Liontrust faces shareholder rebellion over plans to hike executive salaries February 15, 2022 London-listed asset manager Liontrust is facing a shareholder rebellion over plans to hike the salaries of its C-Suite executives as Britain faces rampant inflation and a widespread cost-of-living crisis. A significant proportion of Liontrust’s shareholders are expected to vote against the asset manager’s new remuneration policy, at a specially convened general meeting tomorrow, Sky News’ [...]
UK facing shortage of duty solicitors, Law Society says February 15, 2022 The UK is facing a shortage of criminal duty solicitors, as the sector faces a chronic recruitment crisis, the Law Society has warned. Any individual arrested in the UK has the right to seek advice from a duty solicitor, free of charge. However, the number of duty solicitors working in Britain dropped 7 per cent [...]
Pinsent Masons cuts desk space in Edinburgh after moving to new offices February 15, 2022 Pinsent Mason’s has cut the number of desks available to staff in its Edinburgh offices, after moving in to new premises, in a bid to free up space and adapt to the future of hybrid working. The London headquartered law firm is set to cut its desk space by 20 per cent, in seeking to [...]
Eversheds Sutherland matches rivals after upping pay for new lawyers to £95k February 15, 2022 Eversheds Sutherland’s has given newly qualified lawyers in its London offices a 15.8 per cent pay rise after upping their salaries to £95,000 a year. The firm also said it will give lawyers in the rest of its UK offices a 24 per cent pay rise, which will see their salaries increase from £50,000 to [...]
Majority of UK’s biggest law firms are currently hiring new lawyers, as battle for talent rages on February 15, 2022 Most of the UK’s biggest law firms, with annual turnovers of more than £500m, are now actively hiring more lawyers, as they seek to capitalise on booming demand for legal services, according to a poll of more than 200 law firm partners. Polling from privately-owned litigation funder Harbour shows that 60 per cent of law [...]
Axa buys Ageas’ commercial insurance business and takes 100 of its staff in deal worth £47.5m February 15, 2022 Axa’s UK and Ireland subsidiary has purchased the “renewal rights” for Belgian insurer Ageas’ commercial business, in a deal worth £47.5m. Parisian insurer Axa said the deal will see around 100 of Aeges’ UK employees move into Axa’s City of London offices. In a statement, Axa said the deal will help it expand its commercial [...]
DWF CEO Sir Nigel Knowles says big pay rises are not a solution to legal sector’s recruitment crisis February 14, 2022 Sir Nigel Knowles, the former Co-CEO and co-chairman of DLA Piper, has said that offering young lawyers huge pay rises will not fix the legal sector’s recruitment crisis. In a letter to the Financial Times, Knowles said “offering more and more money to young people is only a sticking plaster” as he argued law firms [...]
Small London law firm seeks to compete with Magic Circle by appointing its own ‘fertility officer’ February 14, 2022 A small family law firm, with offices in Clapham, Hammersmith, and Islington, has become the first UK company to appoint its own “fertility officer,” as it seeks to compete with larger rivals that have begun offering highly expensive fertility benefits. London law firm Burgess Mee has named surrogacy law specialist, Natalie Sutherland, as its first [...]
UK government to set out plans for audit watchdog overhaul imminently after years of delays February 14, 2022 UK government ministers will set out their plans to reform regulation of the UK’s auditing industry within the coming weeks, after calls for an overhaul first emerged in 2018 in response to the collapse of UK construction contractor Carillion. The proposals are currently being circulated and are set to be signed off imminently, according to [...]
UK travel bankruptcies on the rise as Omicron and staycations scupper sector’s recovery February 14, 2022 The UK’s travel sector is still suffering from the impacts of Covid, according to new figures from accountancy company Mazars, which show that travel sector insolvencies are on the rise. In January, 15 travel companies went into insolvency, up from nine in December, Mazars’ figures show. The recent rise in the number of insolvencies comes [...]