Freshfields calls lawyers back into the office for at least three days a week August 15, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has upped the minimum number of days it expects its lawyers to come to the office from two-and-a-half to three days a week. Lawyers working at the Magic Circle firm’s London and Manchester businesses will now be expected to work from the office for at least three [...]
Big Four accountancy firms capture larger share of UK legal market August 15, 2022 Major corporations are snubbing traditional law firms in increasingly going to consultancies and accounting firms for legal advice, according to new research from Thomson Reuters. The Big Four accounting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte – are driving growth in the alternative legal services provider (ASLP) sector, as UK corporates increasingly turn to them [...]
UK’s professional services sector weathers economic headwinds August 13, 2022 The UK’s professional services sector has continued to grow its turnovers in the face of major economic headwinds, new UK government data shows. The accountancy sector’s turnovers increased 3.7 per cent, from £3.41bn in May to £3.54bn in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. The country’s legal sector also saw its turnovers [...]
Law Society calls for ‘sustained investment’ in courts to cut worsening case backlog August 13, 2022 The Law Society has called on the government to make “sustained investment” in the UK’s court system after new data showed the case backlog has gotten worse over the previous quarter. The backlog of cases waiting to be heard in the England and Wales Crown Courts has increased from 58,540 in April to 58,973 in [...]
Magistrates court workers vote to strike over digital system August 11, 2022 Members of the union representing Magistrates’ court workers today voted in favour of plans to strike over complaints about the digitalization of England and Wales’ court systems. Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) are calling on the government to reconsider its plans to digitalise the courts through the launch of its Common Platform. [...]
Jones Day ups pay for new lawyers to £140,000 a year August 11, 2022 US law firm Jones Day is set to give its newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers 27 per cent pay rises in upping their annual salaries to heights of £140,000 a year. NQ lawyers working in Jones Day’s London offices will see their salaries surge beyond those paid out to those in the Magic Circle in seeing their [...]
Economic slowdown set to hit legal sectors’ bumper profits, new research shows August 11, 2022 The past year’s boom in dealmaking acted as a boon to the UK’s legal sector in leading to a major uptick in work for British clients. However, the economic downturn could reverse law firms’ fortunes and dent their profitability, new research from Thomson Reuters shows. Global law firms operating in the UK market saw their [...]
Lack of social mobility in UK’s professional services sector threatens country’s growth August 11, 2022 The lack of social mobility in the UK’s financial and professional services sector poses a major threat to Britain’s “competitiveness and productivity,” the head of the Law Society has warned. The Law Society president’s warning comes after a new report from the City of London Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce showed those from working class backgrounds are [...]
Axiom founder sentenced to 14 years in prison over £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud August 11, 2022 The founder of a Cayman Islands headquartered fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been jailed for 14 years for using millions in investors cash to finance his own extravagant spending habits. Axiom Legal Financing Fund founder Timothy Schools was today sentenced to 14 years in prison at a hearing at Southwark Crown [...]
Clyde & Co partners see payouts drop to £708,000 August 10, 2022 London law firm Clyde & Co today said its partners will see their pay packages drop by sums of £7,000 after the addition of 44 new partners diluted its profit-per-equity-partner ratios. Clyde & Co’s 480 partners will see their payouts drop from sums of £715,000 last year to £708,000 for the financial year 2022, the [...]