Repair company employee convicted for passing on customer details for PI cold calls
A former worker at an accident repair firm who downloaded and sold the personal data of motorists to nuisance callers has been convicted under the Data Protection Act of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing data. Meanwhile, a barrister has been reprimanded after leaving documents on the London Underground.
SRA appeals SDT ruling on mental health and dishonesty as plethora of ‘forgery’ cases highlights differing sanctions
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to appeal to the High Court over the sanction imposed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in a ground-breaking ruling last month on mental health and dishonesty, Legal Futures can reveal. The case involved fabricating and backdating documents, which is becoming increasingly common misconduct.
Bar Standards Board to regulate firm led by chartered legal executive
The Bar Standards Board is to regulate a law firm led by a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, it has emerged. No practising barristers will be involved in the firm, but its principal is also an unregistered (ie, non-practising) barrister.
Extend PPI fee cap to personal injury claims, insurance lawyers demand
Insurance lawyers’ call for the government to extend the fee cap to be imposed on PPI cases to personal injury claims ahead of the whiplash reforms fell on deaf ears this week. CMCs specialising in PPI have separately warned the government that the cap could “destroy” their industry.
Government presses ahead with cold-calling ban despite criticism of approach
The government yesterday rejected criticism that its proposed ban on cold-calling did not go far enough and voted it into the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill. A minister said it was “convinced that the new clause will have the effect of making unwanted calls from claims management services unlawful”.
Accounts clerk wins unfair dismissal claim against law firm after false harassment allegation
An accounts clerk at a west London law firm who faced false allegations of sexually harassing a fellow employee – who was the daughter of the owner – has won his claim of unfair constructive dismissal. After winning his claim first time around, he won it again on a reconsideration of the question of whether he had affirmed the firm’s breaches.
LeO rules out investigating complaints about unregulated providers using lawyers’ money
The Legal Ombudsman has ruled out investigating complaints about unregulated legal services, or collecting data about them, without a new source of funding. The service said it would be “inappropriate” to use money raised by a levy on the profession for this purpose.
Government accused of “breaking promise” on cold-calling ban as it targets April for holiday sickness fixed fees
Claimant solicitors and defendants have come together to attack the government’s proposed ban on cold-calling, with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers describing it as a “broken promise”. ABTA joined the criticism as it emerged that the addition of holiday sickness claims to the fixed recoverable costs scheme is scheduled to come into force in April.
Era of judge-led reform is over, says Ryder as he warns against “privatisation” of justice
Reform of the legal system based on the views of a single or group of judges is “no longer acceptable”, the Senior President of Tribunals has said. Sir Ernest Ryder also warned against “privatising” justice by allowing companies to promote their own online dispute resolution outside of the law’s control.
“Stressed” solicitor avoids strike-off despite dishonesty
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has again decided against striking off a solicitor for proven dishonesty after it accepted that he was suffering from work-induced stress. The solicitor said one of his supervisors had described himself as being “like an abusive husband, always asking for forgiveness and saying it would be different”.
