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A direct access barrister has received his fifth suspension – for working during one of his previous suspensions. It comes as two barristers are disbarred after being jailed for fraud and the Solicitors Regulation Authority supports move to reduce the standard of proof at Bar disciplinary tribunals.

A ‘virtual’ chambers that supports direct access work has set up an alternative business structure, as has a niche financial services chambers, which become the second and third to be regulated by the Bar Standards Board. It licensed its first ABS, a collaboration between a London chambers and football agents, earlier this month.

A high-profile family law sole practitioner solicitor has acquired a Bar Standards Board-regulated entity because the no-frills regulation it offered was, she said, an “easy fit” for her low-risk practice. Oxford-based Alexandra Lewis Family Law Limited received BSB authorisation at the end of last month.

An unregistered barrister has been fined £1,000 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal for falsely describing himself as a solicitor and appearing in court when he did not have the right to do so. Another non-practising barrister has been disbarred, meanwhile, for stealing from her law firm employer’s petty cash and her colleagues’ handbags.

A prominent solicitor-turned-barrister specialising in insurance litigation has set up a chambers under the oversight of the Bar Standards Board, which eventually will offer litigation in addition to advocacy. Stephen Hines is also the vice-chairman of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.