Legal Futures

2 days ago | legalfutures.co.uk | Nick Hilborne

A veteran barrister has been disbarred after a “prolonged period of incompetence” during which he operated from chambers condemned by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) as “disorganised and chaotic” as long ago as 2016. A Bar disciplinary tribunal said that by 2019 it was clear that John McLanachan was “struggling to cope” and “out of his depth when it came to immigration cases”.

3 days ago | legalfutures.co.uk | Nick Hilborne

Solicitors should advise clients in property transactions on the potential liability they face from “climate risks”, the Law Society has said. They should also explain to clients that one way to find out about climate risks was to commission a climate risk search and they should record the client’s decision on this. The society said the practice note on climate change and property transactions launched this week built on the climate change guidance it issued in 2023.

3 days ago | legalfutures.co.uk | Nick Hilborne

The proportion of smaller law firms considering merger or acquisition as a growth strategy has halved in a year to just one in 20, with a shift in focus to organic growth, according to new research. This is against a background of more lawyers describing their firm as ‘growing’ over the recent years – now 58% – the highest proportion since 2021. A further 30% said they were stable and only 5% ‘declining’.

4 days ago | legalfutures.co.uk | Nick Hilborne

The Court of Appeal has refused to hear an appeal from man sentenced to eight years in prison for stalking a judge. The appeal judges said the sentence took into account the fact that Javed Sheikh had spent eight months in prison between March and November 2022 for contempt of court – a sentence imposed by the civil courts.

1 week ago | legalfutures.co.uk | Neil Rose

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is not improving its performance with “sufficient urgency or pace”, the oversight regulator has concluded. As a result, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has decided to escalate its informal enforcement action against the BSB, beyond the current requirement of voluntary assurance letters and meetings. It has invited the BSB to agree voluntary undertakings on performance targets and monitoring for implementation of its reform programme.