Practice Management
MP: Criminal lawyers need immediate help to survive
Shadow justice minister Karl Turner has called for an “immediate increase” in legal aid rates if criminal law firms are to survive, along with measures to save the Bar.
City law firms sign race recruitment pledge
A group of 17 City law firms, including seven of the top 10, have signed a ‘race fairness commitment’ to improve recruitment and retention of black, Asian and minority ethnic lawyers.
Covid-19 “will change law firm offices forever”
A global law firm has predicted that as many as 80% of its workforce will remain transient or permanently working from home after Covid-19, with only around a fifth being full-time office workers.
Employment and commercial work fare best during crisis
Employment and commercial work are seeing the biggest increases in demand from clients, research has found. However, lockdown has had a “devastating impact” on other practice areas.
Sweary senior partner wins damages reassessment
An employment tribunal has been ordered to reconsider the £47,000 in damages that it awarded to a paralegal subjected to foul-mouthed tirades by the senior partner of a London law firm.
Law firm mergers survive virus “shock”
Law firm mergers are still being planned, despite the coronavirus pandemic, although they may take longer to get over the line, experts have predicted.
Most Scottish solicitors report mental health problems
Most solicitors and their staff north of the border have experienced mental health problems, a major survey by the Law Society of Scotland and mental health charity See Me has found.
Firms “avoiding radical staff measures” during crisis
Most law firms have continued to resist radical measures to cope with the Covid-19 crisis, taking “moderate steps in the short term to ensure resilience in the long term”, new research has found.
Crisis gives firms “platform to accelerate change”
The coronavirus crisis has given law firms a “platform to accelerate change” in promoting equality, the chief operating officer of Bristol-based law firm Burges Salmon has said.
Gateley redeploys staff to “busy” counter-cyclical areas
AIM-listed law firm Gateley has moved underemployed staff to support counter-cyclical services that are “extremely busy”, it reassured investors yesterday.
Blog
Modern search is about ‘knowledge’ retrieval
Search has long been understood as data retrieval – the ability to call back information and check a box on finding something. Legal professionals today need more of a 360-degree view on a matter.
Lessons from Sir Keir Starmer for SRA chief
The proposed 29%, or £25m, increase in the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s budget announced last week should really come as no great surprise.
The hidden risks in client account reconciliations
The client account reconciliation process will be second nature to most people in legal finance – and so is also a potential area for a problem to be undetected until it becomes serious.
