Solicitor jailed for GBH avoids being struck off
A young solicitor jailed for grievous bodily harm has escaped being struck off because of his genuine remorse and low likelihood of reoffending.
Lawyers should have to take competence tests “every 10 years”
Lawyers should have to take online tests every 10 years to prove that they remain competent in their specialist fields, the chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel said yesterday.
JAC to launch independent review of statutory consultation process
The Judicial Appointments Commission is to launch an independent review of its statutory consultation scheme in the wake of press claims that there was discrimination in the system.
Judge criticises solicitor for “woeful” conduct of her own divorce
A Family Court judge has been highly critical of the “woeful conduct” of a solicitor in her own divorce dispute, describing her evidence as “elusive and evasive”.
Solicitor jailed for defrauding firm of £2.3m over seven years
A partner who defrauded his firm of £2.3m over seven years – some of which was done with the help of a client – has been jailed for four years and also struck off as a solicitor.
Judge’s surprise at firm’s failure to ensure “basic compliance” with CPR
A High Court judge has expressed her surprise at a London law firm’s failure to ensure “basic levels of compliance” with the Civil Procedure Rules by a client and its experts.
Haddon-Cave: Online justice is “best hope” of simplifying the law
A “new way of conducting litigation” with online courts and procedures is the “best hope” of simplifying the law made complex by judges, lawyers and legislators, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave has said.
In-house lawyers and litigators launch separate green initiatives
In-house lawyers and litigators have launched separate environmental initiatives to push for, respectively, “real change” in their organisations and smaller carbon footprints.
Susskind: “Harder than expected” to reduce legal work to lawyer-free process
The extent to which legal work can be reduced purely to administration and process has been overstated and in fact “lawyers are needed for all legal jobs”, Professor Richard Susskind has acknowledged.
Judge criticises plan for witnesses to give unsupervised evidence from home
The High Court has criticised parties that agreed without seeking permission that witnesses in a remote hearing would give evidence from their own homes unsupervised.
