Suspension for solicitor convicted of ABH against ex-boyfriend – Legal Futures

Posted July 27th, 2018 in assault, disciplinary procedures, news, solicitors by sally

‘A family law solicitor convicted of actual bodily harm after she hit her former boyfriend in the face with a glass has been suspended from practice for 15 months.’

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Legal Futures, 27th July 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Criminal solicitors in England and Wales challenge cut to fees – The Guardian

Posted July 18th, 2018 in criminal justice, fees, news, solicitors by sally

‘Criminal solicitors have had their fees for reading large quantities of crown court evidence cut by up to 37% under changes imposed by the Ministry of Justice, the high court has heard.’

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The Guardian, 17th July 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Five lawyers including two solicitors appointed High Court judges – Local Government Lawyer

Posted July 10th, 2018 in appeals, judiciary, news, solicitors by sally

‘Five new High Court judges have been approved this week following elevations to the Court of Appeal and confirmed retirements.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 9th July 2018

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Solicitors are now “dairy farmers” of PI market as numbers fall – Legal Futures

‘The number of law firms specialising in personal injury (PI) work has fallen by 10% over the past two years, it has been revealed, with one leading practitioner describing solicitors now as the “dairy farmers” of the market due to their declining influence.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd July 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court asks Attorney General to end solicitor’s vexatious litigation – Legal Futures

Posted July 2nd, 2018 in disciplinary procedures, news, solicitors, vexatious litigants by sally

‘The Attorney General is to be asked to put a permanent stop to years of vexatious litigation pursued by a struck-off solicitor against the Law Society, Bar Council, senior judges and many others.’

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Legal Futures, 29th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court in tangle after law firm ‘whistleblower’ sends it privileged material – Legal Futures

Posted June 27th, 2018 in divorce, law firms, news, privilege, solicitors, whistleblowers by sally

‘The president of the Family Division is to be asked what the court should do in the highly unusual case of a ‘whistleblower’ from the solicitors of one party to a divorce sending it legally privileged information.’

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Legal Futures, 27th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Solicitor unable to cope struck off for backdating letters “to buy time” – Legal Futures

Posted June 25th, 2018 in disciplinary procedures, news, solicitors by sally

‘A young personal injury solicitor who dishonestly backdated 23 documents to conceal inactivity as she struggled to keep on top of her workload, has been struck off.’

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Legal Futures, 25th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Indemnity insurance reforms not worth the risk, cautions ABI – Legal Futures

Posted June 25th, 2018 in indemnities, insurance, news, solicitors by sally

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is wrong to assume that premiums will fall as a result of its professional indemnity insurance (PII) reforms, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned.’

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Legal Futures, 25th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Court of Appeal cracks down on misconduct in detailed assessment in “watershed ruling” – Litigation Futures

Posted June 22nd, 2018 in civil procedure rules, costs, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has handed down what one of the lawyers involved has described as a “watershed” ruling on the conduct of detailed assessment proceedings, which saw a successful claimant lose half of her profit costs for claiming a higher hourly rate than she was entitled to.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd June 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Profession keeps on growing as women form the majority – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 20th, 2018 in news, solicitors, statistics, women by sally

‘Ninety-five years after the profession admitted Carrie Morrison, women have overtaken men as a majority of practising solicitors. That is the stand-out finding of the Law Society Annual Statistics Report, which continues to track a trend of long-term and bullish growth.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 18th June 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Legal professional privilege under attack again (even Donald Trump thinks so!) – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted June 19th, 2018 in legal profession, news, privilege, solicitors by sally

‘On 10 April 2018, President Donald Trump tweeted “Attorney-client privilege is dead!” This was not the President’s deep analysis of the state of legal professional privilege (LLP) but a reaction to the raid on the offices of one of his former lawyers and the seizing of a quantity of documentation.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 25th May 2018

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

SCCO refuses latest bid for solicitor’s file as appeal looms – Litigation Futures

Posted June 19th, 2018 in appeals, costs, documents, law firms, news, personal injuries, solicitors by sally

‘The Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) has again rejected a bid by a personal injury client for access to their former law firm’s file.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th June 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Divorce beauty parades: genuine market research or litigation manoeuvring? – Family Law

Posted June 19th, 2018 in conflict of interest, divorce, law firms, news, privilege, solicitors by sally

‘This article considers the decision in ZS v FS [2017] EWHC 2660 (Fam), in which a husband failed in his application to prevent his ex-wife’s solicitor from acting.’

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Family Law, 18th June 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Dreamvar – where do we go from here? – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted June 18th, 2018 in breach of trust, identity fraud, negligence, news, sale of land, solicitors by sally

‘Who bears the loss when a purchaser agrees to buy a property which isn’t the seller’s to sell? In recent years the courts have had to grapple with the problem caused by “identity fraud”, where a fraudster masquerades as the owner of property, “sells” it to the unsuspecting victim, and then absconds with the money.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 30th June 2018

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

CoA awards £60k damages against ‘unscrupulous’ fake firm fraudsters – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 18th, 2018 in damages, fraud, law firms, misrepresentation, news, solicitors by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has ruled that an insurance company is entitled to exemplary damages against fraudsters whose conduct was described as ‘outrageous’.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 15th June 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Jail for solicitor who forged documents and stole £800,000 of client money – Legal Futures

Posted June 11th, 2018 in courts, forgery, money laundering, news, sentencing, solicitors by sally

‘A dishonest solicitor who forged documents and stole clients’ mortgage payments after taking the reins of a law firm has been jailed for seven years and six months.’

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Legal Futures, 11th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Sanctions for solicitor who posted offensive comments on Facebook and barrister who got clerk to lie – Legal Futures

Posted June 11th, 2018 in barristers, disciplinary procedures, news, solicitors by sally

‘A solicitor who made offensive remarks in a private Facebook group has been rebuked and fined, while other unusual disciplinary decisions announced yesterday included a suspension for a barrister who got her clerk to lie about her availability for a hearing.’

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Legal Futures, 8th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Solicitor who attributed false legal aid claims to depression struck off – Legal Futures

Posted June 4th, 2018 in disciplinary procedures, fees, legal aid, news, solicitors by sally

‘A criminal defence solicitor has been struck off for dishonestly claiming £7,000 from the legal aid fund and falsifying documents to cover up his mistakes in double-booking advocates – at a time when he said he was suffering from severe depression which led him to drink and take un-prescribed drugs.’

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Legal Futures, 4th June 2018

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Not guilty, but probably dishonest – New Law Journal

Posted June 1st, 2018 in disciplinary procedures, news, solicitors, standard of proof, tribunals by sally

‘John Gould puts disciplinary procedures & the standard of proof required by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal under the spotlight.’

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New Law Journal, 1st June 2018

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Master takes axe to phone-hacking claimants’ partner-heavy costs budgets – Litigation Futures

Posted June 1st, 2018 in budgets, costs, interception, news, proportionality, solicitors by sally

‘The High Court has criticised a law firm’s “very heavy reliance on partner time”, and the “astonishing” amount of time junior counsel was planning to spend in preparing for trial, as it slashed by more than half many of their budgeted costs for representing two claimants in the phone hacking litigation against Mirror Group Newspapers.’

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Litigation Futures, 30th May 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com