Tag Results
Most firms in multiple breach of the Solicitors Code of Conduct, says SRA research
Thursday, 1 March 2012The vast majority of law firms are non-compliant with the Solicitors Code of Conduct, research by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has found. Most of the 200 firms assessed had four or five incidences of non-compliance.
Tags: Client care, compliance, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Client care, Latest news, Solicitors
Tea and sympathy for the SRA?
Monday, 27 February 2012Hands up who feels sorry for the SRA. You at the back? Anyone? Just a smidgen of sympathy? I thought not – that certainly reflects what I hear from solicitors as I go out and about. The possibility of finding practitioners who might have been minded to give their regulator the benefit of the doubt has been extinguished by the practising certificate renewal fiasco. The Law Society has a long history of mucking up IT projects.
Tags: Law Society, practising certificate, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
SRA set to delay COLP and COFA deadline
Monday, 27 February 2012The 31 March deadline for law firms to nominate their new compliance officers is to be pushed back as a result of the continuing practising certificate renewal problems at the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Tags: COFA, COLP, compliance officer for finance and administration, compliance officer for legal practice, internal governance rules, Law Society, Legal Services Board, practising certificate, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Solicitor receives suspended sentence for failure to co-operate with Legal Ombudsman
Friday, 24 February 2012The High Court has handed a suspended four-month sentence to a solicitor who failed to co-operate with an investigation by the Legal Ombudsman. The judge only held back from committing him to prison because of his personal mitigation.
Tags: Legal Ombudsman, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Legal Ombudsman, Solicitors
Struck-off lawyer jailed for £8m mortgage fraud
Friday, 24 February 2012A former registered foreign lawyer at the helm of a criminal gang that defrauded high street banks out of almost £8m by taking out mortgages on properties they did not own was jailed for seven years last week.
Tags: mortgage fraud, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
SRA rejects calls to curb publication of regulatory decisions against solicitors
Wednesday, 22 February 2012The Solicitors Regulation Authority has rejected calls from the Law Society and practitioners to curb the amount of information it publishes about solicitors subject to regulatory sanctions – despite particular concern over referrals to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Tags: Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Divisions over advocacy scheme harden as regulators face battle to keep it alive
Monday, 20 February 2012Divisions over quality assurance for advocates have deepened after solicitors were advised not to take part in a Bar Standards Board survey on the issue, while specialist Bar associations have been urged to oppose QASA as well.
Tags: advocacy, bar standards board, ILEX Professional Standards, Legal Services Board, QASA, Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Barristers, Latest news, Legal Executives, Solicitors
Conveyancing regulator warns HSBC and other lenders about restricted panels
Friday, 17 February 2012The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has waded into the row over HSBC’s 43-strong conveyancing panel, expressing concern that “the limited size panel risks inadvertently restricting consumer choice and distorting competition in the conveyancing market”.
Tags: conveyancing, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, licensed conveyancers, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Other lawyers
SRA warns solicitors off SDLT evasion schemes
Friday, 17 February 2012The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued a formal warning to lawyers to think twice before becoming involved in stamp duty land tax schemes. It will look “very closely” at the conduct of any firm actively involved in such schemes,
Tags: Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Quality scheme risks independence of advocates, leading judge warns
Tuesday, 14 February 2012The proposed Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates threatens the independence of advocates, a senior judge claimed yesterday. Lord Justice Moses argued that quality of advocacy is best assured through compulsory training and more active reporting of poor advocates by judges.
Tags: bar standards board, ILEX Professional Standards, Legal Services Board, QASA, Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Barristers, Latest news, Legal Executives, Solicitors