Bird & Bird hands staff £1,000 each to deal with UK’s cost-of-living crunch July 5, 2022 London law firm Bird & Bird is set to pay £1,000 bonuses to more than 300 of its staff to help them deal with the cost-of-living crisis. The law firm said it will give £1,000 “cost of living allowance” payments to all employees who earn less £50,000 per annum this month, to help them manage [...]
MoJ denies telling court staff to hand over names of striking barristers July 4, 2022 The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has denied telling court staff to name striking barristers, after the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) threatened legal action over claims that any such instruction would breach UK data protection laws. An MoJ spokesperson said any claims the Justice Secretary or the MoJ told court staff to report the names of barristers who fail [...]
Covid loan fraudsters should turn themselves in to avoid harsher penalties, lawyers say July 4, 2022 Individuals who defrauded the government’s Covid support schemes should consider turning themselves in to avoid even harsher penalties, amid a far-reaching crackdown on those responsible for making fraudulent claims, lawyers have said. The comments come after figures from the UK’s Insolvency Service showed the executive agency has struck off a total of 179 company directors, [...]
UK Foreign Office to pay £423,000 to settle whistleblower’s employment claim July 4, 2022 The UK government has agreed to pay £423,000 to settle an employment lawsuit brought forward by one of its former prosecutors, over claims she was pushed out of her job at the Foreign Office, after she sought to blow the whistle on corruption involving suspected Kosovo criminals and officials from the EU. International prosecutor Mariah [...]
Wirecard’s finance chief admits forging documents after facing pressure from KPMG July 4, 2022 Wirecard’s former head of accounting has admitted forging documents, after coming under pressure to provide evidence of transactions during a special audit by KPMG. Wirecard’s ex-chief financial officer, Stephan von Erffa, told prosecutors he falsified the documents, after coming under pressure from the auditor to provide evidence of a €50m payment, according to sources speaking [...]
Angry Criminal Bar chairman warns crime victims ‘won’t see their day in court’ as govt refuses to negotiate with striking barristers July 4, 2022 The Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, Jo Sidhu QC, has warned that “those victims of crime and defendants who want to prove their innocence won’t see their day inside court”, as he said the Government “refuses” to sit down and negotiate with striking barristers. Strike action over pay and conditions within the criminal legal [...]
Payday: City law firm hikes starting salary for junior lawyers to £120k July 2, 2022 Square Mile law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has boosted its starting salary for junior lawyers to £120,000, as the City pay battle wages on. The firm has hiked pay for junior lawyers by 24 per cent, in a bid to compete with other law firms also increasing staff pay. The increase comes as Bank of [...]
Staffing agencies slam govt’s plans to use agency staff as strikebreakers June 30, 2022 Staffing agencies have hit out at the government’s plans to lift a ban on using agency staff as strike breakers. In a letter to the government seen by City A.M., a group of the world’s biggest staffing agencies slammed the plans, put forward by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, to overturn laws banning agency staff from [...]
UK government is failing to match words with action in stamping out dirty money, MPs say June 30, 2022 The UK government is failing to match its rhetoric with real efforts to crack down on dirty money, MPs have warned. The government is continuing to let the UK become a “safe deposit box” for morally bankrupt billionaires, despite its rhetoric around “clamping down” on Russian money, the Foreign Affairs Committee said. The committee said [...]
EY to brief UK partners on plans to split up business in biggest Big Four shakeup in decades June 30, 2022 EY is set to brief its UK partners on plans to break up the firm as the accounting firms pushes forwards with plans for the biggest shakeup in the Big Four for decades. The Big Four accountancy firm has invited more than 780 of its UK partners to a summit at a central London hotel, [...]