Latest news
Tribunal makes protective awards to staff of defunct Newcastle firm
The employment tribunal has issued protective awards in favour of 13 former employees of Newcastle firm Short Richardson & Forth for failing to consult over their redundancies.
Another non-legal acquisition for Gateley with £6m surveying firm
Listed law firm Gateley has increased its non-legal professional capabilities by spending £6m on an East Midlands chartered surveyors practice, while also setting up a collective actions practice.
High Court removes privilege in fraud claim involving top law firm
Legal professional privilege should not apply in a case where there is a “very good arguable case” that a client used global firm DLA Piper’s services to assist a fraud, the High Court has ruled.
ABS platform now hosts five firms after latest acquisition
Law firm platform Bamboo has acquired Midlands-based Hawkins Hatton, making it the fifth practice operating through its umbrella alternative business structure.
Solicitors “should get empathy training”, LSB research suggests
Solicitors should get training in “soft skills/empathy” as part of their continuing professional development, research for the Legal Services Board has suggested.
CLC warns conveyancers over breaching undertakings
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers has received “too many complaints” about some of the practices it regulates breaching undertakings.
BSB drops transgender case study from revised social media guidance
The Bar Standards Board has dropped a case study from its revised social media guidance concerning gender-critical views after it was accused of promoting a ‘gender ideology’.
SDT clears ex-trainee of lying to law firm about LPC performance
A former trainee in the London office of a US law firm has been cleared of telling partners he had not failed any legal practice course examinations, when in fact he had.
LSB has “no role” in regulating lawful use of NDAs, Bar Council says
The Legal Services Board has “no role” in “attempting to control or regulate lawyers involved in assisting clients in the lawful use of NDAs”, the Bar Council has said.
SRA shuts down three immigrations firms caught in Daily Mail sting
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has shut down three of the law firms named in a Daily Mail undercover investigation last week after the newspaper provided recordings and transcripts.
Blog
From ‘year zero’ to £6.5m – how a law firm found its second life
In 2018, I hit what I call ‘year zero’. On paper, Olliers Solicitors was a top-tier criminal defence firm but beneath the surface, I could see we were at a crossroads.
Linklaters’ chief growth officer takes the ‘blank sheet’ challenge
In the third and final part of this series, Lucy Murphy, chief growth officer at magic circle firm Linklaters, outlines her vision for the law firm of the future.
The ‘blank sheet’ challenge, part 2 – what would you do differently?
In the second part of this blog series, Shainul Kassam, managing director of small London firm Fortune Law, sets out how she would set up a law firm now.
