Latest news
Blixt to pay £22m for first two acquisitions as it builds national practice
The private equity house looking to building a £100m group over the coming years is set to spend nearly £18m on its most recent acquisition, Lancashire law firm Farleys, it has emerged.
Solicitor’s legal spending platform raises $7m for further expansion
A legal spending analytics and tracking platform has raised $7m (over £5.7m) in its latest funding round, some of which will be used for expansion into the USA.
Class actions focusing on banks and competition law breaches
The UK’s biggest banks are facing 109 class actions across different jurisdictions, while the value of UK class actions for competition law breaches multiplied more than six fold to over £26bn last year.
BSB performance in the red as LSB raises SRA enforcement concerns
Pressure on the Bar Standards Board to improve its performance ratcheted up today after it scored by far the worst of all the legal regulators in the Legal Services Board’s annual assessment.
Solicitor fined for handling follow-on property management work
A retired solicitor has been fined £7,500 for using client accounts as banking facilities over decades to handle property management work for Arab clients.
US lawyer urged clients to infect opposing counsel with “nasty disease”
A US lawyer advised his clients to have someone with Covid or another “highly infectious, nasty disease” lick and handle an envelope being sent to opposing counsel, it has emerged.
“Underappreciated” associates want to leave law firms
“Feeling underappreciated” is the most common reason why associates want to leave their law firms, a study has found, with women more likely than men to be looking to change jobs.
Solicitor can sue ex-firm for misuse of private WhatsApp messages
The High Court has rejected a law firm owner’s attempt to “stifle” a misuse of private information claim by a junior solicitor he dismissed by applying to have her case struck out.
New Bar chair calls on Ministry of Justice to review LSB
The new chair of the Bar Council has called on the Ministry of Justice to review the Legal Services Board, prompting a tart response from the oversight regulator.
Mid-sized law firms “could save £400,000 a year” from digitisation
Medium-sized law firms could save around £400,000 every year and reduce carbon emissions by digitising paperwork, research has estimated.
Blog
Regulate sole practices on evidence, not turnover
For a sole practice, the SRA’s plan that I cannot hold a compliance role if my firm has more than £600,000 of turnover is not a measure of risk. It is a ceiling on growth.
Is Google becoming pay-to-play for law firms?
For years, law firms have been told that SEO is the long-term alternative to paying for every click. That principle hasn’t disappeared but search results have changed significantly.
Material information and the case for intelligent client onboarding
Upfront information means work traditionally undertaken after an offer is accepted will need to happen earlier. And that fundamentally changes the role of client onboarding.
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