Property
Confusion reigns after property information guidance withdrawn
The withdrawal of the material information guidance for estate agents was met last week with a mixture of confusion, alarm and celebration by lawyers.
Law firm takes assignment of client’s claim after pay out
A law firm that paid out £750,000 to a buyer client over an error on a property transaction has taken assignment of its claim against the seller.
Jail for property solicitor who defrauded own firm of £160k
A long-serving property solicitor who defrauded a Hereford law firm out of £160,000 by diverting disbursement payments into her own bank account has been jailed for 30 months.
Court dismisses negligence claim against law firm over causation
A negligence claim against a well-known London law firm over erroneous information it gave to a client’s mortgage lender has been dismissed on the basis of causation.
Solicitor suspended for not disclosing own-interest conflict
A law firm owner has been suspended for not disclosing conflicts of interest to clients, including that his wife was a director of the property development company they were buying from.
Council fines law firm for breaking law in collecting rent for clients
The First-tier Tribunal has upheld an £8,400 fine imposed on a law firm for not belonging to a client money protection scheme while collecting rent for properties owned by clients.
“Fast conveyancing” firm meets accelerated target 80% of the time
A law firm that promises home movers “fast conveyancing” has told Legal Futures that it meets its targets for accelerated exchanges 80% of the time.
Solicitor breached undertaking and loaned client cash to correct it
A solicitor who paid away proceeds of a property sale in breach of an undertaking and then loaned the client the money to make up the shortfall, has been fined for misconduct.
Assistant solicitor fined for costly undertaking failures
An assistant solicitor whose failure to comply with an undertaking in a property transaction cost his firm’s insurer £440,000 has been fined £5,500.
Legal market’s strong growth in 2024 set to continue this year
The UK legal services market grew by 10% to £52bn last year and is heading towards a strong 2025 too, according to new research.
SDT: Solicitor gave undertaking even if he did not call it one
An assurance given by a solicitor in a conveyancing transaction was an undertaking, even if he did not use the word, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled.
£86m of client money went through in-house solicitor’s personal account
An elderly in-house solicitor who handled reserved legal work without authorisation, and used his personal bank account to process £86m of client money, has agreed to leave the profession.
Law firm avoids tribunal referral over PEP due diligence failures
A law firm that failed to conduct proper anti-money laundering checks while acting for a politically exposed person has been fined £25,000.
Law Society research highlights its TA6 failures
The extent of the Law Society’s misjudgement in last year’s launch of the updated TA6 property information form has been laid out by research it commissioned.
Conveyancers warned over amending contracts ahead of SDLT deadline
Conveyancers have been warned over efforts to amend agreed conditions of sale to take into account the possibility of not completing before SDLT changes.
Blog
Charting a new course for publicly funded legal services
The current Legal Aid Agency model is inherently flawed and it goes beyond mere data breaches – it cannot innovatively respond to increasing challenges.
Preparing people for the pace of technological change
While technology often dominates the conversation, I believe the most important challenge facing law firms is not adopting new tools – it is preparing people to adapt alongside them.
Reorientation in the AI era must begin with the client
Much of the discussion about AI in the legal industry focuses on technology: which tools to adopt and which tasks might get automated. But this misses the deeper story.
