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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Employment Rights Bill: Labour moves to scrap compensation cap for unfair dismissal

December 5, 2025

Businesses could face unlimited compensation for unfair dismissal claims as Labour seeks to appease unions after it abandoned ‘day one’ rights last week. After weeks of Employment Rights Bill ping-ponging over the controversial ‘day one’ rights, the government agreed last week to drop its pledge of ‘day one’ rights in exchange for rights over six [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Unilever demerger; House prices hit record high

December 5, 2025

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Autumn Budget started nearly an hour earlier than expected on 26 November after the fiscal watchdog leaked its forecasts for the UK and with it all the Labour government’s economic policy for the next year. But start as you mean to end rings true [...]
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 [...]
Accountants expect price hikes and job cuts following Budget

December 4, 2025

A chartered accountancy body has urged the government to consult on a path to a single VAT rate to simplify and restore business confidence following the Autumn Budget. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which represents over 140,000 UK members, reported negative overall sentiment toward the recent Budget. According to exclusive [...]
UK profit dips at BDO as partner numbers hit record

December 2, 2025

Mid-market accountancy giant BDO has seen its profit slip, with the firm blaming challenging market conditions and a significant increase in partner headcount for the decline. BDO UK delivered stable revenues of just £1bn over 2025, a slight dip after becoming a £1bn-turnover firm last year. Profit per equity partner (PEP) fell over 13 per [...]
Government slashes rights to trial by jury in court shake-up

December 2, 2025

Justice secretary David Lammy has confirmed his controversial plans to scrap some jury trials to tackle the nearly 80,000 criminal cases backlog. Speaking in the House of Commons, after a week of outrage following a leak of the plan, Lammy told MPs that he will “follow Sir Brian [Leveson]’s bold blueprint for change”, by creating [...]
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 [...]
Legora CEO: Law degree is not enough -‘AI knows the law’ – what do you bring?

December 2, 2025

AI has turned the business world on its head and no more so than in the legal sector, where knowledge-intensive roles going toe-to-toe with knowledge-based tech is driving a significant shift in the industry. A lot of the attention has been on the implications of the surge in investment in AI for jobs, especially at [...]
David Lammy promises ‘fast and fair justice’ plan after jury trial leak sparked outrage

December 2, 2025

After a week of criticism following leaked details of plans to scrap some jury trials, David Lammy is expected to address the controversy on Tuesday and outline the next steps in the government’s plan to overhaul the justice system. The backlog at the Crown Court stands at almost 80,000 cases, but the justice secretary has [...]
Former City minister Tulip Siddiq sentenced to two years over corruption charges

December 1, 2025

Labour’s Tulip Siddiq has been found guilty by a Bangladesh court of influencing ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina her aunt, to obtain plots of land on the outskirts of Dhaka. When Labour won power in July, Siddiq was appointed economic secretary to the Treasury and City minister. However, less than five months into her ministerial [...]

European banking jobs face AI reset ‘not mass job losses – for now’

Panmure Liberum: Netherlands will win first Fifa World Cup

Why I love hotel restaurants – and two of my favourites

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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