PE investor in failed law firm set to lose £22.5m
The private equity backer of failed personal injury firm Roberts Jackson is set to lose its entire £22.5m investment, while unsecured creditors will only receive pennies in the pound.
Smart contracts and investment: innovations speed march of lawtech
A City firm has launched an off-the-shelf smart contract for insurers which triggers an automatic payment to a solar power company if it is cloudy, while a legal tech company has attracted £1.2m in investment.
Solicitor struck off for weaving elaborate “web of deception”
An experienced partner has been struck off after dishonestly drawing on hundreds of thousands of pounds of client money to top up private investments, and then covering it up with fake documents.
Solicitor’s “atrocious” conduct over child contact case condemned
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor whose conduct in a sensitive child contact case it described as “atrocious”. He was “motivated by his desire to cover up his incompetence”.
Call for curbs on Lord Chancellor’s power over online rule committee
A future Lord Chancellor could impose “quite radical changes” on the court system unless changes are made to the Courts and Tribunals (Online Procedure) Bill, peers have warned.
Give clients a cost benefit analysis of their cases, LeO says
Lawyers must provide their clients with a cost benefit analysis so they can understand the choices available to them, the Legal Ombudsman has said, also warning lawyers to be “crystal clear” over charges.
DWF partners donate £2m in shares to charitable foundation
The partners of listed law firm DWF have donated 1.8m shares, currently worth £2.1m, to its charitable foundation. The award will enable the DWF Foundation to expand and sustain its grant-giving.
British lawyers more likely to be bullied, global survey finds
British lawyers are more likely to be bullied in the workplace than their colleagues elsewhere in the world, the largest ever global study of bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession has found.
Court modernisation has yet to deliver – and might never, warn DJs
Judges on the frontline of the court modernisation programme has expressed “serious concerns” that the £1bn committed to the reforms will run out before they can be completed.
Solicitor “paid £1.5m in salaries from client account”
The boss of a high street law firm who paid over £1.5m in staff salaries from client account over more than five years has agreed to leave the profession. She blamed salary software for what happened.
