Solicitors
Legal aid fraud solicitor fails to set aside £5m judgment
A solicitor and her practice manager husband jailed for legal aid fraud have failed in their bid to set aside a default judgment for nearly £5m obtained by the Ministry of Justice.
Solicitor who “did not know” he was a partner is rebuked
A solicitor who said he did not know that he had been appointed a partner and compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) of his firm has been rebuked.
Solicitor fined for fly tipping and supervision failure
A solicitor who failed to supervise a caseworker he wrongly thought to be a barrister and also fly tipped legal documents containing client information has been fined.
Solicitor who left clients “high and dry” struck off
A solicitor left clients “high and dry” by failing to register their property purchases and pay stamp duty, while misappropriating some £175,000 of their money, a tribunal has found.
Solicitor failed to check whether jailed client wanted to sell property
A veteran solicitor did not confirm that his imprisoned client had given instructions to transfer a £300,000 property to his mother, with the client claiming after it happened that he knew nothing about it.
First cohort of graduate solicitor apprentices start work towards SQE
Eight graduate solicitor apprentices have started work at defendant firm Keoghs, one of the first law firms to offer this approach, as we round up a host of SQE and other training news.
Solicitor fined for abusive call to client who’s also a relative
A solicitor was verbally abusive to a client and attempted to dissuade them from continuing a complaint against him, it has emerged – and the pair were related.
Partner lied to client about settlement that never was
A partner at leading regional firm Clarke Willmott has been struck off for lying to his client that settlement monies were on the way when he had not actually negotiated any settlement.
Solicitor struck off over falsified decree absolute
A solicitor who led a client to believe he was divorced after she falsified a decree absolute has been struck off. She also admitted having the client pay her in cash, rather than pay her firm.
Solicitor fell in love with architect of translation fraud
A solicitor who described how she fell in love with the architect of a translation fee fraud – who used her to facilitate it – has accepted that she had to be struck off.
Top 100 firms have “trust issues” because of online failures
Many of the top 100 law firms have online trust issues because they do not comply with an SRA rule requiring them to display the regulator’s badge prominently and fail to engage with reviews.
Legal Services Board under fire for “neglecting impact of Covid”
The Bar Council and Law Society have accused the Legal Services Board of failing to take into account the impact of the pandemic on the profession in its latest draft strategy.
Exclusive: 20 firms and seven websites sign up to online reviews trial
Twenty law firms and seven comparison and review websites have signed up to a regulator-run pilot that will test how they can best work together to improve the information available to consumers.
Solicitor and banker brother charged with insider trading
A solicitor who was at City giant Clifford Chance has been charged with insider trading and fraud along with his younger brother, who was an analyst at investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Legal executive banned for purporting to witness signatures
An experienced chartered legal executive who purported to have witnessed her clients’ signatures on a property transfer form has been banned from working in law firms.