Quality of legal advice for suspects “faltering under lockdown”
The quality of legal help for suspects in police custody has “suffered significantly” due to Covid-19 amid concerns over confidentiality and restrictions on lawyers talking to clients, a new report has found.
Online invigilators will be watching Bar students’ every move
Online invigilators for the Bar exams taking place in August have been trained to differentiate between candidates looking around naturally and trying to read hidden notes, students have been warned.
Barrister in CrowdJustice row after raising £60,000
A barrister suing her chambers and LGBT charity Stonewall has crowdfunded £60,000 in just a day amid a controversy over transgender rights that saw CrowdJustice remove and then edit her appeal.
Mishcon wins appeal to secure guaranteed fees payment
Mishcon de Reya has won an appeal over a judge’s refusal to grant the London law firm summary judgment on more than £150,000 of fees payable under a guarantee.
Solicitor banned from management over accounts failure
A solicitor was kept in the dark by an experienced bookkeeper about improper transfers she was making from client to office account to keep the firm afloat, a tribunal has heard.
Listed company hails growth of its law firm
Anexo Group plc – the listed business which combines legal services with credit hire – saw turnover increase 39% in 2019 to £79m after spending the year focused on building up its law firm.
Simplify adds major conveyancing firm to ranks
Consolidation at the top end of the conveyancing market is speeding up after Simplify announced the acquisition of a leading London and South East firm, the second private equity-backed deal this week.
Solicitor “didn’t know what to do” with money from third party
A solicitor whose firm received over £530,000 into its client account from an unknown third party, “sat on it” because “we just didn’t know” what to do, a tribunal has heard.
Apprenticeships “not working for the disadvantaged”
Workers from disadvantaged backgrounds are being left behind by the apprenticeship system, including in the law, with numbers slumping by more than a third since the apprenticeship levy was introduced.
Justice fund hands out £2m in grants in just six weeks
The Community Justice Fund – which only went live six weeks ago – has already awarded nearly £2m in grants to the legal advice sector to help it cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
