Practice Management
Solicitor constructively dismissed over return to work after giving birth
An associate solicitor has won her claim for unfair dismissal over the way her then law firm employer handled her return to work after maternity leave.
Firms billing more often to combat slow-paying clients
Many law firms plan to bill and collect more frequently to combat clients taking longer to pay as they try to reduce lock-up, a report has found.
“Unstuffy” ABS hits £7m turnover in less than five years
A Yorkshire alternative business structure founded in 2019 by a solicitor and non-lawyer has grown its turnover from £500,000 in year one to £7m as it expands its range of services.
Firms “asking staff to spend more days in the office”
More than a fifth of legal professionals across the UK have been asked by their employers to spend more time in the office, but few want to return to it full-time.
Law firm extends opening hours after staff move to four-day week
A Scottish law firm has extended its opening hours after most of its staff moved to working a four-day week, the latest to experiment with this new way of working.
New ICO certification for lawyers gives “certainty” on data processing
The Information Commissioner’s Office has approved a certification scheme which it says will provide law firms, chambers and others with “certainty” when processing personal data.
KPMG Law chief: GenAI will reshape conversations about billing
Generative AI will move lawyers further away from hourly billing and into discussions with clients about the need for a commercial return on their investment in the technology.
First law firm B Corp calls in B Corp ALSP
Bates Wells, the first UK law firm to become a B Corp, has started working with alternative legal services provider Obelisk Support, while Freeths has become the largest legal B Corp.
Lawyers’ use of generative AI “accelerating quickly”
Lawyers’ use of generative AI is accelerating quickly but there is a major mismatch between in-house and private practice expectations of the impact on billing, new research has found.
Scale and pace of law firm M&A “will increase this year”
There is a “higher level of confidence” among law firm buyers and “clear signs that the scale and pace” of M&A will increase in 2024, a report has found.
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.
Reports
Associates
