Pay for top City lawyers surged to £740,000 as most firms cashed in on Covid profits February 28, 2023 Top City lawyers saw their annual payouts surge in 2022, as a boom in demand for legal services bolstered the sector’s profits. Partners in City law firms saw their annual payouts increase by 15 per cent, to £738,728, as Covid-19 drove a boom in legal sector revenues, new Crowe research shows. The higher payouts [...]
Former Met police detective sues ex-City lawyer over ENRC hacking claims February 27, 2023 A former Metropolitan police officer has accused an ex-City lawyer of trying to hack his emails to steal information about Kazakh mining company ENRC. Former detective Cameron Findlay has claimed ex-Dechert partner Neil Gerrard orchestrated a campaign of ‘spear-phishing’ attacks against him during a court dispute surrounding the Kazakh firm, US court papers show. A [...]
Monzo and Wise founders back £8.8m Robin AI robot lawyer project February 27, 2023 A City computing company has raised $10.5m (£8.8m) from backers including top execs from Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) driven, robot lawyer. The founders of fintech firms Monzo and Wise have also thrown their weight behind London’s Robin AI, which is seeking to disrupt the legal sector with [...]
Norwegian billionaire fails to overturn conviction for lying to UK court in £285m Deutsche Bank dispute February 26, 2023 Norwegian billionaire Alexander Vik has failed to overturn a conviction for lying to a UK court during a £285m dispute with Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank first sued the magnate’s company, Sebastian Holdings, back in 2009 over a series of loss-making foreign exchange deals, and the court has since ordered the firm to pay $243m (£203m) [...]
Government’s £1.1bn push to digitalise courts has only made the problem worse, new report warns February 23, 2023 A UK government push to digitalize the country’s court systems instead placed an added burden on Britain’s courts, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report warns. The combined HMCTS and CPS push to “reduce inefficiencies across the criminal justice system” through deployment of the ‘Common Platform’ in fact added to the burden already faced by [...]
Law firms help drive record demand for London office space February 23, 2023 Law firms, accounting firms and consultancies acquired a record 2.5m sq ft of central London office space in 2022, following a boom in the professional services sector’s revenues. London’s top services firms took up 50 per cent more office space last year than in 2021, as the sector capitalised on an “unprecedented” surge in demand, [...]
Keystone Law benefits from bull market and shift to homeworking, chief says February 20, 2023 Keystone Law has benefited from the widespread shift to homeworking, the law firm’s founder and chief executive James Knight told City A.M., as it forecast revenues and pre-tax profits for the year will beat expectations. Keystone Law, which is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, today said it expects its revenues and pre-tax profits will [...]
KPMG’s Carillion settlement generates £7m profit for Aussie litigation funder February 20, 2023 An Australian litigation funder has more than doubled its money after giving Carillion’s liquidator millions to fight a £1.3bn lawsuit against KPMG. Litigation Capital Management (LCM) has generated more than £7m in profits after funding the claim brought by Carillion’s liquidator against the Big Four firm, the Aussie firm said today. LCM’s announcement comes [...]
Former City lawyer tasked with reviewing demise of Wasps and Worcester Warriors in Premiership Rugby financial review February 20, 2023 Legal heavyweight Sir Nigel Boardman, a former partner at City law firm Slaughter and May, has been appointed to lead a review of the financial crisis engulfing Premiership Rugby. Boardman, 72, led the government inquiry into the Greensill Capital lobbying row in 2021 and last year called time on a near-50-year stint with the Magic [...]
Big Four: EY, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC step on law firms’ toes increasing legal revenue to £1.25bn February 15, 2023 The Big Four accounting firms – EY, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC – are capturing an ever-larger share of the global market for legal services. The accounting giants are rapidly expanding their legal businesses, in boosting their own sales and taking work away from traditional firms, the research from Said Business School shows. The world’s four [...]