Bolt to face court battle over drivers’ employment rights October 6, 2022 Ride-hailing app Bolt is set to face a class action lawsuit calling for it to class its drivers as workers rather than self-employed contractors. Law firm Leigh Day has filed a claim against Bolt on behalf of more than 1,600 of its drivers in calling on the Estonian tech company to give its drivers holiday [...]
City lawyer avoids jail after telling client to ‘burn’ evidence in Ocado case October 5, 2022 A City lawyer, who instructed his client to “burn” chat logs to prevent them from being handed over to Ocado, has avoided going to prison after being handed a substantial fine. Ex-Jones Day partner Raymond McKeeve told an IT manager at a company founded by Ocado co-founder Jonathan Faiman, Today Development Partners (TDP), to “burn” [...]
Directors only owe duty to creditors on real risk of insolvency, UK’s Supreme Court rules October 5, 2022 The UK’s Supreme Court has dismissed a claim calling for the law to be changed to force company directors to start taking creditors into account at the first risk of insolvency. The Supreme Court ruling reaffirms the current position in law, in stating company directors are only required to begin prioritising creditors if it is [...]
Grant Thornton triples paternity leave offering as talent war continues October 5, 2022 Grant Thornton has tripled the length of its paid paternity leave offering from two to six weeks as the UK’s top accounting firms have increasingly turned to offering staff perks and benefits in their efforts to recruit and retain talent. The accounting firm will offer its staff six weeks of paid paternity leave from [...]
Goodwin to move staff from Hong Kong to set up in shop in Singapore October 4, 2022 Goodwin Procter has become the latest law firm to set up in Singapore, after outlining plans to relocate staff from Hong Kong. The Boston founded law firm’s new Singapore offices will become its second location in Asia, after Goodwin opened its Hong Kong office in 2008. The launch is set to see two Goodwin partners, [...]
FCA vows to take action against insurers falling short on business interruption claims October 4, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has warned insurers are falling short of its requirements in their handling of business interruption (BI) claims. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will “consider using all regulatory tools” it has available to ensure insurers meet its standards after a review carried out by the watchdog determined insurers have “fallen [...]
Criminals turn to cross-blockchain tools to hide billions in cryptocurrencies October 4, 2022 Criminals are using complex new blockchain technologies to hide and launder billions in ill gotten gains. At least $4bn (£3.6bn) worth of illicit crypto-assets has been laundered via various “cross-chain” technologies, that let both legitimate and illegitimate users move funds between blockchains, analytics firm Elliptic said. Decentralised exchanges (DEXs), cross-chain bridges, and coin-swap services are [...]
Gateley bolsters patent practice by snapping up biotech specialist law firm Symbiosis IP October 4, 2022 Gateley has acquired specialist biotech patent attorney firm Symbiosis for c.£2.5m as the listed law firm pushes forwards with plans to bolster its intellectual property (IP) offerings. The AIM-listed company’s acquisition comes just months after it snapped up Nottingham patent and trademark specialist Adamson Jones in January. The £2.5m deal will see Gateley pay £1.5m [...]
Deloitte to let UK staff cash in on pensions with new flexibility policy October 3, 2022 Deloitte is set to let its UK staff take their pensions contributions as cash payments on top of their salaries as part of a new “flexible pensions” policy announced by the firm today. The accounting firm today told 22,000 of its UK staff it will let them receive cash payments on top of their pay [...]
UK blocks Russia from buying professional services following annexation of Ukrainian regions October 3, 2022 The UK has placed new sanctions on Russia, blocking its citizens and businesses from purchasing an array of services from British firms, over the Kremlin’s decision to annex four regions of Ukraine. The new sanctions seek to further damage Russia’s economy by hindering the country’s access to IT consultancy, architectural, engineering, accounting, and commercial legal [...]