As most of you will (or should) be aware, the SRA Transparency Rules (the Rules) came into force back in December 2018 requiring firms to publish price and service information if they publish that they work in the following areas:Residential conveyancing;Probate (uncontested);Motoring offences (summary offences);Immigration (excluding asylum);Employment tribunals (unfair/wrongful dismissal);Debt…

Some of the certifications I have seen on client identification documents, that Fee Earners have uploaded as part of their client due diligence checks, have led me to raise an eyebrow. One of my favourites was a document certified by someone whose occupation was detailed as “Retired”!Having worked in Risk…

Do you need one?At Teal, one of the questions we often get asked is whether or not an organisation needs a Data Protection Officer (DPO). Under the GDPR, it’s mandatory for some organisations to appoint a person to act as their DPO – others may choose to either appoint a…

The much-anticipated SRA Standards and Regulations 2019 have been live since 26th November 2019 and I am sure many law firms are still racing around updating policies and training staff on what this means for them.The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (“The SRA”) have driven this change to the Regulations with a…

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently launched a campaign to send reminders to all UK registered companies to ensure that they comply with their legal obligation to pay an annual data protection fee, where this applies. This is the start of an extensive project by the ICO to…

The world of electronic verification is an ever-evolving industry, with some providers supporting features like facial recognition, authentication of documents, direct access bank account information, and PEP and Sanctions screening.Electronic verification should provide you with a level of certainty that the individual is who they say they are and, for…

Well, the NCA certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons recently at The Law Society’s Anti Money Laundering Conference.This is something I’ve been talking to clients about for about 5 years. In that time there have been some misunderstandings, both on the part of practitioners and law enforcement.The issue surrounds…

GDPR during the transition periodAs we’re all well aware, the UK will finally leave the European Union later today. The UK and the EU will then have until 31 December 2020 (the “transition period”, provided for in the withdrawal agreement) to negotiate an agreement setting out their future relationship. This…