Regulation

The 16-office law firm consolidator shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in August has been placed into liquidation owing creditors nearly £17m.

Young barristers from ethnic minorities should not be afraid to be who they are – including maintaining their hair in its natural look – as they look to progress, pioneering QCs have advised.

A solicitor who said he was “unable to take control” of his firm’s accounts when he started receiving client money – he admitted not knowing interest should be paid to clients – has been fined £10,000.

A property lawyer who used Tipp-Ex to change the dates of charges he needed to register at Companies House has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

A solicitor who obtained a rare costs award against the SRA is to ask the High Court to rule that the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was wrong to say it could not award them on the indemnity basis.

The number of solicitors on the roll has topped 200,000 for the first time, with 150,000 now practising. Meanwhile, the proportion of solicitors working in private practice has fallen to an all-time low.

Not all mistakes made by solicitors are professional misconduct, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled in dismissing allegations that an assistant misled the court.

A senior solicitor who did a Ku Klux Klan impersonation at his Black secretary and repeatedly groped her bottom has been fined and urged to undertake diversity training.

A pro-Beijing Hong Kong politician and lawyer, who is also qualified here, is set to face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over allegations that he said pro-independence supporters should be killed.

A solicitor has launched a second law firm regulated by the Bar Standards Board – this time an alternative business structure with a letting agent client.