UK’s outdated drug laws are outright racist, says former govt adviser September 30, 2021 A former government adviser said this morning that the UK’s drug laws are racist and disproportionately harm black communities. Lord Simon Woolley said drugs legislation introduced 50 years ago has failed to reduce the use, supply and harms associated with illegal drugs and continues to be used “as a tool of systemic racism”. Lord Woolley, [...]
Over two thirds of lawyers have battled with mental health problems September 28, 2021 More than two thirds of lawyers in the UK have suffered from mental ill-health, and the majority are at a high risk of burnout, a new report by a lawyer wellbeing charity has found. The report by LawCare, published today, contained the results of a detailed survey of over 1,700 legal professionals across the UK, [...]
‘Bat from Wuhan’: PwC chief apologises for ‘racist and offensive’ staff event September 28, 2021 The chief executive of PwC Australia has issued an apology for “racist and offensive” behaviour by two human resource staff members during a trivia event hosted by the Big Four company. The virtual game of trivia in which one PwC HR executive allegedly dressed as a “bat from Wuhan”, while another mocked Chinese accents, took [...]
‘Severe reprimand’ for Patisserie Valerie audit: Grant Thornton failed and was incompetent, says watchdog September 27, 2021 Red flags were missed while auditing the collapsed cake chain Patisserie Valerie, and auditors failed to question management properly. Overall, it showed a serious lack of competence, according to regulators this morning. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) made its findings against accounting giant Grant Thornton and auditor David Newstead, handing them fines of £2.3m and [...]
Square Mile conference centre becomes makeshift court amid mounting backlog September 25, 2021 A conference centre has become one of London’s latest Nightingale Court’s, which have been brought in to ease the mounting trials backlog the city is facing. The backlog, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, stretches across the rest of the country. With some trials even being transferred from the capital to alternative courts outside of the [...]
Linklaters to offer junior solicitors more than £107,000 a year salaries September 25, 2021 Linklaters has begun offering its freshly-trained solicitors’ salaries of more than £107,000 a year – the highest junior talent in the UK. The Magic circle law firm has topped up the already hefty pay packets for its new staff – some of whom are in their mid-20s – by £7,500 since last year. The bolstered [...]
‘You’re free to go’: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou reaches shock deal with US September 25, 2021 Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, has resolved criminal charges against her as part of a shock deal with the US Justice Department that paves the way for her to return to China. The agreement with Wanzhou calls for the Justice Department to dismiss fraud charges [...]
Small law firms are let off from economic crime tax September 23, 2021 Small law firms have escaped the UK government’s Economic Crime Levy, aimed at raising £100m annually from anti-money laundering (AML) regulated organisations, to help pay for the fight against economic crime. Instead, AML-regulated organisations, including legal practices, banks and accountancy firms, with revenues above £10.2m will be subject to the new tax. The Economic Crime [...]
Deloitte partners average pay close to £1m as Big Four profits surge September 23, 2021 Deloitte’s UK partners will pocket around £1m on average as the Big Four’s revenues have seen a revival driven by a demand for advice during the pandemic, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the news. The payout to 700 equity partners at Deloitte, who received an average of £731,000 from profit shares last [...]
Legal giant Ashurst: One in three of our new recruits will have ethnic minority background September 22, 2021 International law firm Ashurst has announced wide-ranging diversity targets for both its global and UK offices to reach in the next five years. The new targets expand the company’s focus areas to include more LGBTI+ representation, gender equality and ethnicity targets in the UK. In its UK offices, Ashurst aims for 35 per cent of [...]