By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Senior Reporter Maria Ward-Brennan is a senior reporter focused on law and professional services. Contact her via email on maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B

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David Lammy avoids urgent questions on jury scrapping plans

November 27, 2025

Justice secretary David Lammy was a no-show at urgent questions in the House of Commons on Thursday, prompting Robert Jenrick to ask about his whereabouts as the justice minister took his place. The questions stem from a leaked memo reported on Tuesday, in which Lammy proposed scrapping some jury trials to tackle the backlog of [...]
Budget: Treasury focused on ‘closing tax gap’ with US-style whistleblower scheme

November 26, 2025

Rachel Reeves revealed in her Budget that the government continues to focus on closing the tax gap, with new measures set to raise an additional £2bn in tax revenue by 2029-30. The Chancellor pledged that the government will target “fraudulent businesses” that don’t pay their tax by providing HMRC with new compliance powers. A large [...]
Autumn Budget: Professional services sector dodged ‘damaging’ tax hikes

November 26, 2025

The professional services sector breathed a sigh of relief after dodging tax hikes on LLPs in Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget. It was rumoured that Reeves was looking to add a layer of tax on limited liability partnerships (LLPs), a move that sparked a flurry of anger from the broader professional services industry, including the legal [...]
Robert Jenrick leads pushback against David Lammy’s plans to scrap jury trials

November 25, 2025

The justice secretary is facing accusations of hypocrisy over his proposed scrapping of jury trials, after his Tory opposite number Robert Jenrick said it was a system David Lammy once ‘proudly defended’ before coming to power. Jenrick stated, “Now [Lammy is] in office, he’s getting rid of them in virtually every case. “Scrapping this pillar [...]
David Lammy proposing to scrap some jury trials to tackle backlog

November 25, 2025

As the criminal justice system continues to crumble, the justice secretary David Lammy is reportedly proposing a major shake-up that would scrap some jury trials. Currently, all criminal trials are heard in front of a jury that decides on the accused’s fate; however, Lammy’s proposal will see jury trials only for murder, rape or manslaughter [...]
Big Four giants poised to benefit from booming tech consulting spend

November 24, 2025

The technology consulting market is anticipated to grow by 7 per cent in 2026, reaching over $400bn (£312bn) as businesses race to upgrade legacy infrastructure to align with new tech. According to a new report by Source Global Research, technology consultants are in high demand, with the market growing 4 per cent in 2024 and expected [...]
New York law firm Cohen & Gresser in talks over £30m private equity deal

November 24, 2025

New York law firm Cohen & Gresser is in talks to sell a stake to a private equity group, weeks after McDermott Will & Schulte expressed interest in restructuring the firm to secure outside funding. The firm has been in talks around the sale of a $40m (£30.5m) convertible note that would ultimately be swapped [...]
Clifford Chance AI-driven redundancies hit London business service roles

November 21, 2025

Law firm Clifford Chance is preparing for dozens of redundancies after launching a restructuring of its London business services team. Around 10 per cent of the 550 employees are set to lose their jobs, according to the Financial Times. It was reported that the magic circle firm told staff last month that greater use of [...]
Reeves vows to halve consultancy bill, but government can’t track its spending

November 21, 2025

Despite the government setting an ambitious target to halve overall spending on consultants, a new report suggests, the lack of consistent data hinders efforts to track progress toward spending targets. Rachel Reeves has set targets to halve the UK government’s overall spending on consultants in 2025-26 and to save £550m in 2024-25, aiming for £700m [...]
Money talks, but culture counts in transatlantic law firm tie-ups

November 20, 2025

A merger between a notable US outfit and a UK-headquartered legal firm used to be a rare event, but with the focus on global dominance, these strategic moves are now attracting more attention – as more firms begin to follow suit. This week, London-based Ashurst agreed to merge with Seattle-based Perkins Coie, and overnight it [...]

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Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival to drive millions into Scotch sector

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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