Practice Management

Demand for pro bono legal assistance has accelerated dramatically since the pandemic started and providers cannot keep up, leading lawyers said this week.

The top 100 UK law firms are more likely to see cyber-attacks as a threat to their ambitions than Covid-19, a survey by Big Four accountants PwC has found.

Ampa – the group that owns midlands law firm Shakespeare Martineau – has made its first non-legal services provider acquisition since unveiling its innovative ‘house of brands’ strategy last year.

The former boss of Linklaters has suggested that the ‘metaverse’, an online world where people communicate through virtual reality, could help law firms deal with the challenges of remote working.

The legal sector is “one of the worst across the board” for workplace culture, a report has found, with a substantial number saying a negative culture had damaged their mental health.

A solicitor ordered to repay her firm the cost of recruiting her after she left within a year has failed in a bid to have the decision reconsidered.

Consumer law firms increasingly consider that customer service is just as important as resolving a legal matter satisfactorily, partly with an eye to online reviews.

There has been a slew of mergers announced in recent days across the country, as usually happens at this time of the year when most firms still renew their professional indemnity insurance.

Support for clients during the pandemic cut larger UK law firms’ billable hours by 15% but most maintained profits. Clients are now demanding greater financial transparency and pricing flexibility.

CILEX lawyers face discrimination and unfair treatment by fellow professionals and particularly their employers, and the organisation has called for a summit to tackle the law’s “crisis of culture”.