Barristers

The Legal Services Board could steal a march on the Solicitors Regulation Authority by holding at least one of its board meetings in public, it has emerged.

Husband and wife barristers have taken over a niche motor trade law firm this month, which has been offering fixed fees since the 1990s and offers an end-to-end legal service.

The Legal Services Board could start reviewing regulators’ case files to increase its oversight of the quality of their disciplinary decisions in the wake of the Leigh Day case, it has emerged.

A barrister convicted of assault has been suspended for 28 days, just months after he was fined for possessing a Class A drug. His is one of several recent disciplinary cases involving barristers.

The chief executive of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is to take over as director-general of the Bar Standards Board as we round up several pieces of news from the regulator.

A barrister who sent a “seriously offensive” tweet that was “racially charged and derogatory to women” has been reprimanded and given a “low-level” fine of £1,000.

Students aspiring to careers as barristers are not always told honestly the difficulties they will face with obtaining a pupillage and funding their studies, according to a retired High Court judge.

Inappropriate behaviour by male barristers in robing rooms and at Bar messes “still abounds”, with many women afraid to speak out, the Association of Women Barristers has said.

A leading silk who drove his car into a ditch while under the influence of alcohol has been fined £600 by the Bar Standards Board, one of three recent disciplinary cases involving drink-driving lawyers.

The High Court has refused a barrister permission to challenge a decision by the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman over a complaint she made about Supreme Court justice Lord Briggs.