Army of virtual lawyers in UK growing rapidly as pandemic launches new era of hybrid working December 6, 2021 There has been a 38 per cent rise in the number of lawyers at ‘virtual’ law firms in the past year as the pandemic leads to a dramatic shift towards hybrid and flexible working arrangements, There are now 1,875 lawyers working for ‘virtual’ law firms, up from 1,355 a year earlier. This increase is even [...]
Forced Covid quarantine in hotel breaches human rights, argues returning London couple as they launch legal challenge December 6, 2021 Coronavirus hotel quarantine is a “fundamental breach of human rights”, according to a London couple returning from South Africa. Today, Owen Hancock, 35, and Emily Mennie, 30, were due to enter hotel quarantine on their return from a break in South Africa. They say they were left stranded when the country was added to the [...]
D-Day for Priti Patel and Boris Johnson as High Court will rule today on Home Secretary bullying claims December 6, 2021 Scrutiny of Boris Johnson’s decision to back Priti Patel following accusations of bullying will reach its climax today as the High Court in London will rule on the matter later today. The FDA union brought a judicial review over the Prime Minister deciding last year to go against the findings of his then adviser on [...]
Exclusive: BDO’s managing partner on audit reforms, staffing issues and the company Christmas party December 3, 2021 This week accounting giant BDO saw its profits jump to over three quarters of a million pounds per partner, putting them ahead of their peers at rival firms EY and KPMG. At £760,000 per BDO partner, the firm leads the payout battle as EY partners were paid an average of £749,000 this year and KPMG [...]
FCA wants stricter rules after Greensill scandal December 3, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today announced proposals to make changes to its appointed representative regime (AR) – a scheme which allowed the now collapsed Greensill to run in the UK without a license to conduct millions of pounds’ worth of business. The AR regime, which was first conceived four decades ago, lets an [...]
City law pay war: Herbert Smith Freehills throws £105k at junior lawyers December 3, 2021 The ‘silver circle’ law firm has waded into the ongoing bidding battle for junior lawyers in the City by raising newly qualified lawyer salaries to £105,000, according to reports. Although their current “total compensation package” is £107,000, this includes both base salary and their bonus. But with the new announcement, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) lawyers [...]
Partner pay of £760m puts BDO ahead of Big Four rivals EY and KPMG as challenger firm sees revenue surge December 2, 2021 Partners at BDO saw their profits increase to over three quarters of a million pounds, putting them ahead of their peers at rival firms EY and KPMG. Profit per equity partner before tax increased to £760,000 at BDO following a 14 per cent drop last year, while EY partners were paid an average of £749,000 [...]
Fidelity chief exec Anne Richards to chair TheCityUK board December 2, 2021 The chief executive of Fidelity International has today been named as the next board chair of the Square Mile’s most influential lobbying body. Dame Anne Richards will take over the position from Mark Tucker, chairman of HSBC Holdings, who will step down at the end of May 2022 after three years in the role. Richards [...]
Female lawyers on the clock for 100 hours more than male peers annually December 1, 2021 Unsurprisingly they are also among the least happy with the number of hours they work, according to a new report on law firms. The recent report by Thomson Reuters found that women practicing law were, on average, putting in 100 hours more than their male colleagues every year. One reason pointed out by Dana Denis-Smith, [...]
UBS swipe new finance chief Sarah Youngwood from rival JPMorgan December 1, 2021 UBS have pinched a JPMorgan executive as its new chief financial officer, as part of major shake-up of senior management at the biggest bank in Switzerland. The announcement comes shortly after UBS also named Colm Kelleher, former president at Morgan Stanley, to succeed Axel Weber as chairman of the world’s biggest wealth manager when his [...]