Latest news
Pandemic turned Slater & Gordon profit into £20m loss
The pandemic hit Slater & Gordon hard, with a £12m profit turning into a £20m loss in 2020, newly published accounts have shown. Its turnover for the year fell 8.6% to £111m.
High Court strikes out law professor’s libel claims
The High Court has struck out libel claims made by a former Warwick University law professor against two fellow academics, an investigator and a law student.
S&G refunds £4,000 deduction in latest Checkmylegalfees clash
The latest battle between Slater & Gordon and Checkmylegalfees.com has seen the law firm refund £4,000 it deducted from a client’s damages where he was signed up to a CFA 97 seconds after receiving it.
First law firm deal for ‘House of brands’ group
Legal and professional services group Ampa – which owns Shakespeare Martineau – has made its first law firm acquisition since unveiling its innovative ‘house of brands’ strategy.
Judge slashes QC’s £110k brief fee for case that settled before trial
A costs judge has slashed the £110,000 brief fee sought by a claimant when his case settled nearly three weeks ahead of trial and before the QC had started preparing for it.
CILEX member permanently excluded after fraud convictions
A member of CILEX has been permanently excluded from the institute following her convictions for fraud and providing unqualified immigration advice.
LPC pass rate holds up despite pandemic
The pass rate for legal practice course students was virtually unchanged for the academic year ending in the summer of 2020 despite the pandemic, new figures have shown.
Advocates use ‘with respect’ in court as “marker of disrespect”
Advocates can use the word “respect” as “an implicit marker of disrespect” when addressing opposing counsel in court, academics have found.
Costs judges “can deal with disputes” over law firm retainers
There is no need for a dispute over a law firm’s fees to be transferred from the Senior Courts Costs Office to the Chancery Division simply because it involves the validity of a retainer, a costs judge has ruled.
Mishcon de Reya hit with big fine for anti-money laundering failures
Mishcon De Reya – the leading London firm heading for a stock market listing this year – has agreed to pay a fine of £232,500 over multiple breaches of anti-money laundering rules.
Blog
Why law firms are getting AI supervision wrong
The profession’s response to AI supervision failures misunderstands the nature of LLM output – there needs to be for a shift in the culture.
Beyond the PII premium – rethinking risk
Professional indemnity insurance renewal is often treated as an annual pricing exercise. But it is also a chance to show how effectively you identify, manage and mitigate risk.
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
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