Monzo and Wise founders back £8.8m Robin AI robot lawyer project February 27, 2023 A City computing company has raised $10.5m (£8.8m) from backers including top execs from Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) driven, robot lawyer. The founders of fintech firms Monzo and Wise have also thrown their weight behind London’s Robin AI, which is seeking to disrupt the legal sector with [...]
Who’s winning the City’s talent war? The firms that paid the most in 2022 December 24, 2022 Where to find the best paid job? As strikes over pay have brought the country to a halt, it is notable that workers in one sector in particular have seen their pay packets bulge in 2022. Aside from criminal barristers, who carried out a month’s long strike this summer, those working in private sector legal [...]
Linklaters becomes second Magic Circle law firm to launch apprenticeship scheme December 11, 2022 Linklaters has become the second of the UK’s elite ‘Magic Circle’ law firms to offer aspiring solicitors an alternate route to becoming a high-flying lawyer, after launching its own apprenticeship scheme. The City law firm’s new scheme will see six school leavers undergo on-the-job training over a six-year period, following which they will become fully [...]
Clifford Chance elects new chief to replace incumbent after just one term December 6, 2022 Partners at Clifford Chance today elected capital markets chief Adrian Cartwright as the law firm’s new top-ranking partner, in overthrowing the firm’s current chief after just one term. Clifford Chance’s global head of capital markets, Adrian Cartwright, won a three-way election to take over leadership of the Magic Circle firm. Cartwright will succeed ESG [...]
Slaughter and May lets lawyers clock out of emails from 10pm to 8am October 30, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May is set to let its lawyers log out of their emails after 10pm in a bid to prevent “unnecessary incursions” on its employees’ work-life balances. However, lawyers at the elite London firm must still be “reachable by phone” and may still be required to check emails past 10pm [...]
City law firms have youngest partners, new research shows August 31, 2022 The City’s high-paying corporate law firms have more young partners than those working in any other sector of the legal business, new research from legal sector accountancy firm Hazelwoods shows. Almost two fifths (38 per cent) of partners at City of London firms are now under the age of 44, as young lawyers are [...]
Payday: City law firm hikes starting salary for junior lawyers to £120k July 2, 2022 Square Mile law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has boosted its starting salary for junior lawyers to £120,000, as the City pay battle wages on. The firm has hiked pay for junior lawyers by 24 per cent, in a bid to compete with other law firms also increasing staff pay. The increase comes as Bank of [...]
London’s elite Magic Circle law firms promote record number of partners as talent war rages on May 9, 2022 London’s prestigious Magic Circle law firms have promoted a record number of partners this year, in a sign the battle for talent is raging on at the most senior levels of the UK’s top firms. London’s five Magic Circle law firms – Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Slaughter and May, Linklaters, and Allen & Overy – promoted [...]
‘Appalling’ war prompts Linklaters to pull out of Russia and close down its entire Moscow office after 30 years March 7, 2022 Legal giant Linklaters confirmed to City A.M. it is closing down its entire Russian operations, after a presence of more than three decades. In an email, the Magic Circle law firm said that, after careful consideration and “as the appalling war in Ukraine continues, we will wind down our operations in Russia and close our [...]
Linklaters changes pay structure to reward ‘exceptional’ partners as bidding war for talent rages on December 16, 2021 Linklaters plans to shift its traditional pay model for partners so “exceptional” individuals can be held on to with larger salaries. Senior partner Aedamar Comiskey confirmed in a statement that the move, which will apply globally, was backed by Linklaters’ 500 partners through a vote. The main changes include the ability to offer more money [...]