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20.10.17
Solicitors Regulation Authority revisits Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal costs order
In 2010 Richard Brickley was suspended from pratice by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (‘SDT’) for three months following breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Rules. Mr Brickley was also ordered to pay the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s costs for their investigation and subsequent application to the Tribunal, amounting to just over £24,000. Enforcement of the costs order…
Read more12.10.17
SRA investigation: Leigh Day’s Firing Squad draws a blank
Over two months after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal cleared Leigh Day’s Martin Day, Sapna Malik and Anna Crowther of all 21 disciplinary offences, their 214 page judgment has finally been published. In essence, these three solicitors stood accused of pursuing their ‘al-Sweady’ claims on the basis that their Iraqi clients were innocent civilians whilst at the…
Read more12.09.17
Think before emailing or posting on social media, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) warns solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a guidance note to solicitors covering their communications following an increase in the number of complaints regarding inappropriate communications both in email and on social media. Examples of the nature and content of complaints received (and which have been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal) include making offensive…
Read more6.07.17
SRA U-turn on compulsory price publication
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has changed its mind on whether to lend support to the proposal for solicitors’ firms to publish their charging rates and prices online. A report on the legal services market prepared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in December last year found that individuals struggled to make informed choices…
Read more1.07.17
Solicitor sanctioned by SRA for misleading client
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (‘SRA’) have reached a Regulatory Settlement Agreement with a solicitor who erroneously lead a client to believe that court proceedings had been issued in their matter. John Mitton, a former director of PG Legal Limited, was instructed by an unnamed client in relation to an employment dispute with a recruitment agency…
Read more11.06.17
Justice ‘on the cheap’ could land solicitors in the dock
In April 2017, many hundreds of criminal legal aid practitioners signed up to the new Crime Legal Aid Contract. On 1 June 2017, a Law Society Practice Note clarified that these firms may refuse any contract work (save for duty solicitor matters) if taking it on would threaten the viability of the firm, or is…
Read more6.05.17
Leigh Day's Iraq conduct in the firing line.
Three human rights lawyers from firm Leigh Day have appeared before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) accused of knowingly bringing false claims that British troops ‘mutilated, tortured and killed’ Iraqi civilians. Opening submissions from the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) provide some very interesting insights. The al-Sweady inquiry, named after a 19-year-old Iraqi killed by British…
Read more3.02.17
SDT rejects misconduct charge against solicitor who recommended surveillance of opponent lawyers
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has found that Farrer & Co Solicitor Julian Pike did not commit professional conduct when he advised his client News International to arrange the surveillance of two lawyers acting for victims of phone-hacking (understood to be Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris). At the time Mr Harris was defending phone-hacking claims for his…
Read more22.12.16
High-Yield Investment Scheme Warning for Solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (‘SRA’) have reiterated their warning that firms should not become involved in the running of High-Yield Investment Schemes. The notice follows five matters heard before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (‘SDT’) since October 2016. One of the most recent cases is that of Mr Mandeep Dhariwal, an equity partner of Lawcommercial Trading…
Read more26.09.16
Struck off 'Harry Potter' solicitor fails in his bid for a rehearing
Alan Blacker, the colourful solicitor-advocate who was struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) in July following a two-day hearing (which he did not attend), has failed in his bid for a rehearing and ordered to pay a further £7,500 in costs. Mr Blacker, who uses the title Lord Harley of Counsel, initially faced eight…
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