Practice Management

Leading commercial firm DAC Beachcroft has launched an “in-house chambers” which plans to expand rapidly and become “the biggest of its kind” by end of the year.

The year has kicked off with a spate of law firm expansion activity, whether through mergers, huge team hires, file acquisitions or one Essex law firm maintaining EU links by opening in Malta.

Acquisitive regional practice Knights was the only listed law firm to defy the Covid gloom and end 2020 with its share price higher than where it began, a Legal Futures analysis has shown.

A claim by a law firm owner who alleges that the departure of four lawyers to another practice caused his firm’s administration has come out into the open in the High Court.

There are “high expectations” among law firm leaders of consolidation in the legal services market during 2021 and beyond, research has found – although there is often little strategy behind deals.

As many as 3,000 law firms could be forced to close or merge over the next few years after the conveyancing bubble bursts and the recession really kicks in, a leading law firm consultant has warned.

Homeworking has led to many solicitors at small firms experiencing feelings of isolation and lack of motivation – but also most want it to continue in some form post-Covid, a survey has found.

Shakespeare Martineau has outlined its ambition to be a top 30 law firm by 2025 as it rolls out its unique new ‘house of brands’ strategy, with “crowdfunding” staff investment one possible way to raise finance.

Some of the measures used by law firms to tackle a lack of gender diversity in senior roles could be “ineffective or even counter-productive”, a report has found.

The market for professional indemnity insurance is likely to continue to worsen but future premium rises should not be at the average of 17% seen this autumn, a leading broker has predicted.