associate news

Since the opening of PRC’s legal market to foreign law firms in 1992, many have established a presence in China’s coastal cities. There are now about 200 foreign law firms with registered offices in mostly Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong (Regulated by a separate authority, the Hong Kong Law Society). Setting up offices in these cities has its own advantages, being China’s tier-one cities with well developed infrastructure and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) growth almost every year, but the markets are moving quickly towards saturation. With China’s 12th Five-Year Plan in 2011 shifting its economic focus from coastal to inner cities, such as Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Dalian, Wuhan and Qingdao, all having inhabitants of at least one million. Foreign Investors will be drawn into inner China for lower factor cost and new market opportunities, thus generating great demands for the legal sector. But with most international law firms having their major area of operation limited in coastal China, theses demands are not being met.

With offices in London and Manchester, Fentons Solicitors LLP has been providing legal services for over 80 years and has one of the largest claimant PI departments in the country, recovering tens of millions of pounds worth of compensation for accident victims every year.

mmadigital helps Ward Hadaway launch a new personal injury brand

The SRA Handbook and Code have been in force since 6 October 2011 and COLPs and COFAs took up their roles formally from 1 January 2013. Incredible to think it has been more than 6 months.

The judging panel for the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards is set to meet soon, when it will decide which firms and individuals are to be shortlisted for Yorkshire’s premier legal event.

The UK’s leading provider of Case Management Software – Eclipse Legal Systems – has announced integration with the leading UK provider of vehicle lookup data, CDL Vehicle Information Services (CDL VIS).

Riliance recently launched its FREE survey tool in conjunction with the Law Society to enable practices to collate and report on their firm’s diversity profile; to date over 500 firms have registered covering over 25,000 employees.

Sitting at our desks on what has been the hottest week for seven years it is difficult to think that in a blink of an eye it will be winter. But as sure as night follows day so winter will follow summer and autumn!

There is no doubt about it, times are tough right now. Hardly a week goes by without reports of a law firm going under, or facing intervention by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. But recognising weaknesses in your performance early on and taking prompt action to improve efficiencies can make all the difference in turning around your financial fortunes.

The next few years are likely to be a period of relentless change for law firms – with new competition, more regulatory battles, and too many solicitors chasing too little work. This is the first in a series of Core Legal “Top Tips” for law firms not only to survive but thrive in the new legal landscape.