header-logo header-logo

22 October 2020 / John Gould
Issue: 7907 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Regulatory , Profession
printer mail-detail

NLJ this week: Lawyers behaving badly—misconduct outside of the office

If my wife were a solicitor and she had murdered me during lockdown, and if (notwithstanding the many defences available to defence counsel) she had been convicted, I expect she would be struck off. That’s obvious, but is it right?
Would it make any difference if the murderer was one of the saintly and long-suffering associates with whom I work? Suppose the murder was by defenestration from a penthouse during a purely social event?

John Gould considers what is meant by professional misconduct where allegations relate to ‘outside conduct’ in this week’s NLJ.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Paula Myers to private capital team in Leeds

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

Law firm mfg Solicitors announces five promotions at Birmingham office

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners adds six to partnership in record year for partner promotions

NEWS
Calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 have been renewed, with the Bar Council arguing the current threshold criminalises children too early and risks pushing them towards lifelong offending
The legal profession's AI challenge extends far beyond fabricated case citations, according to a warning about the next phase of technological risk
Law firms should use the transition period before the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumes anti-money laundering (AML) supervision to strengthen governance and compliance, experts have warned
Cross-border disputes increasingly demand creative approaches to gathering evidence, with litigators needing to look beyond traditional letters of request
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified the distinction between contracts of 'indefinite' and 'perpetual' duration, with potentially significant implications for commercial drafting
back-to-top-scroll