Private Client


Solicitor used LPA to steal cash from vulnerable client

3 June 2024

A solicitor who stole cash from a vulnerable client using her debit card while acting under a lasting power of attorney has been struck off.


Neill urges Probate Service to share more data with lawyers

31 May 2024

The Probate Service needs to share more data about its performance so that lawyers can manage client expectations, the outgoing chair of the justice select committee has said.


Use of solicitors for wills falls but firms get better at cross-selling

23 May 2024

The proportion of people using a solicitor for their will has continued to fall and is now down to 50%, five percentage points lower than in 2019, a report has found.


“We bit off more than we could chew” with court reforms, minister admits

22 May 2024

Justice minister Mike Freer has admitted to MPs that the government “bit off more than we could chew” with its £1.3bn court modernisation programme.


Big fine for firm that failed to replace client money wrongly paid out

21 May 2024

A Norwich law firm has been fined £121,000 for failing for eight years to replace client money which it had wrongly paid out to beneficiaries of an estate.


Digitising probate without new rules “an expensive mistake”

1 May 2024

Digitising the Probate Service without modernising the rules was “an expensive mistake”, a senior solicitor has told MPs investigating delays in the service.


Probate manager jailed after stealing £634k from two law firms

29 April 2024

A probate manager who took £634,000 from estates while working at two law firms has been jailed for four years after pleading guilty to charges of fraud by abuse of position and money laundering.


Probate delays “have made clients suicidal”, MPs told

18 April 2024

Probate delays have left some clients feeling suicidal because they are running out of money, the head of a leading probate provider has told MPs on the justice select committee.


Law firm £1.3m negligence saga “does not reflect well on profession”

28 March 2024

A City law firm has failed to strike out a £1.3m negligence claim arising from a discretionary trust it set up for a man described by a High Court judge as “serially let down” by the profession.


Probate delays putting law firms in clients’ firing line

15 March 2024

Law firms are suffering a backlash from clients, and increasing unbillable time, as a result of the continuing delays at the Probate Service, the Law Society has said.


MoJ mandarin refuses to say if criminal lawyers will get “the full 15%”

6 March 2024

The top official at the Ministry of Justice has refused to say whether criminal law solicitors will get their recommended 15% pay rise, in heated exchanges before the justice select committee.


Solicitor struck off over LPA signature short-cuts

27 February 2024

A solicitor who submitted two lasting powers of attorney to the Office of the Public Guardian showing she had witnessed the donor’s signatures – when she had not – has been struck off.


Value of legal services market “to hit £50bn” this year

21 February 2024

The legal services market will continue to grow in 2024, hitting a turnover of £50bn with a “resilient” corporate law sector boosted by “stronger economic conditions” later in the year.


Wills group looks to buy “a dozen law firms a year” after PE boost

7 February 2024

The Right Legal Group, a wills and probate specialist, has secured private equity funding to buy at least “a dozen law firms a year”, it has emerged.


Government brings video-witnessing of wills to an end

6 February 2024

The pandemic measure to allow video witnessing of wills came to an end last week, after the government decided not to extend it beyond 31 January.

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Blog


Keeping the conversation going beyond Pride Month

As I reflect on all the celebrations of Pride Month 2024, I ask myself why there remains hesitancy amongst LGBTQ+ staff members about when it comes to being open about their identity in the workplace.


Third-party managed accounts: Your key questions answered

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has given strong indications that it is headed towards greater restrictions on law firms when it comes to handling client money.


Understanding vicarious trauma in the legal workplace

Vicarious trauma can happen to anyone who works with clients who have experienced trauma such as domestic or other violence, child abuse, sexual assault, torture or being a refugee.