Battle for legal talent continues as even more law firms join the fray January 27, 2022 Major law firms DLA Piper, Duval & Stachenfeld, and Winston & Strawn have all decided to match Milbank in offering salaries of $215,000 (£160,500) a year. Chicago headquartered litigator Winston & Strawn yesterday said it would boost salaries paid out to its newly qualified associates by $10,000 a year, to match Milbank’s offer to new [...]
Quinn Emanuel opens office in Saudi Arabia in bid to capitalise on Vision 2030 January 27, 2022 Los Angeles headquartered law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has struck a deal with Saudi Arabian law firm Alrubayyi & Attorneys to open an office in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. The deal will see prominent Saudi litigator, Nasser Alrubayyi, join Quinn Emanuel as a partner. The partnership comes as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [...]
Magic Circle law firm Freshfields offers staff $60k worth of egg freezing, IVF, and surrogacy services January 26, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has said it will give each of its employees up to $60,000 (£44,430) worth of fertility clinic services, to cover the costs of egg and sperm freezing, in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and surrogacy. In a statement, Freshfields said it had partnered with fertility clinic Carrot Fertility, which offers a [...]
Goodwin Proctor ups the stakes in battle for legal talent in offering juniors £161,500 a year January 26, 2022 US law firm Goodwin Proctor has raised the stakes in the battle for legal talent, in offering newly qualified lawyers in its London office an unprecedented £161,500 a year. The Boston headquartered law firm’s move will see junior lawyers’ pay boosted by 10 per cent from £147,000 to £161,500, City AM understands. Goodwin’s decision to [...]
High Court blocks barrister’s appeal against six-month suspension for making lewd comments to woman on mini-pupillage January 25, 2022 The High Court has rejected an appeal put forward by a criminal barrister from Manchester against a decision to suspend him from practice for six months for making inappropriate comments to a woman he had brought into his office on work experience. Criminal barrister Michael Kearney was suspended from practice for six months, in March [...]
£150,000 salaries are “out-of-control” and will see lawyers burn out before they hit 30, top in-house lawyer says January 25, 2022 One of Britain’s most prominent in-house lawyers has said the “eye-watering sums” being paid out to newly qualified lawyers have gotten “out-of-control,” whilst claiming that solicitors on £150,000 salaries will burn out “before they hit 30.” The comments come after New York headquartered law firm Milbank last week upped the stakes in the battle for [...]
EY to open office for “neuro-diverse” tech workers in Manchester January 24, 2022 Accountancy firm EY is set to open an office for “neuro-diverse” tech workers in Manchester. EY said it will hire 100 people with “cognitive differences” such as ADHD, dyslexia, and autism, to work on projects involving emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, and the blockchain. The Manchester Neuro-Diverse Centre of Excellence (NDCoE) is set [...]
Government invests £1.3m into family mediation scheme, to cut divorce court backlog January 24, 2022 The government is set to invest a further £1.3m into its family mediation scheme, in an effort to keep divorce cases out of court. The new funding will provide an additional 2,440 vouchers for mediation services, with a view to freeing up space in divorce courts to cut the backlog built up during Covid-19. In [...]
Law firms opt for M&As over listing in plans to grow in 2022 January 24, 2022 Almost half (47 per cent) of UK law firms are considering mergers and acquisitions, as they seek to expand their geographical footprints and scale up their businesses, according to a poll commissioned by M&A broker Acquira. In a poll of 100 law firms, 47 said they are currently planning a merger or acquisition, with small- [...]
UK government to recruit 4,000 new magistrates in biggest court recruitment drive in 650 years January 24, 2022 The UK government is set to recruit 4,000 new magistrates from all sections of society, in a bid to make magistrates courts more representative and cut the court backlog built up during Covid-19. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said its plan to launch the largest recruitment drive in the Magistrates Courts’ 650-year long history could [...]