Compliance & Regulation
SRA to require advance notice of law firm M&A deals
Law firms will have to notify the Solicitors Regulation Authority after signing heads of terms on a merger or acquisition, the regulator has proposed.
AML: FCA to use ‘fit and proper’ test for law firm owners
Law firm owners and managers will be subjected to the FCA’s ‘fit and proper’ test once it takes over oversight of their AML activities, the government has decided.
Crown prosecutor struck off for child cruelty conviction
A Crown prosecutor who was jailed for assaulting and ill-treating a child has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
SDT fines solicitor and firm for website transparency failures
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined a solicitor and the law firm he owns £4,500 for failing to comply with the SRA’s transparency rules.
PM’s anti-corruption champion backs AML supervision switch
The prime minister’s anti-corruption champion has strongly endorsed the decision to move oversight of lawyers’ anti-money laundering activities to the Financial Conduct Authority.
Solicitor who believed court made error cleared of dishonesty
A veteran solicitor who genuinely believed a court had entered judgment against his client by error has been cleared of multiple allegations made against him at a tribunal.
Conduct commissioner offers barristers route to raise bullying concerns
Barristers under a duty to report bullying, harassment or sexual harassment by others to the BSB can now satisfy it by reporting to the Bar Council’s new Commissioner for Conduct.
Seven-year restriction for solicitor in third SDT appearance
A probate solicitor who blamed multiple breaches on the “emotional entanglement” he felt when handling his brother’s estate has been fined and given a seven-year restriction order.
SRA rewrites supervision guidance after Mazur ruling
The SRA has issued substantially revised guidance on effective supervision, setting out in detail how firms can delegate legal work to non-authorised staff following Mazur.
LSB exposes “expectation-reality gap” with legal AI
Consumers expect a lawyer to oversee the information and advice that artificial intelligence provides, major new research has found.
“We need to see privileged material to do our job,” SRA tells court
Serious wrongdoing by solicitors may be shielded from regulatory action if the SRA does not have the right to view privileged material, the High Court will be told next month.
Lawyers may have to pay LeO case fee even if complaint is dismissed
Law firms may for the first time have to pay a case fee for complaints dismissed by the Legal Ombudsman, under new proposals published yesterday.
Litigation funding reform remains our intention, minister tells MPs
Litigation funding reform, the interest on lawyers’ client accounts scheme and the regulation of legal AI tools were all on the agenda for justice minister Sarah Sackman yesterday.
Legal services lead way as government’s first AI Growth Lab
Legal services will be the first sector to join the government’s new AI Growth Labs – providing a regulatory sandbox for AI systems – justice secretary David Lammy announced yesterday.
LeO not set up to handle solicitor/client costs disputes – for now
The Legal Ombudsman is open to a discussion on it replacing the courts for costs disputes between solicitors and their clients – but would not be in a position to actually do it for some time.
Blog
From ‘year zero’ to £6.5m – how a law firm found its second life
In 2018, I hit what I call ‘year zero’. On paper, Olliers Solicitors was a top-tier criminal defence firm but beneath the surface, I could see we were at a crossroads.
Linklaters’ chief growth officer takes the ‘blank sheet’ challenge
In the third and final part of this series, Lucy Murphy, chief growth officer at magic circle firm Linklaters, outlines her vision for the law firm of the future.
The ‘blank sheet’ challenge, part 2 – what would you do differently?
In the second part of this blog series, Shainul Kassam, managing director of small London firm Fortune Law, sets out how she would set up a law firm now.
