Practice Management
Law firms failing to help general counsel stay up-to-date
Most general counsel spend at least five hours a week keeping up-to-date with legal developments but law firms are not delivering the content they need.
Profession “gives least support to lawyers caring for relatives”
The legal profession gives least support to lawyers caring for relatives who are not their children, while lawyers without children are also often overlooked, a poll of freelance lawyers has found.
Private equity house backs fourth law firm acquisition
The private equity house looking to building a £100m legal services group has made its fourth acquisition with a bolt-on for Lancashire firm Farleys.
Law Society research highlights solicitor wellbeing woes
Solicitors score lower than the UK average on all positive measures of wellbeing, and are more likely to rate their anxiety higher, Law Society research has revealed.
Employee ownership specialists become employee owned
A law firm specialising in employee ownership, which has advised other law firms on setting up employee ownership trusts, has itself become 100% owned by its employees.
Bolt-ons and regional deal buck quiet M&A market
Merger and acquisition activity has been slow in the first quarter of 2023, but there have been niche bolt-ons, a Kent merger and a chambers merger too.
Corporate work to drive legal market growth in 2023
The legal services market should see a year of steady growth in 2023, with corporate law the main driver, and family law and probate demand also strong, new research has predicted.
SME firms performing well even though chargeable hours fall
Small and mid-sized law firms had a good year financially in 2021/22 but could perform better still if their fee-earners were billing the hours they should, research has found.
PE-backed family law firm makes second acquisition in a year
A second acquisition in a year by private equity-owned Stowe Family Law leads the way in our round-up of the latest activity among alternative business structures.
Clients “holding City law firms to account on diversity”
Clients are holding City law firms to account on diversity and firms that fail to respond to this pressure will lose work, the chair of the City of London Law Society has said.
Blog
Accountability has to live within governance, not with one person
The assumption has long been that a COLP or COFA is personally exposed to the consequences of anti-money laundering breaches.
The SRA’s client money reforms: good intentions, questionable execution
On the face of it, the SRA’s plans to tighten protections around client money sounds sensible. The detail, as ever, tells a more complicated story.
Recruitment, retention and reward in the legal accounts world
Understanding the legal finance market is important – not just for those actively involved in it day-to-day but also for leaders within law firms.
