasonable steps to serve a claim form in a £572,000 professional negligence action against a law firm, a judge has ruled.
Law firm raises £50m to fund cases brought by other lawyers
Cardiff’s Capital Law has set up a litigation funding arm and secured backing of up to £50m to finance smaller commercial cases run by other mid-market law firms.
SSB victims “have questions” as lender wipes off loans
Former clients of SSB Law have welcomed the decision of Novitas Loans to halt any recovery of the loans given to them to pursue cavity wall insulation claims.
CAT approves £3.8m payment to charity from unclaimed damages
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has approved an agreed £3.8m payment from unclaimed damages in a collective action to the Access to Justice Foundation.
FCA steps up campaign to warn consumers off law firms and CMCs
The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a £1m campaign to tell motor finance customers that they do not need to use a claims management company or law firm.
High Court orders will writers to take part in mediation
The High Court has consolidated a negligence claim against a will-writing company with a dispute over the will it drafted, and ordered the company to engage in mediation.
High-profile ABS owner cleared of wrongdoing over payments
The man who founded now-defunct Stobart Barristers and then bought two well-known criminal law firms, has been cleared of any wrongdoing around his business’s insolvency.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
