New York law firm ups pay for newly trained London lawyers to £165,000 a year December 12, 2022 New York law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges has become one of the City’s highest paying firms after hiking salaries for its newly-qualified lawyers to heights of £165,000 a year. Weil Gotshal’s £5,000 pay hikes for NQs in its London office puts the New York headquartered firm in fourth place in the ongoing pay battle [...]
FTSE 100 firms hit with four times more fines than last year December 12, 2022 The value of fines against FTSE 100 companies has increased fourfold over the previous year, Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence research shows. Companies on the FTSE 100 index received £1.6bn in fines in the year ending on 30 June 2022, compared to just £354m worth of fines in the previous year. The £1.6bn figure marks an [...]
Law firms up billable hours targets as sector’s profits slide December 11, 2022 Top law firms have begun upping pressure on lawyers by hiking targets for the number of billable hours they are expected to work each year, according to new research. UK law firms are increasingly calling on their lawyers to bill more hours as they seek to reverse the sector’s declining profitability and weather the oncoming [...]
EU lawmaker arrested in Qatar corruption probe December 11, 2022 A top-ranking member of the European Parliament has been suspended from her job after being arrested by Belgian police in a Qatar World Cup corruption probe. Greek MEP Eva Kaili was suspended from her job as one of the EU parliament’s fourteen vice-presidents after being detained in the investigation into potential bribes paid by [...]
Linklaters becomes second Magic Circle law firm to launch apprenticeship scheme December 11, 2022 Linklaters has become the second of the UK’s elite ‘Magic Circle’ law firms to offer aspiring solicitors an alternate route to becoming a high-flying lawyer, after launching its own apprenticeship scheme. The City law firm’s new scheme will see six school leavers undergo on-the-job training over a six-year period, following which they will become fully [...]
Travers Smith calls juniors into the office for four days a week December 8, 2022 Travers Smith has become the latest City law firm to call lawyers back into the office after telling staff to spend 60 per cent of their time at work. The law firm’s new “agile working” policy calls on Travers Smith’s lawyers to come into the office for six days across every two working weeks. [...]
Big Four’s legal ventures could see surge in law firm IPOs, DWF chief says December 8, 2022 The Big Four’s efforts to bolster their legal businesses could lead to a surge in the number of UK law firms listing on the stock exchange, DWF chief Sir Nigel Knowles told City A.M. EY’s global split could see the firm become an “aggressive” legal services behemoth, as it is freed from the conflict-of-interest rules [...]
Lack of enforcement sees fraudsters resort to ‘brute force’ tactics, new report warns December 7, 2022 Fraudsters are increasingly resorting to “brute force” tactics, having been emboldened by a lack of consequences for those who are caught, a new report says. A lack of enforcement has seen fraudsters adopt increasingly unsophisticated methods, the report by Interpol and identity verification company Onfido says. The situation has seen criminals turn to using blanket [...]
City law firms will be ‘key’ to driving UK’s economic growth December 7, 2022 The City’s top law firms will play an “integral” part in securing the country’s long-term growth, one of the the City’s most powerful lobby group has said. Britain’s law firms already play an integral role in ensuring London’s position as a “world leading financial centre” in acting as a “critical platform on which other economic [...]
Barristers’ watchdog seeks to bolster staff following surge in social media-related misconduct December 7, 2022 The barristers’ regulator is seeking to bolster its enforcement teams to deal with a surge in misconduct cases involving social media. The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is aiming to recruit a “small number” of new staff to work on its 18 strong enforcement team following an uptick in complaints against barristers, a BSB spokesperson told [...]