Tag Results

A solicitor who took advantage of a former client has been given a record £305,000 fine by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, more than six times the previous highest amount.

In what is believed to be the first appeal against a sanction imposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has revoked the decision to rebuke a solicitor and his firm over alleged failures to nominate compliance officers in time and disclose a suitability issue.

A solicitor convicted of assisting unlawful immigration into a European Union member state this week lost his appeal against conviction, shortly after being struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has been forced to rely on outsourcing and recruit more staff after a 49% surge in referrals to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. It has also identified a series of emerging risks, including public sector cuts.

The Legal Services Board must “knock heads together” to replace the criminal burden of proof in disciplinary proceedings involving solicitors and barristers with the civil standard, the chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said.