A round-up of the week’s news

14 March

Shares in Burford Capital climbed by nearly 5% in early trading after the listed litigation funder posted ‘record’ full-year results for calendar 2023. Net income attributable to shareholders climbed 1,901% on 2022, to $610.5m (£477m).

Novum Law, a claims firm with seven offices across the south-west, has been acquired by national practice Simpson Millar. It is not yet known what plans are in place for the staff and offices of Novum, a serious injury specialist. Novum Law’s website states that the firm is now a trading style of Simpson Millar.

13 March

Cancer Research UK, the largest independent funder of cancer research in Europe, has been unable to invest in dozens of projects this year because of probate delays, MPs heard. The Commons justice select committee took evidence from charities on the financial impact of delays during the first session of its probate inquiry.

 

The jury was discharged in the trial of a man who allegedly threatened to kill an immigration solicitor at Harrow firm Duncan Lewis. Cavan Medlock, 31, denied preparation of terrorist acts and making a threat to kill at the firm in September 2020.

12 March

Artificial intelligence may affect the foundational principles of common law as it transforms its practice, the master of the rolls said. In perhaps his most upbeat assessment of the technology yet, Sir Geoffrey Vos told Manchester Law Society that AI may affect the principles of specialisms ranging from company and insolvency law, to contract and tort ‘and even criminal law’.

A former solicitor’s appeal against strike-off following his exposure in a journalistic sting was totally without merit, the High Court ruled. In Sheikh Asif Salam v Solicitors Regulation Authority, Mr Justice Calver found that the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was correct to find that Cheshire sole practitioner Sheikh Asif Salam had been caught ‘red-handed’ offering to assist in falsifying evidence in an immigration case.

11 March

In-house solicitors unsure what to do if they suspect their employer is acting improperly will benefit from new guidance unveiled by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The regulator is seeking views on draft guidance covering the issues of identifying clients when working in-house, reporting concerns about wrongdoing and running internal investigations. 

 

A national education charity has teamed up with the Law Society and London firm Mishcon de Reya for a campaign to introduce lessons on the law in schools across England and Wales. The annual Big Legal Lesson, launched by charity Young Citizens, provides free teaching resources, including lesson plans.

 

The SRA is facing a £189,000 costs bill after its prosecution of Dentons over alleged anti-money laundering breaches effectively failed. 

8 March

Clarke

Sir Jonathan Clarke (pictured), president of the Law Society in 1980/81 and one of the first solicitor advocates to be appointed a recorder of the Crown court, has died at the age of 94. After leading the campaign to change the law to allow solicitors to become judges, Clarke was appointed a circuit judge in 1983.

Teesside University Law Clinic has been given permission to attend and work with litigants in person at Middlesbrough Family Court – an initiative believed to be the only one of its kind in northern England. Advisers will offer emotional support and procedural guidance to unrepresented people in private family law cases.

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