Legal artificial intelligence startup backed by Mike Lynch valued at $100m after funding round February 7, 2019 Legal artificial intelligence business Luminance has hit a $100m (£77m) valuation with backing from investors that include tech billionaire Mike Lynch. Luminance said today it had raised $10m in a series B funding round that valued the business at $100m. Backers include Lynch’s Invoke Capital, Talis Capital and Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May. Lynch [...]
Big Four accountants push back against breakup proposals February 7, 2019 The Big Four accountancy firms have fired back at the competition regulator’s proposal to break-up their UK operations. In their responses to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) outlines for shaking up the audit market, Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC all resisted a suggested split. David Barnes, managing director for public policy at Deloitte UK, [...]
Former Linklaters partner sent to jail over sexual assault at Oktoberfest party in Munich February 6, 2019 A former Linklaters partner who was charged with sexual assault will go to jail after he lost an appeal against his sentence. Thomas Elser, a former tax partner in the magic circle firm’s Munich office, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison by a Munich court in February last year. On Tuesday [...]
Noel Edmonds’ lawyer to take on Lloyds Banking Group over Bristol allegations February 6, 2019 Noel Edmonds’ lawyer Jonathan Coad is set to open a new front in his battle against Lloyds Banking Group. Coad tweeted today that he has been instructed by a “lady who is a victim of Lloyds Bristol”. Speaking to City A.M. Coad said: “I have spoken to a number of people who are victims of [...]
Linklaters blocks former employee bid to expose firm’s ‘struggle with women’ February 6, 2019 Linklaters was yesterday granted a temporary injunction against a former employee who threatened to disclose information about the magic circle firm's alleged "ongoing struggle with women". Linklaters' former director of business development and marketing Frank Mellish threatened to disclose internal information after his contract with the firm was terminated last month. On receiving his final payment [...]
Lawyer struck off for dodging £650 of rail fares on his commute February 5, 2019 A lawyer has been struck off for dodging £650 of rail fares on his morning commute from Shoreditch to Redhill. Adam Kemeny, 33, who earned £38,000 a year, regularly dodged the nearly £17 return rail fare between Shoreditch and Redhill between July and October 2017. On 17 October he was stopped by a Govia ticket [...]
Watchdog boss: Auditors ‘clearly responsible’ for detecting company fraud February 5, 2019 The head of the UK’s beleaguered accountancy watchdog said auditors are “clearly responsible” for finding fraud in companies. Stephen Haddrill, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said accountants too often buy into a “mythology” that they will not find wrongdoing while checking companies’ accounts. “The auditor is clearly responsible for finding fraud in [...]
From London to Beirut: leading City lawyer takes ministerial post in new Lebanese government February 5, 2019 The head of US law firm Dechert’s London office is leaving the firm’s partnership to take a role in Lebanon’s new government. Capital markets specialist Camille Abousleiman, who was named the American Lawyer magazine’s 2018 dealmaker of the year, has been appointed minister for labour in Lebanon's new government. Abousleiman is the second high profile [...]
Two Barclays employees killed in Italian avalanche February 5, 2019 Barclays confirmed today that two of its employees were killed in an avalanche in the Italian Alps on Sunday. Matt Ziegler, 43, an in-house lawyer at Barclays, and Katherine Clarke, 39, a director in Barclays private bank and overseas service, were among four people killed in the avalanche on Sunday. A spokesperson said in a [...]
Auditors should not be ‘policemen’ – but that could change, MPs told February 4, 2019 A government-commissioned review will examine how far auditors should go in detecting fraud at companies. London Stock Exchange chair Sir Donald Brydon said there was a need for “greater clarity” on the subject, after the new boss of Grant Thornton, David Dunckley, clashed with MPs over the topic last week. “Is it [auditors’] job to [...]