Solicitors

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to check 7,000 law firms’ compliance with anti-money laundering regulations after an initial sweep found that too many were not complying.

The largest study of the ethics of in-house lawyers ever undertaken has shown a “gloomy picture” of lawyers wedded first to the commercial objectives of the companies they work for.

A finding of serious misconduct against a solicitor does not require striking off or an immediate suspension from practice, the High Court has ruled.

Dozens of UK law firms are providing corrupt individuals with services that enable them to “move, hide and defend their ill-gotten gains with impunity”, Transparency International has claimed.

The head of a bogus solicitors’ firm has received a 10-year director’s disqualification for running the business with a total lack of integrity.

Lawyers keen to protest in the streets with Extinction Rebellion should carry out their own “risk analysis” before taking part, a regulatory specialist has said.

A solicitor who “turned a blind eye” to the “clear and obvious hallmarks of fraud” in an early release pension scam – as he was looking to replace a lost income stream – has been struck off.

A former government lawyer who used multiple identities in order to play the victim of a motor accident and then legally represent the other driver has been jailed for eight months for contempt of court.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was too lenient in only fining a solicitor who had clients pay money into his personal bank account, High Court has ruled.

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.

A solicitor acting as a company’s in-house lawyer who said he had to use his client account to make various payments while its bank account was frozen has been sanctioned by the regulator.

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.

Two partners who asked clients to sign a declaration in their retainer letters stating that they absolved their law firm “from any liability whatsoever” – including professional negligence – have been fined.

Solicitors’ firms that adjust the way they present information to disabled people – and make explicit how they can accommodate their needs – will see the business benefits, a major study has found.

A sole practitioner has been struck off for a sting in which a client’s money was used by the solicitor’s business partner to buy a property for a much lower price which was then sold to the client at a profit.