Practice Management
Strong results for law firms despite high inflation
Four out of 10 law firms increased revenues above inflation in the last financial year, while 89% expect revenue to go up in the current year, research has found.
Most law firms and in-house teams struggling to recruit
Three-quarters of law firms and in-house legal departments have found it difficult to hire staff in the last 12 months, new research has found.
Top law firms embrace branding with “emotional buy-in”
There is “an emerging class” of law firms among the top 100 which have adopted brands “evoking emotional buy-in and defining themselves as social and client champions”.
Law firm uses trainees to find problems and solve them with AI
A law firm is using teams of trainee solicitors to find problems that can be solved by artificial intelligence, develop solutions and present them to managers.
Mental health challenges “costing large law firms millions”
Mental health challenges are costing large law firms millions of pounds every year and reducing productivity by 19%, a report has indicated.
Make wellbeing “part of lawyers’ performance assessments”
Lawyers’ approach to wellbeing should form part of their performance assessments, while firms should have “open and honest discussions” with clients about mental health.
Large law firms negative about impact of GenAI on finances
The majority of large law firms outside of the top 10 are negative about the impact of generative artificial intelligence on their practices, new research has shown.
Traditional partnership losing appeal, says boss of PE-backed firm
The traditional partnership model is losing its grip on solicitors, according to the boss of a private equity-owned firm who says it has been able to do things it could not before the takeover.
Smaller firms falling out of love with merger, research finds
One in 10 smaller law firms are open to mergers or acquisitions, a proportion which has fallen steadily over the last two years, new research has found.
Scottish law firm extends English footprint with City acquisition
Scottish law firm Gilson Gray has extended its expansion south of the border by acquiring City of London-based PCM Solicitors, with plans to enter other markets too.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
