Here we go again – Government renews bid to make directors personally liable for nuisance calls
The government is set to finally make good on its pledge to make the directors of companies which make unsolicited nuisance calls personally liable if their firm breaks the law. The announcement yesterday generated big tabloid headlines, but in fact the government made the same one more than 18 months ago but did not act on it.
Courts Service: Flexible hours still on the table but “not about savings”
The Courts Service is still “considering views” on introducing flexible operating hours, which provoked an angry reaction from the profession last year. Chief executive Susan Acland-Hood admitted that the service did not need flexible hours to deliver its promised savings from modernisation.
LOD targets further growth after private equity firm takes controlling stake
LOD – the flexible lawyers business previously known as Lawyers On Demand – has become the latest legal business to take private equity after Bowmark Capital, which specialises in investing in growth companies, became its principal shareholder.
Solicitor fined by SRA for over-claiming from legal aid fund
A sole practitioner who claimed more than twice the criminal costs he was entitled to after successfully defending a client has been fined £2,000 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. He said he had “very little experience of criminal defence work”.
High Court rejects Axiom solicitor’s appeal against being struck off in his absence
The High Court has rejected the appeal of a solicitor struck off for his involvement with the failed Axiom Legal Financing Fund after it found the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was entitled to proceed with hearing the case in his absence. It found his claims about his ill-health were really an attempt to stop the proceedings altogether.
Barrister sanctioned for shouting at solicitor and distressing client
A barrister whose treatment of a client and a solicitor “could be characterised as bullying behaviour” has been reprimanded and fined. However, a Bar disciplinary tribunal said the fine would have been more severe were it not for the “exceptional mitigating circumstances in this case”.
Shared office space “will give barristers pay-as-you-go London base”
A shared office space in London that aims to give barristers around the country a physical presence in the capital on a pay-as-you-go basis will open shortly, Legal Futures can reveal. The venture, Barrister Hub, is a joint venture between Clerksroom and barrister-focused recruitment and consultancy business Chambers People.
Want the good life? Go to the commercial and chancery Bar
Commercial and chancery practitioners are by far the most satisfied practitioners at the Bar, while those in crime and family the least, new research published today by the Bar Council has reported. While only 30% of family and 34% of criminal barristers said they were able to balance their home and work lives, the figure was 61% for commercial and chancery.
Trainee solicitor salaries fall furthest at lowest-paying firms since minimum scrapped
Trainee solicitors at the top-paying firms receive more than three times those at the bottom, while the pay gap in earnings of female and black trainees has widened since the minimum salary was scrapped, a survey has found.
Solicitor for jailed UKIP MEP loses appeal against striking off
A solicitor who acted for jailed UKIP MEP Ashley Mote, jailed in 2015 for fraudulently claiming £400,000 in European Parliament expenses, has failed to overturn his striking off at the High Court. He had been struck off after allowing around £60,000 of European Parliament funds to be used for various legal matters Mr Mote was facing which did not relate to his work as an MEP.
