Solicitors

Two former partners in a Welsh law firm have each been fined for acting in the sale of four opencast coal mines where they had a direct interest in the companies that bought them.

The former managing partner of the London office of Baker McKenzie is to face a disciplinary tribunal over allegations that he sexually harassed a member of staff.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has spelled out the importance of unregulated firms that employ solicitors under its new rules ensuring that clients understand the limitations of the arrangement.

The Legal Services Board has approved the change in the standard of proof used by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal from the criminal to the civil standard.

The High Court has told a solicitor who accidentally exercised higher rights of audience without the formal qualification to do so “to put his house in order”.

The innovation division of City law firm Ashurst has been appointed as technical adviser to the Legal Access Challenge, which aims to support and accelerate ideas to use technology to improve access to justice. The challenge is the centrepiece of… Read More

A solicitor specialising in motoring offences has failed to overturn a £15,000 fine imposed on her by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following a second conviction for drink-driving.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority received 70 complaints about harassment in the workplace last year, many of which were about law firm working environments, it revealed yesterday.

The Legal Services Board has finalised revised rules to ensure clearer separation of regulatory and representative functions at bodies like the Law Society and Bar Council.

The High Court has rejected an appeal by a solicitor against a £15,000 fine for paying £900 from a client into his personal bank account, again testing the boundary between dishonesty and a lack of integrity.

An “effective system” is needed for monitoring the quality of criminal defence lawyers, a report has argued, identifying the way “perverse financial incentives” bear on the provision of services.

The government has pledged to change the law to ensure that employees signing non-disclosure agreements receive independent legal advice, and work with the SRA on updated guidance.

Individual practising fee levels for 2019/20 should remain at the same level as the current year, with Compensation Fund contributions falling, the board of the SRA has decided.

The former head of private client at London firm Kingsley Napley has been fined £15,000 for transferring over £1.5m from the estate of a wealthy foreign national to his widow when he should not have.

Disgruntled clients are more likely to target law firms with “deep pockets” for negligence claims than underinsured freelance solicitors, an expert in law firm regulation has warned.