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SDLT risks and how to solve them

Amid a recent drastic increase in property transactions and in light of increased claims in this area, we asked SDLT Compass, expert advisers on the subject, to highlight the key risks of SDLT and how best conveyancers can handle these.

Putting your best foot forward in a challenging insurance market

In the past twelve months, we have seen the pressures on firms continue to grow amid furloughs, lockdowns, and the stamp duty holiday. Disruption, staff shortages and mounting workloads are factors that can lead to the breakdown of some of your usual risk management processes, and this raises concerns for underwriters.

Summary of Harcus Sinclair LLP v Your Lawyers : What you need to know about solicitors’ undertakings

A solicitor, as an officer of the Court, is subject to the Court’s inherent jurisdiction. As such, a solicitor can be summarily compelled to comply with an undertaking which they have given. Failure to make good a solicitors’ undertaking may be regarded as misconduct.

Comprehensive guide to cyber insurance

We live in an increasingly interconnected world where reliance on technology has become routine. The digitalisation of business has created huge opportunities and led to increased efficiency and growth, but with that rise has come an urgent need for more diligent focus on cyber-security.

Briefing Note on Undertakings Harcus Sinclair LLP v Your Lawyers Ltd

An undertaking is an agreement by a solicitor to do something, or not do something, that is relied upon by a third party. It may be given in writing, or orally and even unintentionally. Any failure to comply with an undertaking is serious business. The undertaking may be summarily enforced by the Court by exercising its longstanding supervisory jurisdiction over solicitors and regulatory sanction may also follow.

De-risking your firm's finance function

What is run-off cover?

Run-off is the insurance cover provided under certain policies when your practice ceases, whether voluntarily, as a result of retirement, merger or involuntarily, through insolvency or due to another closure event.

COVID-19 and the ongoing impact on residential property transactions

Back in October 2020, we reported on the trends shown by the England and Welsh property market during and after the first national lockdown. Since then, we have experienced a second lockdown (in November 2020), and are now slowly emerging from a third. To produce this update, we have utilised the next two quarters of residential property purchase data filtered by date of completion from the Land Registry, which now shows us the full results for 2020.

Solicitors Season Review - Reflection on the latest renewals season

The hardening insurance market conditions continued for the spring renewal period with rates continuing to rise. October 2020 was tough, but the conditions that practices experienced leading up to British springtime 2021 were even tougher and I suspect much harder than anyone in the broker community had predicted. Insurers’ appetites were suppressed and as we got closer to the 1st April renewal date, market conditions became progressively more challenging.

How long does it take for a mistake to be discovered?

The time it takes to discover a mistake, error or negligent act can vary hugely. We have seen claims which are notified almost immediately after the negligent act took place, to the other extreme where one matter (residential conveyancing) was reported 38 years after the work was carried out. Those claims discovered quickly have the potential for rectification however social engineering fraud claims, where money is wired to an imposter purporting to be the client, can be difficult to mitigate in terms of retrieving the funds, as they are often swiftly transferred to multiple accounts overseas, never to be seen again. Claims which arise years after the fee earners have left or from work no longer carried out by the firm, can be particularly difficult to defend: lack of information, attendance notes or files destroyed or lost, mean firms are left floundering to defend themselves.

Extended policy period - What you need to know

Due to hard market conditions and the ongoing impact of Covid-19, some practices may be facing very difficult decisions during their upcoming professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal period. The unfortunate reality is that some firms may struggle to obtain cover and could fall into the extended indemnity period as a result.

Property Hijacking

Property hijacking has become more prevalent in the UK and the coronavirus crisis has given fraudsters more opportunity to make money, fuelling the growth of crime in the UK.

Abiding with the SRA transparency rules

December 2018 saw the SRA introduce new transparency rules for the legal profession in England and Wales. As part of this, a new requirement was introduced for all regulated practices to publish pricing and information for the following services on their websites.