Latest news
Solicitor who founded listed legal business quits as CEO
The solicitor who set up the law firm MJ Hudson and then took it public has announced his intention to resign as group chief executive in the wake of its shares being suspended.
Paralegal awarded £30k over pregnancy discrimination and low pay
A solicitor has been ordered to pay a paralegal over £30,000 after an employment tribunal found he discriminated against her once she became pregnant.
High Court rejects “pugnacious” ex-solicitor’s strike-off appeal
A solicitor struck off for making false and misleading statements on applications for professional indemnity insurance has failed in her appeal to the High Court.
Huge scope for smaller law firms to improve ESG
There is huge scope for smaller law firms to improve their ESG performance, while all firms should have policies on which clients they will and will not work for.
Judge inappropriately interrupted cross-examination, CA rules
A judge who interrupted a claimant 52 times during cross-examination acted inappropriately, the Court of Appeal has held. It accepted he was trying to help the claimant.
Charter aims to “shift the dial” on female barristers’ earnings
The Chancery Bar Association has published a charter on fairness in work allocation and earnings which aims to “shift the dial” in a favour of female barristers.
New funder for public interest cases which “clarify the law”
A new initiative launching next month aims to provide a stream of funding for public interest cases which “clarify the law” and are unsuitable for crowdfunding.
Ask me anything – Allen & Overy adopts ChatGPT-style legal AI tool
Global law firm Allen & Overy has become the first law firm to adopt an AI assistant similar to ChatGPT to help speed up the work of more than 3,500 lawyers.
BSB leaves door open to reaccreditation of barristers
The Bar Standards Board has said it is open to “revisiting” its position that a reaccreditation scheme to ensure the competence of barristers is unnecessary.
SRA to keep many disciplinary decisions online for longer
Details of many disciplinary and other regulatory actions taken by the Solicitors Regulation Authority will be published for longer than they are now, the regulator has decided.
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.
