Football-style firings in SMEs: A risky game for business owners January 5, 2026 HR professionals are seeing SMEs start to copy football’s “sack the boss” culture when things go south for the company, but warn that this strategy could turn into an “expensive legal headache”. Managers of major football teams, especially those in the Premier League, can operate like a revolving door when the team is in a [...]
The six-figure club: Associates at elite US legal firms set for bonus boom December 30, 2025 More than 60 per cent of UK workers aren’t expecting a Christmas bonus this year, but that’s not the case for City lawyers, some of who will receive generous six-figure payouts. Many US law firms operate under the Cravath Scale, named after the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, a transparent lockstep system of associate [...]
New Companies House ID rule triggers 30 per cent slump in registrations December 29, 2025 Companies House’s new rules to prevent fraud have sparked a dramatic fall in new company registrations. As of 18 November, a new law came into effect requiring company directors to verify their identity, with failure to do so carrying enforcement risks. The new rules were part of Companies House’s new ID powers, which aim to [...]
The year in law: Scale, survival, and the surge of the transatlantic titans December 23, 2025 From the birth of new transatlantic titans to a government-led rescue of the litigation funding market, 2025 has seen the City’s legal landscape rewritten by a relentless pursuit of scale and a newfound reliance on the machine. The legal sector started the year with US President Donald Trump attacking the industry, as Trump vs Big [...]
Trump sues BBC for $10bn in Florida, citing producers trips to Mar-a-Lago December 16, 2025 US Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the BBC in the Southern District of Florida, alleging that BBC producers travelled to Florida to film “significant portions of the [Panorama] documentary”. Last month, Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn over the misleading edit of a Panorama programme, which spliced together two parts of [...]
English Common Law: Britain’s greatest soft power December 11, 2025 From London’s boardrooms to Abu Dhabi’s courtrooms, English law shapes the rules of global business as it quietly but decisively finds itself at the heart of international deals and disputes. The late Joseph S. Nye defined ‘soft power’ in the 1980s as “The ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants through attraction [...]
Welcome to JMW Signature December 10, 2025 From left to right, Craig Harrison, Ruben Sinha, Joe Cobb and Thomas Pearson At JMW Signature, we understand, and serve, the unique needs and dynamics of high and ultra-high net worth (UHNW) families, Family Offices and family businesses both in the UK and internationally. Our Key Services Our expertise spans the following core areas: • [...]
UK legal sector books double-digit revenue growth in 2024 December 9, 2025 Total revenue from legal activities in the UK reached a record £52.3bn in 2024, up 11 per cent from 2023, according to a new report by TheCityUK, published in partnership with Barclays. The UK boasts the world’s second-largest legal services market, trailing only the US, thanks to the dominance of English common law. Overall, the [...]
Birthday cookies and fine dining: Inside the law firm aiming for 5-Star service December 4, 2025 There are not many office buildings in the City where, just five feet in the door, you receive a personalised greeting, but Addleshaw Goddard’s client services team would put The Ritz to shame. How to stand out in a crowded field? That is the question plaguing most law firms as they battle to grow in [...]
Legora CEO: Troubled Robin AI ‘had two parallel business models’ December 2, 2025 The boss of legal tech firm Legora says troubled Robin AI had ‘two parallel business models’. Last month, City AM revealed London-based legal firm Robin AI was put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace after fundraising ambitions fell short. In the same month, it was hit with a winding-up petition by HMRC. The legal [...]