EU lays out opening gambit in Brexit negotiations over cross-border legal co-operation
All cross-border civil legal matters started before Brexit should continue to operate under EU law after the UK leaves the union, the European Commission has proposed. However, it has left the question of what should happen to matters that post-date Brexit up for negotiation.
New rules mean being cleared of misconduct by disciplinary tribunal may not be the end for barristers
Barristers who are cleared of misconduct by a disciplinary tribunal can still be sanctioned for breaching the BSB Handbook, under new changes to the rules approved by the Legal Services Board. The Bar Standards Board said the changes aimed to fill a “gap” in its disciplinary powers.
ABSs set sights beyond pure legal services by launching corporate finance arms
Two alternative business structures have moved to extend their reach to corporate finance advisory work with separate joint ventures. Cardiff-based Greenaway Scott Group has launched a boutique as part of a joint venture with Lime Finance, while Needle Partners in Leeds has teamed up with Sheffield-based corporate advice firm Mackenzie Spencer.
Regulators to take price transparency rules slowly as SRA outlines limited pilot
Legal regulators have responded cautiously to the Competition and Markets Authority’s recommendations on price transparency, pledging to pilot regulatory requirements and test their effects on the lawyers and firms they regulate. They promised to implement controversial measures to encourage lawyers to publish prices if possible.
Associate arrested after “trying to extort money from Dentons with stolen emails”
A junior associate at Dentons has been arrested for allegedly threatening to send confidential and sensitive information – including financial reports and details of how the firm determined its billing rates – to a legal blog if the firm did not hand over around £160,000 and a piece of artwork from its office.
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.
