Solicitors

The impersonation of lawyers to commit advance fee frauds has been added to the list of large-scale cyber-attacks from which the National Cyber Security Centre is trying to protect the public.

A London solicitor has been fined £2,500 for accidentally submitting duplicate receipts for taxis to his top-100 law firm, amounting to just £200. He blamed the errors on the long hours he was working.

There is a “huge amount of interest” among lawyers in becoming freelance solicitors under the new SRA rules, but they have been warned not to hand in their notice just yet.

A sole practitioner described by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as the “perfect target” for the promoters of dubious investment schemes has been struck off.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel has criticised legal regulators’ continuing “resistance” to publishing complaints data about the lawyers they oversee.

The immigration regulator has expressed its “deep concern” at the rules that will allow practising solicitors to operate from unregulated businesses.

A struck-off solicitor made bankrupt by the Solicitors Regulation Authority because he owes it nearly £150,000 has agreed to a further nine years of bankruptcy restrictions.

A solicitor who only qualified because he lied about having passed certain tests – and even forged certificates to convince the Solicitors Regulation Authority – has been struck off.

A solicitor who was jailed for 30 days after pleading guilty to making false statements to the Mueller inquiry into Donald Trump has been struck off.

Four times as many law graduates will be able to practise as solicitors after the solicitors qualifying examination comes in in 2021, a move that will be “transformative” for access to the law.

A solicitor who admitted owing barristers over £146,000 in unpaid fees has failed to overturn his strike-off at the High Court. He issued “disingenuous and misleading” defences when sued for payment.

The proportion of complaints about poor service successfully resolved in-house by law firms without reference to the Legal Ombudsman has topped 80% for the first time, it has emerged.

A second solicitor who told an undercover television reporter that he would help them apply for a visa on the back of a bogus marriage has been struck off – but is also appealing the decision.

It is wrong to suggest that ‘Chinese walls’ set up by small law firms to prevent confidentiality breaches will “never be effective” – although there is a higher risk of them failing – a judge has ruled.

The government-funded Legal Access Challenge has received more than 85 expressions of interests in applying for funding, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said yesterday.