Last alpaca standing: Geronimo and owner on high alert as Kiwi animal faces destruction August 21, 2021 The owner of an alpaca who faces destruction after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis remains on “high alert” after a 24-hour reprieve expired. Helen Macdonald said officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are yet to visit her farm in south Gloucestershire to enforce the destruction order. Geronimo has twice tested [...]
Hundreds of ex-Debenhams staff launch legal action over lack of redundancy consultation August 20, 2021 Hundreds of Debenhams workers are launching legal action after they claim they were not given adequate notice for redundancy. Up to 800 former employees of the department store are participating in two group actions to employment tribunals, led by Simpson Millar and SDM Legal. Former staff said Debenhams should have collectively consulted with employees for [...]
Racial injustice more of a professional barrier than caregiving, says two thirds of lawyers August 5, 2021 Racial injustice is the biggest professional barrier for over two thirds of lawyers of colour, a report, published today, finds. In the study by Thomson Reuters, 68 per cent of black lawyers said racially related injustice was a key barrier to climbing up the legal ladder – the study found it was considered to be [...]
Fertility benefits – for lawyers or for law firms? August 4, 2021 More law firms in the City are offering paid leave or paying towards the costs of fertility treatments for their employees in a bid to stay up to date, and keep their lawyers. Last week law firm Ashurst announced what it called “landmark” changes to its global parental leave policy. Alongside offering a reduction in [...]
Judge dismisses lawyer’s harassment claim warning against ‘a culture of hyper-sensitivity’ August 3, 2021 A lawyer, who claimed she was unfairly dismissed from her £100,000-a-year job after being sexually harassed, has lost her case after a judge warned against “encouraging a culture of hyper-sensitivity”. Nirosha Sithirapathy, who worked as legal counsel at pharmaceutical research company PSI CRO UK, claimed that she was discriminated against because of her age and [...]
Goodwin ups newly qualified lawyers pay to £147k in a second rise this year July 30, 2021 US law firm Goodwin Procter has bumped up the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers in London for the second time this year, City A.M. understands. Junior lawyers at the firm have been given a pay increase of 7 per cent bringing their annual salary to £147,000 less than six months after Goodwin gave [...]
US law firms in the UK raise bonuses in battle for staff July 28, 2021 UK legal companies have been forced into a bidding war for junior associates employed by top-tier US firms. Top US law firm Goodwin Procter is offering sign-on bonuses to its London staff worth up to £36,000, according to a recruiter, City A.M. understands. Last week Slaughter and May announced that it would increase pay for [...]
Greensill Capital: The financial scandal that just won’t go away July 5, 2021 On Friday, it was announced that Credit Suisse will pay out a further $750m to backers of its Greensill-linked supply chain finance funds. Thus far, the lender has clawed back $6.1bn of the $10bn of its funding supported by collapsed supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital, up $200m on its previous update. The news follows, [...]
Top pay at US law firms climbs to over £150k for London’s new solicitors July 5, 2021 Legal practice for the elite has thrived in London despite the pandemic, as an increasing number of US law firms have upped their pay for new solicitors. Houston-based firm Vinson & Elkins last month confirmed its new starting pay of £153,400, up four per cent from the year prior. The Texan firm topped the ranks [...]
HMRC launches 13,000 investigations into potential Covid support scheme fraud June 28, 2021 The UK tax authority has opened almost 13,000 probes into businesses that may have abused the government’s coronavirus business support schemes. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is investigating potential fraud and other non-compliance with the rules for the use of the government’s furlough programme, self employment income support scheme, and the “eat out to help [...]