Law firms, legal tech, and the branding battle royale January 29, 2026 It seems like every week brings a new AI player on the scene, but now there’s a trend of legal spats over what exactly to call them. AI-focused businesses have been popping up everywhere as demand for the tech surges. According to LawtechUK’s data, the number of UK-founded lawtech companies on its tracker climbed from [...]
Professional services firms facing ‘polycrisis of confidence’ January 28, 2026 A major study of C-suite attitudes among professional services firms has revealed a complicated landscape of increasing AI use, growth fears, worries about cash flow and concerns over staff motivation. According to the Managing Partners Forum Winter 2025 Quarterly, shared exclusively with City AM, all firms surveyed have integrated Gen AI into their daily operations, but [...]
High Court grants urgent hearing on Labour’s inheritance tax overhaul January 28, 2026 The High Court has green-lit an urgent hearing at the High Court over the government’s inheritance tax raid on agricultural assets and family firms. The proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) represent one of the biggest shifts in UK inheritance tax (IHT) policy in decades, following the government’s initial [...]
Traditional legal model shaken by investor interest and IPO ambitions January 26, 2026 External investment is increasing in mid-size legal firms, according to a new report, which revealed that nearly 70 per cent of firms have been approached by private equity investors or PE-backed entities in the last year. New data from MHA, in conjunction with the Law Society, shared with City AM, shows that the majority of [...]
Legal accounts controversy: Who should fund the broken justice system? January 22, 2026 First, the government tried to go after the LLPs, but that failed. Now its eyes are on law firms’ client accounts under the narrative that it will be used to help the crumbling justice system, but lawyers are seeing it as just another tax raid. Law firms earn substantial income from interest on client accounts, [...]
David Lammy’s plan to seize law firm interest sparks outrage January 20, 2026 Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy was accused of a “brazen attempt” to “confiscate law firms’ cash” after the government revealed plans to take the interest law firms earn on money sitting in their client accounts. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation on a proposal to introduce an Interest on [...]
Immigration law firm put up for sale on insolvency market amid visa crackdown January 13, 2026 A London law firm specialising in immigration services has been put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace in an early sign the government’s crackdown on visas has sparked a slump in applications. Woolwich-based A Vincent Solicitors, which employs more than two dozen staff and has a second office in Manchester, offered multi-lingual support services [...]
Ropes & Gray offers junior lawyers 20 per cent billable credit for AI effort January 9, 2026 US law firm Ropes & Gray has expanded its programme to give junior lawyers 20 per cent of their billable hours to experiment with generative AI to its European offices, including in the City. The ‘TrAIlblazers’ programme was floated across the firm’s US offices last year, but it is now being implemented in Europe for [...]
London’s legal elites bask in booming pay packets January 8, 2026 While London shivers through a January cold snap, the city’s legal elite are basking in an earnings heatwave as salaries for City lawyers at major law firms have edged up over the last year. Over the 2024/2025 financial year, the average profit per equity partner (PEP) at the big firms, including Linklaters, A&O Shearman, Herbert [...]
Legal firm faces “material uncertainty” after publishing overdue accounts January 7, 2026 After months of delay, the law firm behind the largest action to hit the London High Court published its 2023 financial accounts, which revealed an annual loss of £95m. Pogust Goodhead’s 2023 account, published on Companies House on Monday, four months past the deadline, showed turnover decreased sharply to £3,607,387, down from £53,077,800 in 2022. [...]