Solicitor suspended for a year after overcharging client with bill for £2.9m February 8, 2022 A solicitor has been banned from practicing for a year and ordered to pay costs amounting to £41,400, after a tribunal said he had tried to overcharge his client after asking more than £2.9m for his services. The tribunal said Nabeel Amer Sheikh had failed to act with “integrity” as it claimed the solicitor had [...]
Clifford Chance undecided on plans to ditch Canary Wharf HQ and slash size of offices February 8, 2022 Clifford Chance is weighing up plans to slash the size of its London offices, with a view to leaving its Canary Wharf headquarters and moving back into the City. However, City A.M. understands the London law firm has not yet come to a decision on whether to leave its docklands HQ or get rid of [...]
DLA Piper hikes pay for newly qualified lawyers in its London offices to £95k February 8, 2022 DLA Piper has said it will give its London lawyers an eight per cent pay rise in upping salaries paid to its newly qualified solicitors from £88,000 to £95,000. The law firm also said it will hike pay for freshly qualified lawyers by 35 per cent, by upping salaries for solicitors in its Birmingham, Leeds, [...]
Royal family’s law firm hires first apprentice solicitors February 8, 2022 Farrer & Co, the London law firm that represents the Queen on legal matters, has said it will hire its first apprentice solicitors to start in Autumn this year. The law firm told City A.M. that it will be taking on two apprentice solicitors to start in September this year. Apprentice solicitors hired by the [...]
Freshfields to support staff through the menopause with paid-for benefits February 7, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has adopted a new policy to support employees through the menopause. The City of London law firm is also offering specialist care to any employees experiencing symptoms of the menopause, through its private healthcare provider. Employees working in Freshfields UK offices will be able to book appointments with [...]
High-flying barrister Nicola Cain struck off for forging judge’s signature in Steele dossier lawsuit February 7, 2022 A high-flying barrister has been struck off for forging a judge’s signature, while defending former MI6 agent Christopher Steele against a libel action filed by Russian tech tycoon Aleksej Gubarev. Veteran barrister Nicola Cain was disbarred for giving her client, Christopher Steele, a fake High Court order, on which she had cut-and-pasted a copy of [...]
White male barristers earn twice as much as female, ethnic minority colleagues February 7, 2022 White male barristers earn more than twice as much as female barristers from ethnic minority backgrounds, figures from the Bar Standards Board (BSB) show. White men working as barristers earned £238,241 in 2020, while women from ethnic minority backgrounds earned just £98,324 over the same period of time. On average, female barristers earned just more [...]
Trowers & Hamlins and Bird & Bird give new lawyers a pay rise – but fail to match their US rivals February 6, 2022 City of London law firms Trowers & Hamlins and Bird & Bird have both hiked salaries for freshly qualified lawyers. London firm Bird & Bird has given its newly qualified (NQ) associates a 24 per cent pay rise after upping its NQs salaries by £17,000 from £71,000 to £88,000, according to figures from LegalCheek. The [...]
Meet Julien Martinet: The savvy lawyer who poached an entire team from law giant Hogan Lovells February 5, 2022 Julien Martinet this week hit the headlines for leaving Hogan Lovells, one of the biggest law firms in the world, to start his own specialist litigator, Swift Litigation – and taking his entire team of lawyers with him. Martinet’s departure from Hogan Lovell’s came after former Boies Schiller Flexner partner Natasha Harrison left the New [...]
Court grants sex worker anonymity in case against payments processor SumUp February 4, 2022 A British court has said an escort should be allowed to remain anonymous as she seeks to prevent card payments processor SumUp from banning sex workers from using its payments services. The court’s decision to grant anonymity to the escort – referred to only as Anna – will see her argue that SumUp’s decision to [...]