Practice Management

A fifth of female solicitors were promoted into a new role by their law firms during or after maternity leave, but a similar proportion “felt unwelcome” on their return, a major study has found.

A consultant-led international law firm, based in the City, has become the first to join the Institute for Collaborative Working, saying clients were looking for law firms to be business partners.

A law firm does not have to pay outstanding salary owed to a solicitor it fired for gross misconduct discovered after he resigned, an employment tribunal has ruled.

A rapidly expanding criminal law firm has opened its 23rd office but its managing partner says the “lack of individuals to hire” is its biggest – and worsening – challenge.

Almost half of law firms are now using review websites but there remains strong opposition to price comparison for legal services, a Solicitors Regulation Authority survey has found.

Consumers see online review websites as a helpful tool to find a lawyer, with those needing family law advice particularly likely to shop around, according to Solicitors Regulation Authority research.

A new alternative business structure is to ensure staff are “personally invested” in the firm by offering them different kinds of shares.

A law firm was wrong to make provision in its statutory accounts for all of the money owed by a fixed-share partner, but not when it came to the partners’ accounts, the High Court has ruled.

National firm Simpson Millar is to exit private client services except for personal injury and family law as part of a major restructure sparked in part by the introduction next year of fixed recoverable costs.

The largest law firms in the UK and US “struggle to give their lawyers a voice” through thought leadership, new research has found, with smaller firms more effective.