‘Snotty tweets’: Amazon clashes with Elizabeth Warren over taxes and unions March 27, 2021 Amazon has become embroiled in a rare public row with US senator Elizabeth Warren over issues including its tax and employment practices. The dispute kicked off on Thursday when the Massachusetts senator posted a video accusing Amazon of “exploiting loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes”. The ecommerce giant replied saying [...]
Ikea France on trial over illegal spying on employees and customers March 22, 2021 Ikea’s French subsidiary and several of its former executives have gone on trial over accusations that they illegally spied on employees and customers. Trade unions reported the furniture and home goods company to French authorities in 2012, accusing it of collecting personal data by fraudulent means and the illicit disclosure of personal information. The unions [...]
Listed law firm Knights buys 60-year-old Surrey firm March 22, 2021 UK law firm Knights will acquire Surrey-based Mundays for £5.3m in a move that will increase the group’s presence in the South East. Knights will pay £3.93m up front for the smaller law firm, followed by cash payments worth £1.375m to be paid over two years. Knights CEO David Beech said: “The acquisition of Mundays [...]
Uber’s treatment of workers wasn’t sustainable, but the ruling shouldn’t be the downfall of the gig economy March 18, 2021 This week we saw Uber’s lengthy court battle with regulation come to an end, as the Supreme Court ruled that it must classify its drivers as workers, entitling them to minimum pay, holiday and pensions. The debate around the welfare of gig economy employees has been on the agenda for a good few years now, [...]
Clash of the consultants: Secretariat sues rival over fake Glassdoor review March 9, 2021 Consultancy firm Secretariat is suing rival HKA, after one of the bosses allegedly posted damaging reviews about Secretariat on website Glassdoor. Secretariat has filed a lawsuit in California alleging that Toby Hunt, who is partner, chief business development officer and head of Europe at HKA, made damaging comments on employer review site Glassdoor while posing [...]
Greensill files for administration putting thousands of steel jobs at risk March 8, 2021 Greensill Capital has this afternoon filed for administration, potentially putting at risk thousands of jobs in the UK steel industry. Lawyers for the boutique bank, which is one of the main sources of funding for steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire, appeared before a UK court today, the FT reported. According to court documents, Greensill [...]
Lawyers know best: Is it time law firms left the LLP behind? March 8, 2021 Recent legislative changes have paved the way for new, alternative structures in law firms, a sector that was previously dominated by traditional partnerships and LLPs – limited liability partnerships. Alternative business structures (ABSs) – which allow non-lawyers to have a financial stake in a firm – have grown in popularity throughout the 2010s, and for [...]
Exclusive: Jefferies drops mooted ‘no jab, no entry’ policy for office return February 25, 2021 Global investment bank Jefferies has dropped plans to require staff to receive a vaccine before returning to the office, City A.M. can reveal. An all-staff memo, sent at the start of the month, said that “verification of vaccination will be required to access the office” once work-from-home restrictions were lifted across the globe. But a [...]
Exclusive: Legal consultant model to become dominant among mid-market law firms February 25, 2021 The legal consultant business model will become the dominant model among high street and mid-market law firms, with around a third of UK lawyers predicted to be working under such a model in five years’ time. The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a “catalyst” for industry disruption, exposing the “poor management and outdated operating models [...]
Supreme Court allows release of Trump’s tax returns to prosecutor February 22, 2021 The US Supreme Court has paved the way for a New York City prosecutor to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns, in a major setback for the former President. The documents will be subject to grand jury secrecy rules that restrict their public release. The documents form part of a criminal investigation into Trump, who has [...]