
Lawyers the only winners in “nihilistic” divorce dispute, says judge
The lawyers are the only beneficiaries of a “nihilistic” divorce dispute that has cost £2.3m in legal fees, with the couple’s children the main losers, a High Court judge has ruled.

Firm’s insurer targets fraud exception to defeat £6m claim
Insurer Axis Specialty Europe is trying to exclude its liability for losses of nearly £6m suffered by a US property company due to a fraud perpetrated by a solicitor.

Barrister sanctioned for own fundamentally dishonest PI claim
A non-practising barrister who had his personal injury claim thrown out as fundamentally dishonest has been banned for returning to practice for nine months.

Judge bemoans public authorities’ “dispiriting” approach to costs
A judge has described as “dispiriting” how much money is spent by public authorities arguing about costs while not making sensible part 36 offers.

Newly qualified left in charge of firm rebuked over client account failures
A newly qualified solicitor left holding the fort when the sole principal she was working for was hospitalised, has been rebuked after apparent conveyancing frauds happened on her watch.

City firm reports itself to SRA over unauthorised court recordings
City firm Simmons & Simmons has apologised to the High Court and referred itself to the SRA after the court transcribers it used took unauthorised audio recordings of eight hearings.

“A step in the right direction” – legal leaders seek positives from Budget
Legal leaders hailed funding for the justice system announced in yesterday’s Budget as “a step in the right direction”, even though it will not even return the Crown Court backlog to pre-Covid levels.

Pandemic “boosted profits of motor insurers by £3.3bn”
Reduced road traffic accidents and personal injury claims as a result of the pandemic boosted the profits of motor insurers by £3.3bn, research has estimated.

SMEs report healthy appetite for online legal services
There is a big gap in the market for legal providers to serve small and medium-sized businesses via online services, as long as they are quick, cheap and easy to use, according to research.

Exclusive: Major private equity house buys top-100 law firm
The largest dedicated injury law firm in the country has been acquired by a private equity house which has plans to buy and build it into a major consumer law practice, Legal Futures can reveal.







