By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Professional Services Editor Maria Ward-Brennan is the Professional Services Editor at City AM, focused on law, Big Four, and other management and accounting consulting firms. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B.

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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 [...]
Class actions surge in UK, but public sees lawyers as main winners

December 1, 2025

Public awareness of class actions in the UK has reached the highest level since 2020, with the majority of the public believing they make money for law firms and litigation funders. A new report by Portland, shared exclusively with City AM, found that public awareness of class actions in the UK has reached 27 per [...]
‘Day-one’ rights abandoned: Lawyers warn six-month rule marks significant change for businesses

November 28, 2025

The government has caved at the final hurdle after weeks of the House of Lords ping-ponging the Employment Rights Bill over the controversial ‘day one’ rights. The House of Lords has been fighting back against several key points in the Bill, especially the day-one rights. The highly contested Bill was a significant part of Labour’s [...]
FTSE 100 Live: London house prices fall amid Budget jitters

November 28, 2025

Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Markets were still digesting the twist, turns and taxes of the Autumn Budget on Thursday, with ministers taking to the media to defend the £26bn cash raid. A number of businesses began weighing in, including Britain’s bookies, which were in the firing line when Reeves took to the [...]
Reeves criticised over lack of action on ballooning clinical negligence costs in Budget

November 27, 2025

A leading medical defence organisation has criticised the Chancellor for missing the opportunity to tackle the ‘eye-watering’ NHS clinical negligence bill. In a statement following the Budget, Tom Reynolds, director of policy and communications at Medical Defence Union (MDU), explained that the “current system has led to legal fees ballooning to nearly four times the [...]
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 [...]

Would a £10bn VAT cut really save hospitality?

Platitudes in women’s sport are empty, patronising and offensive

Fogo de Chao nominated for Best Casual Dining Toast award

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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