Laytons ETL completes acquisition of City of London real estate specialist Cannings Connolly March 31, 2022 Laytons ETL Global has completed its acquisition of City of London law firm Cannings Connolly, marking Laytons’ first acquisition since it joined ETL Global last year. In a statement Laytons’ managing partner John Abbott said the deal will add “valuable” new strings to its bow, by expanding its commercial real estate and construction offerings. The [...]
Law Society supports British judges’ decisions to step down from Hong Kong’s top court March 30, 2022 The Law Society of England and Wales has said it supports the decisions made by two top-ranking British judges to resign from Hong Kong’s highest court, after they claimed the city-state’s crackdown on free speech has made their positions untenable. Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said the Law Society shared Lord Reed’s assessment that [...]
Law firms drive demand for London’s ‘super-prime’ office space March 29, 2022 Law firms are driving demand for “super-prime” office space in Central London, amid fierce competition to recruit and retain legal talent. Law firms took up more than a quarter (27 per cent) of all office space in the City of London last year, according to figures from Knight Frank. Intense competition between law firms to [...]
Coca Cola scraps policy requiring law firms to have 30 per cent ‘diverse’ staff March 29, 2022 The Coca Cola Company has scrapped a policy requiring any outside law firms it works with to have 30 per cent “diverse” staff. Coca Cola’s decision to scrap its diversity policy comes after the firm faced pressure from a group of shareholders threatening legal action against the drinks maker over its ethnic diversity policy, according [...]
Law firm price comparison sites could push smaller businesses out, Law Society says March 29, 2022 Law Society vice president Lubna Shuja has said regulators’ plans to push law firms onto price comparison sites could lead to big firms monopolising the market and pushing smaller firms aside. The solicitor warned that efforts to force law firms to appear on digital price comparison tools could result in law firms carrying higher costs, [...]
Clyde & Co agrees merger with BLM following partner vote March 29, 2022 City of London law firm Clyde & Co has agreed to merge with insurance specialist law firm BLM. The merger will see the two firms join forces to form a major global law firm with more than £700m in revenues and 5,300 employees – including 2,600 lawyers. The coming together of the two firms is [...]
Dubai Sheikh labelled domestic abuser by judge as he loses custody of children March 25, 2022 A British judge has said Dubai’s sole leader inflicted “exorbitant” domestic abuse against his ex-wife, after he launched a campaign of “coercive ad controlling behaviour” against the mother of his children. The Family Court awarded sole custody for the couple’s two children, to the former wife of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as [...]
Tory minister names and shames two more City law firms that worked for Russian oligarchs March 25, 2022 Cabinet minister James Cleverly has named two other law firms that sent legal letters to the Foreign Office seeking to challenge the government’s sanctions regime on behalf of “Russian or Russian-linked” clients. The Conservative MP said City of London law firms W Legal and Peters & Peters both sought to challenge the UK’s sanctions. In [...]
Bar Council chief hits out at critics who say lawyers are enabling Vladimir Putin’s regime March 25, 2022 The head of the Bar Council has claimed lawyers are being unfairly criticised as “facilitators and enablers” of Vladimir Putin’s regime. Speaking at a service at Temple Church last night, Mark Fenhalls QC, chair of the body that represent barristers, hit out at critics of the lawyers who have worked for those with links to [...]
Hundreds of Knights’ worker opted into share options scheme as stock price plummets March 24, 2022 Shares in listed law firm Knights Plc continued to plummet today, as it emerged that hundreds of Knights’ workers had agreed to buy shares at more than double their current price, after opting into an employee ownership scheme. A total of 524 employees opted into Knights’ Save As You Earn scheme, which offered company employees [...]