Dominic Raab intervened to increase legal watchdog’s fining powers June 15, 2022 Justice secretary Dominic Raab personally intervened to push forward plans to increase the solicitor’s watchdog’s fining powers, after MPs called for a toughening up of the regulator, to deter law firms from working for oligarchs. The Deputy Prime Minister “sought the views” of the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and Legal Services Board, whilst [...]
Ex-Clyde & Co partner ‘rebuked’ after putting arm around female colleague at a strip club May 25, 2022 An ex-Clyde & Co lawyer has been “rebuked” by the solicitors’ watchdog for putting his arm around a female trainee solicitor at a strip club. The former personal injury lawyer, who was fired from the City law firm in 2018, was also told to pay £600 to the solicitors’ watchdog to cover the costs of [...]
SRA to increase fining powers after pushing forwards with plans for £25,000 penalties May 24, 2022 The UK’s solicitor’s watchdog is set to increase its fining powers 12 and half times over, by upping its maximum fining threshold to £25,000. The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) said it is pushing forwards with plans to increase its maximum fines from £2,000 to £25,000, after the plans came under fire from law firms. The [...]
Russian oligarch’s libel lawsuit against Bellingcat founder thrown out of court May 19, 2022 A libel lawsuit brought forward by a sanctioned Russian oligarch against the founder of investigative news site Bellingcat has been thrown out of court. A High Court judge dismissed Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s lawsuit against Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins, due to the oligarch’s “repeated failure to comply with simple court orders,” following his lawyers exit from the [...]
Ex-Magic Circle lawyer who injected food with blood found not guilty by reason of insanity May 8, 2022 A London lawyer, who caused £500,000 worth of damage by injecting his own blood into food in supermarkets, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Leoaai Elghareeb, 37, was found not guilty, after he entered three supermarkets – Sainsbury’s Local, Tesco Express, and Little Waitrose – on Fulham Palace Road carrying a bucketful [...]
‘I made the decision that I would face prison’ – jailed solicitor Sophie Khan tells all in exclusive interview with City A.M. May 3, 2022 At the start of this year, human rights lawyer Sophie Khan was jailed, after refusing to hand over documents to the independent watchdog that regulates solicitors. A High Court judge sentenced the solicitor to six months in prison, for refusing to comply with two separate court orders calling on her to give over clients’ files. [...]
Ex-Irwin Mitchell lawyer jailed for researching defendant while serving on jury May 3, 2022 An ex-Irwin Mitchell solicitor has been jailed for causing the collapse of an historic child abuse trial after she admitted researching the defendant online whilst serving on the jury. Veteran lawyer Caroline Elizabeth Mitchell was sentenced to two months in prison after pleading guilty to telling fellow jury members about research she had done online, [...]
Top media litigator backs ‘naming and shaming’ oligarchs’ lawyers April 27, 2022 Naming and shaming lawyers who work for oligarchs is probably a more effective way of tackling lawfare than anything regulators are likely to do, a top media lawyer has said. Media litigator Adelaide Lopez said the “current PR campaign” against oligarch’s lawyers will likely have a more “powerful impact” than “anything the Solicitors Regulation Authority [...]
MoJ puts out ‘urgent call’ for evidence from victims of legal threats and libel lawfare March 23, 2022 The UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has put out an “urgent call” for evidence of large firms and wealthy individuals using lawsuits to silence criticism. The call comes after the government vowed to crack down on those using legal threats to silence the press and “stifle legitimate criticism”. In a statement, justice secretary Dominic Raab [...]
UK solicitors watchdog says it will not tell law firms to drop Russian clients March 18, 2022 The UK solicitors’ watchdog has said it will not tell law firms to drop Russian clients. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said its “general position is that firms can choose who they act for,” as it said the issue is “highly unlikely to be a regulatory matter.” “The current situation with the conflict in Ukraine [...]