Barristers’ conduct outside of work under increasing scrutiny
The number of reports about barristers’ conduct outside their professional lives continues to rise, the BSB has revealed. It also highlighted problems with victims of bullying not being treated with dignity.
Raab eyes “drastic action” to keep family disputes out of court
Justice secretary Dominic Raab is “in the market for something quite drastic and bold” to reduce the number of private law family cases in the courts, he said yesterday in a wide-ranging discussion.
MPs call for inquiry into conveyancers who “mis-sold” leasehold advice
There should be an inquiry into the “mis-selling scandal” of housing developers pointing buyers to preferred conveyancers, who then did not advise on escalating ground rents, MPs said this week.
MedCo goes it alone as it bids to reduce registration costs
Medical reporting portal MedCo has begun employing its own staff for the first time after the Motor Insurer’s Bureau stopped providing managed services.
Solicitor used prisoner’s inheritance to pay off overdraft
A solicitor who used money inherited by a jailed client to pay off his law firm’s overdraft has been struck off, with an attempt to blame a former employee dismissed as “nonsensical”.
Working days “could be replaced by aggregated maximum time”
Future professionals’ working lives could be based not on “working days or even patterns” but on “aggregated maximum time” during which they are accountable to their employer.
Starmer names one-time legal publisher as shadow justice secretary
An MP whose main professional link with the law is a spell as head of publishing at the Law Society at the turn of the century was yesterday named as Labour’s shadow justice secretary.
Judges and lawyers call for curbs on misuse of SLAPPs
Senior judges and lawyers on a panel chaired by former Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger have called for legal reforms to curb ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation’ (SLAPPs).
Ex-barrister wins appeal over first-ever life sentence for perverting justice
A former barrister who received the first-ever life sentence for perverting the course of justice, over claims she made against another barrister, has won her appeal against sentence.
Law firm and lawyer fined over schemes that avoided £3m in SDLT
A North-West law firm and one of its partners have been fined for undertaking 113 conveyancing transactions over four years that avoided £3m in stamp duty land tax.
