Regulation

An accountant found to have “improperly” issued a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority about a law firm has been severely reprimanded by his regulator.

A service for couples wanting an amicable separation without instructing separate lawyers has been launched by Withers, which has also worked with Mariella Frostrup on a relationship podcast series.

A barrister jailed in 2014 for a bomb hoax at the London Olympics has failed in his attempt to overturn an order imposed by the SRA that banned him from working for law firms.

Solicitors can give client-care information verbally if a client urgently needs a will due to the coronavirus, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed.

A senior barrister who headbutted a junior female member of chambers during a drunken row, leaving her on the ground with blood all over her face, has been suspended for three months.

The coronavirus crisis has hindered the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s efforts to pursue law firms that have ignored its efforts to check they are complying with its anti-money laundering rules.

A solicitor who acted as head of legal and a “puppet director” for a variety of companies involved in sham £16m property schemes has been struck off.

The proportion of solicitors who attended state schools is creeping upwards, but those who went to fee-paying schools dominate corporate work, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The head of the Scottish Bar has referred himself to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission after being caught talking on a train about his client, Alex Salmond, in a derogatory manner.

A “grossly negligent” salaried partner has been suspended for a year after $2.2m in escrow monies belonging to the other party in a deal was “dissipated in a series of unauthorised transactions”.

Plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to introduce a centralised test for solicitors wanting higher rights of audience have divided opinions among organisations and individual solicitors.

Paul Baxendale-Walker, a struck-off solicitor who went on to become an adult film producer and actor, and bought Loaded magazine, has been handed a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions order.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has today outlined a significant relaxation of its rules for law students and trainees to allow more of their assessment to go online.

Criminal defence solicitors have threatened to stop attending police stations and a protocol to protect pupil barristers was published among efforts to protect the profession during the pandemic.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has finally issued guidance to those it regulates on dealing with the coronavirus, stressing it will be “pragmatic” when taking action over rule breaches.