CILEX (the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives), which is recognised under the Legal Services Act 2007 as the front line regulator for legal executives is looking to switch regulators. Currently ‘specialist’ CILEx lawyers, legal executives and paralegals are regulated by CILEx Regulation (CRL), the separate regulatory arm that was established as a result of the…
The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales held a webinar on Anti-Money Laundering and how to conduct a risk assessment
The Solicitors Regulation Authority held an Anti-Money Laundering Webinar covering: risk assessment areas firms are getting wrong good practice in other law firms from our latest round of AML visits how to get your firm-wide risk assessments right and make it the backbone of your AML controls. The webinar is now available to watch online…
The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales has appointed a team of researchers to examine why ethnic minority solicitors are overrepresented in enforcement processes
The SRA has appointed a research team to help it better understand why there is an overrepresentation of those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in reports made to it and subsequently its enforcement proceedings. Experts from a consortium from the universities of York, Cardiff and Lancaster, have come together to carry out the…
The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales outlines new online threats in Risk Outlook Report
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new Risk Outlook report shows that email remains a significant vulnerability for law firms, involved in more than four out of five of all reported cybercrime incidents. The report outlines new threats as criminals look to exploit new technology. It shows that 83 per cent of cybercrimes reported in 2021 involved email…
Check My Legal Fees wins informed consent court case against Slater & Gordon
Solicitor/own client claims entity Check My Legal Fees (CMLF) has won its case against Slater & Gordon, opening the door to millions of former personal injury firm clients to recover deductions. Mr Justice Ritchie ruled that Slater & Gordon had to make significant disclosures to CMLF, including of the phone calls in which it signed…
Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales publishes first ethnicity pay gap report
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published its first ethnicity pay gap report. The ethnicity pay gap shows the difference between the mean or median hourly pay received by White staff and staff from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background, employed at the regulator. Around nine out of ten staff disclosed their ethnicity, with 66…
The Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation has released a supplementary report on consumer harm and legal services
The catalyst for the Review was the market study carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority in 2016. The CMA concluded that the legal sector was not serving the consumer well. This supplementary report fills in some of the gaps left by the final report. Chiefly, the final report assumes the nature of consumer…
Solicitors’ rights of audience, competence and regulation: a responsibility rights approach
Ching, Jane. “Solicitors’ rights of audience, competence and regulation: a responsibility rights approach.” Legal Studies 41.4 (2021): 585-602. This paper takes as its context the decision of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales to abandon before the event regulation of lower court trial advocacy. Although solicitors will continue to acquire rights of audience on qualification,…
Agency over technocracy: how lawyer archetypes infect regulatory approaches: the FCA example
Clark, Trevor, et al. “Agency over technocracy: how lawyer archetypes infect regulatory approaches: the FCA example.” Legal Ethics (2022): 1-20. In this article, we look at the contested role of in-house lawyers in regulated organisations in the financial sector. A recent Financial Conduct Authority consultation on whether to designate the head of legal of banks, insurance companies…
The Legal Services Board of England and Wales publishes statement for regulators to empower legal services consumers
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published a statutory statement of policy on empowering consumers to better access information about the service and quality of legal services providers. Developed following a consultation and engagement with legal services regulators and others across the sector, the statement outlines how the regulators should ensure that individuals and small businesses who…