News

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The stock market falls on the back of the EU Referendum has hit an ABS-owning property company the most, as well AIM-listed legal businesses with a personal injury (PI) element, a Legal Futures analysis has shown. The PI hit looks surprising given that the current state of political uncertainty is likely to be good news for the claimant market.

Yesterday’s Shadow Cabinet rebellion has included the resignation of the two top legal figures in the Labour Party – Shadow Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer and Shadow Attorney General Karl Turner. Lord Falconer, well known as a close ally of Tony Blair, gave no statement as to why he resigned, but Mr Turner – MP for Hull East – published on Twitter the letter he sent to leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Law Society’s budgeted costs of £637,000 to defend the competition law action brought over its Conveyancing Quality Scheme are disproportionate and should be capped at nearly half that amount, the president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal has ruled. The society has instructed City giant Norton Rose Fulbright.

The Bar’s professional indemnity insurer has been ordered to reimburse a barrister after it withdrew funding for him to defend disciplinary proceedings because he wanted to appoint a non-panel solicitor. The Financial Ombudsman Service found that Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund did not act reasonably.

People with complaints about claims management companies (CMCs) are more likely to receive a financial remedy from their credit card provider than the Legal Ombudsman, it has emerged. The most three most complained-about CMCs have since surrendered their authorisation, leaving questions about whether consumers actually receive the compensation ordered.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal against a decision that cleared two solicitors of “dishonest assistance in a breach of trust”, in this case a mortgage fraud. In its decision, the Court of Appeal had warned that findings of dishonesty, especially against solicitors, should not be made without “the most careful consideration” of what they say in their defence.

A client cannot blame the failure of solicitors to send a land transaction return to the taxman so as to avoid a fine for late filing, a tribunal has ruled. Andrew Oliver appealed against the penalty imposed on him for the failure to submit the return within the 30 days allowed. Instead it was submitted 252 days later.

The Advertising Standards Authority has rejected a complaint over the way a Devon law firm marketed its success in representing drivers. Patterson Law said on its website that 3,314 out of its last 3,436 clients at risk of a driving ban avoided disqualification or got a significantly reduced driving ban

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed all charges made against a solicitor including alleged breaches of accounts rules and money laundering regulations, and failing to supervise properly a consultant who had been struck off the roll. It is unusual for charges to be thrown out wholesale.

The Law Superstore, which claims that it will be the UK’s first true legal comparison website, has hit 150 ‘partner’ firms as it gears up to launch to consumers on 1 August. It said firms across the country have signed up to the site, including Blacks, Hansells, McMillan Williams, FBC Manby Bowdler, Redkite Law and Express Solicitors.