Compliance & Regulation


Solicitor left abandoned law firm in “chaotic state”

11 November 2024

A solicitor who “abandoned” his law firm, leaving his office “in a chaotic state” with piles of letters thrown away as a fire hazard by neighbouring tenant, has been struck off.


Law firms tell SRA: we want to keep client account

8 November 2024

A poll of law firms has found almost complete opposition to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s idea of preventing them from holding client money.


Fine for conveyancer who acted for lenders and himself

8 November 2024

A solicitor who acted for lenders in conveyancing transactions without telling them he was also acting for himself and family members has been fined £12,500.


Tribunal fines law firm for persistent transparency rule breaches

8 November 2024

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has fined a law firm over £20,000 for failing to comply with the SRA’s transparency rules and requirements to have a COLP and COFA.


Law firm launches consultancy to help investors enter legal market

7 November 2024

City law firm Kingsley Napley has launched a strategic regulatory advice service for private equity firms and other investors eyeing up the UK and international legal market.


SRA worried about firms over-reliant on client account interest

6 November 2024

The SRA will ask next week whether it is ever right for solicitors to retain interest received on client account money, saying it is worried that some firms rely on it to stay solvent.


Unapologetic SRA dismisses Axiom Ince report as “opinion”

6 November 2024

The leaders of the SRA yesterday refused to apologise to the profession about the Axiom Ince collapse as they dismissed the report criticising its actions as just opinion.


Axiom Ince failures are “history for us”, says SRA chair

5 November 2024

What went wrong with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s supervision of Axiom Ince is “in many respects… history for us”, the regulator’s chair told the profession today.


SRA imposes “interim” conditions on work of SSB Group chief

5 November 2024

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has imposed conditions on the practice of SSB Group co-founder Jeremy Brooke while it continues its probe into what went wrong.


Solicitor suspended for allowing unadmitted person to run law firm

5 November 2024

A solicitor who allowed an unadmitted “friend” to run a law firm of which he was nominee director and shareholder, has been suspended for two years.


Law firms treating AML training as “tick-box exercise”

5 November 2024

Many law firms treat anti-money laundering training as a “tick-box exercise”, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found.


Only a fifth of law firms fully compliant with AML rules

4 November 2024

Only 22% of law firms checked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for their approach to anti-money laundering in the past year were fully compliant with the rules.


NQ solicitor struck off for faking emails and misleading new employer

4 November 2024

A newly qualified solicitor who lost her job for falsifying progress on a matter and then did not tell her new employer why she had moved on, has been struck off.


Client bias “not a factor” in complaints about BAME solicitors

1 November 2024

Groundbreaking research has contradicted the views of academics and solicitors that bias amongst clients in part explains why BAME solicitors are overrepresented in reports to the SRA.


SRA takes action against two ex-Axiom Ince employees

1 November 2024

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has banned two former employees of Axiom Ince from working in the profession in future without its permission.

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