Solicitors

The Republic of Ireland’s single regulator for the legal profession has decided that it would be “premature” to abolish the distinction between solicitors and barristers.

There is a difference between many law firms’ anti-money laundering policies and procedures, and what actually happens in practice, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found.

Two partners who saw more than £100m pass through their firm’s client account for a car parking and storage pod investment scheme have been fined for misconduct.

Dubious investment schemes involving solicitors are becoming “far more sophisticated” and leading to a “huge number of claims” on the Compensation Fund, the SRA has warned.

The quality of one of the two main kinds of anti-money laundering reports made by solicitors has got significantly worse, a senior manager at the National Crime Agency said yesterday.

A solicitor whose conduct of several property transactions has triggered multi-million-pound negligence claims against his former firm has now been struck off.

The market for professional indemnity insurance is likely to continue to worsen but future premium rises should not be at the average of 17% seen this autumn, a leading broker has predicted.

A solicitor and her partner who defrauded a law firm and the Legal Aid Agency of almost £95,000 in a translation scam will have to repay just £5,584, a court decided last week.

Transparency over referral fees in conveyancing work will drive out bad practice, a government official said yesterday, while also calling for greater consistency in how law firms publish their prices.

Two barristers who have faced the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal have now been sanctioned by the Bar’s counterpart, with one being disbarred and the other reprimanded.

The SRA has revised its guidance on NDAs to make clear that it is concerned about the conduct of practitioners advising on and negotiating them, as well as the terms of the agreement.

A solicitor who loaned £3.4m from clients’ estates and private lenders to other clients and “known individuals” – a broking operation he had carried out for decades – has been struck off.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal “fell into serious error” in finding no case to answer against a solicitor accused of making a fraudulent costs claim, the High Court has ruled.

Family lawyers should be forced to follow good practice to protect children from “acrimonious legal representation”, and should embrace multi-disciplinary practice, a major report has concluded.

A “reckless” solicitor who admitted registering properties with the wrong purchase price and failing to carry out anti-money laundering checks has agreed to leave the profession.