Grech steps down with lenders set to take control of Slater & Gordon
Andrew Grech has stood down as group chief executive of Slater & Gordon after a recapitalisation deal was agreed with its lenders that will see them take control of the embattled law firm. The deal is intended to provide the firm with “a sustainable level of senior secured debt and a stable platform for its future operation”, it said.
Solicitor who admitted breaching confidentiality to help convict murderer agrees to leave profession
A solicitor who deliberately broke professional rules by releasing confidential client files so as to help convict a murderer has agreed to leave the law. He signed up to a regulatory settlement agreement with the Solicitors Regulation Authority to avoid a likely strike-off by a disciplinary tribunal.
You don’t have to be a lawyer to run a lawtech start-up – but it helps
Almost half of the chief executives of lawtech start-ups in the UK are former lawyers, more than twice as many as from business and three times those from a software background, according to a report. However, a legal background was not essential to success, the report noted.
Judge warns of “blurred lines” between lawyers and McKenzie Friends
The growth of ‘professional’ McKenzie Friends risks the boundaries between regulated and non-regulated representatives “becoming blurred”, a circuit judge has warned, as she upheld a decision to exclude from a family case a man chosen by one of the parties to be their McKenzie Friend. She also criticised him for describing his role as ‘quasi-solicitorial’.
Fairpoint’s shares suspended after bank pulls support
Shares in Fairpoint Group have been temporarily suspended after its bank pulled its backing for the legal services business. The company said that because AIB Group (UK) plc was unwilling to provide the level of on-going support it had requested, it was unable to sign-off the audit of its 2016 annual report and accounts.
Eviction specialist ABS acquired by property industry insurer
An alternative business structure specialising in property recovery and tenant evictions has been acquired by a major property industry insurer, Hamilton Fraser. Landlord Action Limited – whose founder fronts Channel 5 series Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords – plans to expand its fixed-fee landlord and letting agent-focused services.
Personal injury firm loses £4.5m claim that work referrer did not deliver cases it promised
A personal injury law firm has lost a £4.5m claim against a legal expenses insurance underwriting agency that the expected number of referrals did not materialise. The firm failed to convince the High Court that there was a contractually binding oral promise in place from 2006 to 2011, when referral fees were lawful.
Mayson: Brexit is not a good excuse to delay legal regulatory reform
The focus on Brexit should not hold back regulatory reform in the legal sector, leading market observer Professor Stephen Mayson has urged, countering calls by the Law Society for the government to put it aside to focus on leaving the EU.
BSB consults on extending cab-rank rule to direct access cases – but comes out against it
The Bar Standards Board has argued against extending the cab-rank rule to direct access work, on the grounds that access to justice would not improve, it might discourage them from taking instructions from the public, and may lead to clients invoking the rule inappropriately.
Vos: Crucial to post-Brexit Britain that international smart contracts are subject to English law
There needs to be work to ensure the underlying legal system for smart contracts is English or UK law as part of efforts to Brexit-proof the UK legal system, the Chancellor of the High Court said last week. Sir Geoffrey Vos said: “It remains crucial that we lead the world in legal services post-Brexit.”
