Palantir to sue Khan over blocked Met police contract June 9, 2026 Palantir is set to sue Sadiq Khan after the London Mayor blocked a £50m contract with the Metropolitan Police, claiming the tech giant does not reflect the City’s values. In May, Khan vetoed the deal in which Palantir would have supported Scotland Yard with AI technology, over concerns about the Met’s procurement process, claiming they had failed [...]
City law firm Shoosmiths invests extra £1m in firm’s bonus pot June 8, 2026 City law firm Shoosmiths has doubled down on its commitment to AI after setting aside a second £1m for its bonus pot to help staff become AI-fluent through its new internal accreditation programme, City AM can reveal. Last year, the firm exclusively told City AM that it set a “clear and ambitious annual target” of one million [...]
Deputy PM to unveil AI labs to drag legal sector out of ‘analogue’ age June 8, 2026 The UK government is launching a new AI growth project aimed squarely at dragging the UK’s billion-pound legal sector out of its “analogue” age. Ahead of London Tech Week, City AM can reveal that Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy will unveil ‘AI growth labs’, a regulatory safe space designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape [...]
City law firm boosts junior lawyer salaries to £189k in London June 5, 2026 City-based law firm Quinn Emanuel has increased salaries for its most junior lawyers by 5 per cent for the 2026 financial year, as its London office aligns with pay increases at its US counterparts. Effective from 1 July 2026, London associates’ salaries will increase 5 per cent across the board, with newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers set [...]
£4.5bn black market cigarette tax loss should be ‘a major wake-up call’ for Labour June 4, 2026 Over half of cigarettes smoked in the UK are black market and are contributing £4.5bn to the country’s tax losses – a record high – according to new analysis from KPMG and tobacco giant Philip Morris. The findings show that 1.5bn more black-market, tax-free cigarettes were consumed by UK smokers last year compared to 2024, [...]
Lex Greensill banned as company director for nine years after multi-billion-pound collapse June 4, 2026 The UK Insolvency Service has confirmed that financier Lex Greensill will face a nine-year ban from serving as a company director, after he signed a legally binding disqualification undertaking to resolve long-running enforcement proceedings just days before a scheduled High Court trial. The Insolvency Service, which opened its probe into him in 2022, filed a [...]
Kirkland & Ellis partners with Palantir for AI-driven private equity work June 4, 2026 The world’s largest law firm by revenue, Kirkland & Ellis, has agreed to partner with tech giant Palantir to create an AI tool to use in advising private equity firms. The US-based firm, which has a large City office, said the multi-year partnership will deploy technology to share the expertise of its leading partners with [...]
Mishcon de Reya to roll out new ‘bonus boost’ for associates June 4, 2026 City law firm Mishcon de Reya is offering its staff a ‘bonus boost’ for working additional hours to remain competitive in the legal pay race, City AM understands. The law firm has added a new ‘bonus boost’ to its pay structure, which will take effect in July 2027, for lawyers who record hours significantly above [...]
Betfair to be probed in court over online betting liability June 3, 2026 Betfair is due to be scrutinised in court tomorrow over its duty of care in relation to the dangers of online gambling and betting following a problem gambler’s suicide. The online gambling giant, owned by Irish-American betting giant owned by Flutter Entertainment, will face questions over claims it failed to identify Luke Ashton’s gambling addiction [...]
Staff burnout soars in professional services due to inefficiencies and outdated IT June 3, 2026 More than a quarter of client-facing staff at professional services firms are wasting a large portion of their working week on manual administrative tasks rather than core client work, according to new research by Unit4. The report, commissioned by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), on global mid-to-large professional services firms, including those in the UK, revealed [...]