Law Society calls £404m spent on court agency staff an ‘expensive sticking plaster’ June 15, 2022 The Law Society has hit out at HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), after the government admitted spending £404m on court agency staff over a five-year period. The solicitors’ association called the government’s use of agency staff an “expensive sticking plaster,” as it said the £404m sum “could be put to better use”. “To [...]
Dominic Raab intervened to increase legal watchdog’s fining powers June 15, 2022 Justice secretary Dominic Raab personally intervened to push forward plans to increase the solicitor’s watchdog’s fining powers, after MPs called for a toughening up of the regulator, to deter law firms from working for oligarchs. The Deputy Prime Minister “sought the views” of the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and Legal Services Board, whilst [...]
JP Morgan wins £1.4bn court battle against Nigeria June 14, 2022 A High Court judge today ruled in favour of JP Morgan, after dismissing Nigeria’s $1.7bn (£1.4bn) lawsuit against the bank, over claims it acted negligently by transferring $875m to an account linked to convicted money launderer and former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete. The ruling comes after Nigeria first sued JP Morgan in 2017, over [...]
Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel strikes deal with largest creditor to hold off enforcement actions June 14, 2022 Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel Group has struck a deal with its largest creditor to give it more time to refinance its debts. The embattled steel manufacturer has agreed a “standstill agreement” with collapsed German financier Greensill Bank to pause all enforcement actions against Liberty, over debt facilities provided to the firm in 2019. The deal [...]
Government’s ‘immoral’ Rwanda plan should ‘shame us as a nation,’ Archbishop says June 14, 2022 A group of high-ranking Bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, have hit out at the government over its plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. In a letter to The Times, a group of 20 senior Church of England figures, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, said the government’s “immoral” plans [...]
Let lawyers take holidays without having to work, Mayer Brown managing partner says June 13, 2022 Mayer Brown’s UK managing partner has told partners in the law firm not to disturb associates on their holidays – apart from in emergencies. In an internal memo seen by The Lawyer, Dominic Griffiths, the highest-ranking partner at Mayer Brown’s London office, told the law firm’s senior lawyers not to interrupt younger lawyers’ holidays, as [...]
Lloyds Bank to pay staff extra £1,000 each to deal with UK’s cost-of-living crisis June 13, 2022 Lloyds Bank is set to pay £1,000 bonuses to the vast majority of its UK staff to help them deal with the cost-of-living crisis. The UK’s biggest retail bank is set to give one-off, £1,000 bonuses to more than 64,000 of its rank-and-file staff, according to an internal memo seen by City A.M. The bank [...]
Brexit: UKIP donor Arron Banks loses libel lawsuit against Carole Cadwalladr after High Court backs journalist’s public interest defence June 13, 2022 Brexit campaigner Arron Banks has lost his libel lawsuit against Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, in a decision welcomed by the investigative reporter as a “victory for public interest journalism”. The ruling comes after Banks sued Cadwalladr over claims made on two separate occasions – during a TED talk in 2019 and on Twitter in the [...]
City watchdog convicted just two people for insider trading in the past five years June 13, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog achieved just two successful convictions against individuals for insider trading over the past five years, according to The Times. New data recovered from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) via a freedom of information (FoI) request shows the watchdog secured just two successful convictions in the five years running from [...]
Divorce filings surged after ‘no-fault’ laws came into force June 10, 2022 The coming into force of “no-fault divorce” laws led to spike in couples filing for divorce, new HMCTS figures show. Almost doubled the number of divorce applications were filed in April 2022 compared to April the previous year, after no fault divorce laws came into force. The new laws, which allow couples to separate amicably [...]