Latest news
Male partner fined £23k for lewd song directed at female trainee
A male partner who sang a song about a trainee solicitor’s vagina, accompanied by lewd gestures, at a Christmas party gathering in a pub has been fined £23,000.
Post Office scandal highlights risk of lawyers “absorbing client’s view”
The Post Office scandal highlights the dangers of lawyers absorbing and reflecting back their client’s view “without sufficient independence and critical detachment”.
Cyber-attack cost conveyancing giant £7m plus lost business
The November 2021 cyber-attack on the Simplify Group – the country’s largest conveyancing business – cost it £6.8m and also suppressed fee income, its annual report has shown.
Opportunities opening up for “long neglected” returners to the law
The legal profession’s growing appetite for hiring career returners is opening up a wealth of opportunities for a talented group of lawyers who have “long been neglected”.
Top Midlands firm is acquisition number 5 for private equity house
The private equity house looking to building a £100m legal services group has taken a major step towards that goal by acquiring leading East Midlands firm Nelsons.
Loss adjuster launches “faster, more integrated” ABS
The largest loss adjuster in the UK has launched an ABS which plans to double in size by the end of this year and expand from property-related claims to personal injury work.
Motor claims fall to new low as self-representation creeps up
The number of motor injury claims reported to the Compensation Recovery Unit fell to their lowest first-quarter level ever this year, new figures have shown.
Drug dealer not “pressurised to plead guilty” by lawyers
The Court of Appeal has rejected a claim from a convicted drug dealer that he was “pressurised” to plead guilty by “negligent advice” from his lawyers.
SRA bans Court of Protection fee-earner and rebukes her supervisor
A fee-earner who failed to manage a vulnerable client’s affairs properly – using her own money to cover her errors – and the partner who supervised her have both been sanctioned.
Axiom founder loses appeal over 14-year fraud sentence
Timothy Schools, the struck-off solicitor jailed for 14 years last summer for pocketing at least £20m from the Axiom Legal Financing Fund, has failed in a bid to reduce his sentence.
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.
