Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) is the latest firm to have been targeted by email scammers, in a steady stream of phishing attacks to have hit the industry.

The firm's real estate head Chris de Pury has been impersonated in an email relating to an international financing arrangement, according to a statement from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) yesterday.

The fake emails refer to an "investment letter of intent" and ask the recipient to verify their identity.

The real Chris de Pury confirmed to the regulator that he has no connection to the emails referred to in the above alert.

A spokesperson for BCLP said: "We can confirm that we recently dealt with the situation with the SRA and, pursuant to their guidance, support their decision to issue a standard notification to the public."

The firm is one of several to have been hit by phishing emails this year, with DLA Piper, Clifford Chance and Linklaters also having lawyers impersonated. Scammers are also using more sophisticated techniques to catch out lawyers.

Since the start of 2019, 18 of the U.K.'s top 50 law firms have been hit on 25 separate occasions, according to analysis of the SRA's announcements. Linklaters and Mills & Reeve were targeted three times, while Mills & Reeve, Watson Farley & Williams and Pennington Manches were each targeted twice.

Last month alone, the SRA reported that four more mid-market U.K. law firms were impersonated.