Integrity is ‘more than mere honesty’ CoA tells solicitors – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Dishonesty and lack of integrity cannot be treated as synonymous for the purposes of assessing a solicitor’s conduct, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 8th March 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Information Commissioner upholds MoJ refusal to disclose Leigh Day emails – Legal Futures

Posted March 6th, 2018 in costs, data protection, disclosure, documents, electronic mail, law firms, news by sally

‘Disclosing documents relating to disciplinary proceedings against Leigh Day for its handling of Iraq war claims would involve a manual search of 5,000 documents and cost over £10,000, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has argued.’

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Legal Futures, 6th March 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

New disclosure regime “set to cause problems” for professional negligence claims – Litigation Futures

‘Professional negligence claims will become harder to handle under the new approach to disclosure which will be piloted later this year in the Business & Property Courts, particularly for defendants, a barrister has warned.’

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Litigation Futures, 5th March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Supreme Court urges rule committee to clarify status of law firm LLP acting for itself – Litigation Futures

‘The rule committee should look at clarifying whether a law firm LLP which acts for itself in legal proceedings is a litigant in person for the purposes of the CPR, the Supreme Court has said.’

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Litigation Futures, 1st March 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Shiner given extended bankruptcy order after trying to give away £500,000 – Legal Futures

Posted February 27th, 2018 in bankruptcy, disqualification, gifts, law firms, news, professional conduct, solicitors by tracey

‘Struck-off solicitor Phil Shiner has had his bankruptcy extended by five years after he gifted away nearly £500,000 worth of assets to family members before declaring himself bankrupt and was unable to pay £6.5m back to his creditors.’

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Legal Futures, 26th February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Law firm was negligent in property purchase but clients would have gone ahead anyway, court rules – Legal Futures

Posted February 23rd, 2018 in law firms, mortgages, negligence, news, valuation by tracey

‘A Kent law firm was negligent for failing to advise properly on a mortgage and valuation report (MVR), but this did not cause a couple in Canterbury to buy a house suffering from subsidence, a circuit judge has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd February 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Costs judge calls for “authoritative guidance” on applications by former clients for their files – Litigation Futures

‘Authoritative guidance on whether clients can demand their full files from previous solicitors would help the Senior Courts Costs Office deal with the large number of applications it is facing, a costs judge has said.’

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Litigation Futures, 2nd February 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Rebuke for law firm that paid £215,000 for referrals from unauthorised CMC – Legal Futures

Posted January 31st, 2018 in claims management, fees, law firms, news, personal injuries by sally

‘A north-west law firm has been rebuked after paying more than £200,000 to an unauthorised claims management company for personal injury (PI) referrals.’

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Legal Futures, 31st January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Shattering the training myth – New Law Journal

Posted January 30th, 2018 in continuing professional development, law firms, legal education, news by sally

‘Melissa Hardee explains why training shouldn’t just be for trainers & trainees.’

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New Law Journal, 26th January 2018

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Court of Appeal allows ‘whistleblowing’ managing partner to sue former firm for £3.4m – Legal Futures

Posted January 29th, 2018 in appeals, constructive dismissal, law firms, news, solicitors, whistleblowers by sally

‘The ex-managing partner of a well-known law firm has won the right to sue his former firm for £3.4m under whistleblowing law.’

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Legal Futures, 29th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge dismisses disclosure bids ahead of £126m credit hire trial – Law Society Gazette

Posted January 16th, 2018 in claims management, consumer credit, disclosure, documents, law firms, news, privilege by tracey

‘The High Court has refused both sides permission to inspect other parties’ documents ahead of a high profile £126m civil case over inflated credit hire charges.’

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Law Society Gazette, 16th January 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Exclusive: Solicitors choose “practical and proportionate” BSB regulation in ABS first – Legal Futures

‘Solicitors setting up an alternative business structure (ABS) this month in Marlborough, Wiltshire, have chosen to be regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB).’

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Legal Futures, 12th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

2018 and beyond: Our legal futures… – Legal Futures

Posted January 9th, 2018 in law firms, legal profession, legal services, news, solicitors by sally

‘It’s that time of year again. Thinking about what’s gone before us and planning for the future – looking at what we do, how we do it, and more importantly, who we do it for.’

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Legal Futures, 9th January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Judge intervenes to stem ‘flood’ of costs challenges – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted January 5th, 2018 in costs, damages, law firms, news by tracey

‘The High Court has issued a second judgment in quick succession around file disclosure in a bid to stem the flow of satellite litigation against law firms.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 4th January 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Leading employment law provider unfairly dismissed senior employee, tribunal finds – Legal Futures

‘The leading unregulated provider of employment law services unfairly dismissed a senior employee, an employment tribunal has found.’

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Legal Futures, 3rd January 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court of Appeal dismisses challenge to finding that law firm made dishonest costs claims – The Guardian

Posted December 19th, 2017 in appeals, costs, fraud, insurance, law firms, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has rejected a Leeds law firm’s challenge to a ruling that it submitted a series of dishonest costs claims.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th December 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Appeal court rejects convicted VAT fraudster’s claim that solicitor forced her to drop appeal – Legal Futures

Posted December 19th, 2017 in appeals, fraud, law firms, news, solicitors, tax evasion, VAT by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has rejected the arguments of a convicted VAT fraudster that her former solicitors pressured her to drop an appeal that included a claim that they represented her badly and helped land her in jail.’

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Legal Futures, 19th December 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA ponders penalties for failure to publish complaints data – Law Society’s Gazette

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority has indicated that firms are to face disciplinary action if they do not abide by a potential requirement to publish data about complaints they receive – as research reveals that more than 90% of consumers want to see more transparency.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 14th December 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Tax firm negligent for not warning about risks of avoidance scheme – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted December 13th, 2017 in law firms, negligence, news, tax avoidance by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has ruled that a law firm was negligent in not giving its client any specific warning about the pitfalls of a tax avoidance scheme.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 12th December 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Court of Appeal finds firm negligent for failing to warn over risk of tax avoidance scheme – Legal Futures

Posted December 12th, 2017 in appeals, law firms, negligence, news, solicitors, tax avoidance by sally

‘A firm of solicitors should have warned a client of the significant risk that a tax avoidance scheme would not withstand a challenge from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Legal Futures, 12th December 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk