QualitySolicitors aims to double national coverage
QualitySolicitors is set to launch a new expansion drive in a bid to double the number of offices in the network to 200 as it looks to capitalise on its national coverage. It recently secured one national B2B contract with a well-known name and is also working on improving the other benefits firms receive.
Will writers strike bum note in bid to encourage uptake
The Society of Will Writers has launched a blunt campaign to encourage people to make a will, entitled ‘No will equals poo’. The visual featuring the poo emoji is accompanied by a short YouTube video that asks: “Do you want to be remembered only for the mess you leave behind?”
Third time unlucky for ‘named and shamed’ barrister as he is finally disbarred
Barrister Tariq Rehman, still the only lawyer to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Legal Ombudsman for his complaints record, has been disbarred after the third separate disciplinary tribunal in less than a month. He had previously been suspended and barred from accepting public access work.
Law firm under fire over office grant says: We’ve done nothing wrong
A Bolton law firm that has been under fire from politicians, local media and other solicitors for receiving a business grant from its local council to help with the renovation of new offices has insisted that it did nothing wrong. It also claimed to be the victim of a “smear campaign” by other solicitors.
Solicitor on hook for £4.65m losses caused by fraudulent partner fails in bid to have insurer pay
A solicitor whose law firm partner has gone to jail for four years for mortgage fraud has lost her bid to have the £4.65m losses being sought from her covered by the firm’s professional indemnity insurer, even though she was not alleged to have had any personal involvement in the frauds.
Notarial firm in ABS first
A notarial firm based in Norwich has become the first to be regulated as an alternative business structure by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The move was triggered by the decision to appoint its first non-notary employees earlier this year.
Cold calling, whiplash reform and IPT – Autumn Statement angers claimant lawyers
Claimant personal injury lawyers have been left questioning why the government was prepared to announced in yesterday’s Autumn Statement that it is to ban cold-calling in relation to pensions, but not to stop it in personal injury – and whether Chancellor Philip Hammond let slip that the whiplash reforms are already a done deal.
Divorce app pioneers replace solicitors with ‘divorce coaches’
Divorce pioneers Amicable Apps have launched a ground-breaking advice service to complement the launch of the final version of their app. Clients who want more help in handling their divorce than the app can provide are directed to ‘divorce coaches’, who could be non-practising lawyers but may have no legal training at all.
Tribunal forces solicitor and SRA to agree stronger sanction to end proceedings
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has forced a solicitor and the regulator to increase the sanction they had agreed he should receive, after concluding that it was too lenient. He was in the dock for failing, as his firm’s COFA, to report serious accounts rules breaches to the SRA.
BSB: parental leave change “could stop women barristers having to choose between career and family”
Making a shared parental leave policy a professional conduct issue for chambers will help break down the stereotype that women have to choose between a career at the self-employed Bar and having a family, the Bar Standards Board has argued.
