Paul Hastings joins battle for legal talent with £141,750 salaries for newly qualified lawyers February 2, 2022 Paul Hastings has thrown its hat into the battle for legal talent, after raising salaries paid out to newly qualified lawyers in its London offices to £141,750. The Los Angeles based law firm is set to hike salaries paid out to its newly qualified associates by 7 per cent, from £133,000 to £141,750, according to [...]
London plumber crushes Pimlico Plumbers in Supreme Court and wins landmark case over holiday pay February 2, 2022 A London plumber has won a key lawsuit in the Supreme Court over his workers’ rights as appeal judges ruled late yesterday afternoon he is entitled to back-dated holiday pay. Gary Smith, who had worked for Pimlico Plumbers between 2005 and 2011, went to court after a long-running dispute with the company over holiday pay. [...]
UK aims to become global legal services hub using newfound Brexit freedoms February 1, 2022 The government has set out plans to use new Brexit to become a global hub for legal services. In a document called “The benefits of Brexit: how the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU,” the government argued that new freedoms under Brexit will allow the UK to become a global centre for dispute [...]
Mediation should be first port of call for small claims disputes, CJC says February 1, 2022 Small claims disputes worth less than £500 should be kept out of court and dealt with through mediation, the UK government’s Civil Justice Council (CJC) has said. In a report, the CJC said claimants should be forced to go to a mediation appointment if their claims are for less than £500. County courts are currently [...]
Pupil barrister numbers rebound to pre-pandemic levels February 1, 2022 The number of people training to be barristers has bounced back to pre-lockdown levels, following a lull last year due to the pandemic. New figures from the Bar Standards Board (BSB) show that there are 511 people currently undertaking pupillages, compared the 354 people last year. The 44 per cent increase has seen the number [...]
Managers who see themselves as professionals may in fact be more corruptible, study says February 1, 2022 Managers who see themselves as embodying professional values may in fact be more susceptible to corruption and more likely to partake in unethical behaviour, according to a new study, which says that those who view themselves as professionals may be less likely to critically scrutinize their own decisions. The study, from Professor Sunita Sah of [...]
Diversity at the Bar is ‘gradually improving but more progress is needed’ February 1, 2022 The Bar Standards Board has said that the criminal bar has become more diverse but said that more progress is needed, after new figures showed that the bar is not representative of the wider UK population. Over the past year, the bar has gotten more diverse, according to the BSB figures, which show there are [...]
KPMG dishes out record pay to partners and £100m bonuses to staff February 1, 2022 Partners at KPMG have voted to invest £300m into a “once-in-a-generation” transformation of KPMG’s business, after handing out £100m in bonuses on the back of a “resilient” performance last year. The professional services firm said it would be handing out £100m in bonuses to its 14,700 staff, as it said KPMG partners were handed their [...]
Rishi Sunak urged to allow National Crime Agency to probe ‘astronomical levels’ of Covid loan fraud February 1, 2022 Chancellor Rishi Sunak should allow the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate “astronomical levels of fraud” that was allegedly committed during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Labour party. The party will use an opposition day debate in the Commons later today to attempt to get Government backing for an investigation after it was revealed [...]
Judge seeks Prince Andrew ex-assistant’s testimony in US case February 1, 2022 Prince Andrew’s former assistant may reportedly give a sworn statement about his relationship with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in his upcoming sexual assault case in the US. Judge Lewis A Kaplan for the New York trial has asked London’s High Court to assist with the request for former aide Robert Olney’s testimony regarding the Duke [...]