Victims’ charity calls for ‘urgent’ investment to cut court backlog as barristers’ strike continues into third week July 11, 2022 A leading victims’ support charity has called on the government to take “urgent action” to cut the court backlog by upping investment in the criminal justice system – as criminal barristers prepared for their third week of strikes. Diana Fawcett, chief executive of Victim Support chief said “court delays and cancelled hearings” are having [...]
Weak British pound sees salaries paid out to Akin Gump’s new lawyers surge to £179,000 a year July 11, 2022 Newly qualified (NQ) lawyers at US law firm Akin Gump are set to see their salaries surge to new highs of £179,000 a year, after the firm amended the exchange rate it uses to calculate its London lawyers pay packages to reflect Britain’s weaker pound. The exchange rate switch up will effectively mean NQ lawyers [...]
Professional services network Xeinadin buys up Doncaster accounting firm Smith Craven July 11, 2022 London headquartered professional services firm Xeinadin has acquired Doncaster based accountancy firm Smith Craven. Xeinadin, which was formed through coming together of more than 100 independent accountancy firms throughout the UK and Ireland in 2019, has absorbed Smith Craven into its network, after first investing in the firm earlier this year. First established in 1928, [...]
Lawyers gearing up for ‘wave of litigation’ due to crypto crash: Furious Brits expected to claim losses back July 10, 2022 The collapse in the value of crypto is likely to lead to a raft of claims from UK investors who believe they have lost considerable sums of money after being mis-sold cryptocurrencies, lawyers have told City A.M. today. Mis-selling claims may arise in cases where cryptocurrencies were marketed as a low-risk investment, yet subsequently dropped [...]
Solvency II reforms will not be a ‘free lunch’ for insurance sector, Bank of England says July 8, 2022 The Bank of England (BoE) has said its post-Brexit shakeup of the rules that govern the UK’s insurance industry will not be a “free lunch” for the sector, that puts policyholders at risk. In a speech on Friday, Sam Woods, chief executive of the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said policyholders must be protected as [...]
Mining giant BHP fails in bid to throw record £5bn collapsed dam lawsuit out of court July 8, 2022 The UK’s Court of Appeals has said a £5bn claim against mining giant BHP over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao dam in Brazil should proceed in England’s courts. The claim, brought forward by more than 200,000 Brazilian citizens, hundreds of businesses, and 25 local municipalities, comes after the BHP and its joint-venture partner Vale’s [...]
Theranos president Sunny Balwani convicted on 12 counts for role at collapsed health tech firm July 8, 2022 The former president of Theranos has been convicted on all 12 counts brought against him over his role at the now discredited health technology firm. Sunny Balwani’s conviction marks the end of years of legal troubles for the exec after Theranos collapsed in 2016. Following a 13-week long trial, the 57-year year executive was convicted [...]
CMS hikes pay for newly qualified lawyers to £100,000 a year July 8, 2022 CMS has upped pay for its newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers for second time in a year, after raising their salaries to sums of £100,000 a year. The £5,000 pay rise for CMS’ freshly trained lawyers comes just a few months after the firm upped pay for its NQs to £95,000 a year in December 2021, according [...]
Russian oligarch backed fund LetterOne files lawsuit against private equity firm that cut ties following war in Ukraine July 7, 2022 The Luxembourg headquartered investment fund founded by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven has filed a lawsuit against the London private equity firm that manages $5bn (£4.2bn) of it’s money. Multi-billion-dollar investor LetterOne is taking legal action against Pamplona Capital Management, in calling on the private equity firm to open its books, after [...]
Black cab drivers file legal challenge against ride-hailing app over claims business model is illegal July 7, 2022 A black cab drivers trade body has filed a legal challenge against ride-hailing app Free Now, over claims the taxi firm’s business model is illegal. The hackney carriage driver’s trade body, United Trade Action Group (UTAG), is seeking to argue that ride-hailing apps that lets customers hail private hire taxis are acting illegally. The body [...]