Practice Management
Trade union firm faces trade union-organised strike
Leading trade union law firm Thompsons is facing a strike over pay – and pickets lines at its offices across the country – organised by a trade union. It blames the squeeze in PI for not meeting the demands.
Tribunal rejects claims from ‘partner’ who sued as employee
A former salaried partner, permitted by an employment tribunal earlier this year to sue her law firm as an employee, has lost all but one of her claims.
Women face “sticky floor, not glass ceiling” after children
Women lawyers returning to work after maternity leave face “not so much a glass ceiling as a sticky floor” and should recognise that a perfect work-life balance is impossible, a conference was told last week.
Legal advice privilege “survives” company’s dissolution
Legal advice privilege attaching to communications between a company and its lawyers survives the dissolution of the company, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
HMCTS “must collect user data” to ensure digital courts work
HM Courts & Tribunals Services must collect data on vulnerable users of online courts, on matters such as age, disability, race and sexual orientation, a report by the Legal Education Foundation has said.
New clients put trust factors “way ahead of price”
Reputation and trust remain more important to winning new business than price, despite the push for greater transparency, according to a massive client satisfaction survey.
Bad behaviour by male barristers “still abounds”
Inappropriate behaviour by male barristers in robing rooms and at Bar messes “still abounds”, with many women afraid to speak out, the Association of Women Barristers has said.
SRA could tell law firms to pay for trainees’ SQE skills tests
The SRA could ask law firms to pay for their own research and writing skills tests when hiring trainees, instead of testing them in stage 1 of the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam, it has emerged.
E-mail footer counted as signature for property contract
A solicitor’s automated email sign-off sufficed as a ‘signature’ for the purposes of a contract involving the disposition of an interest in land, the High Court has ruled.
AI legal tech “so powerful it will need regulation”
The use of cutting-edge technology such as AI has become so powerful that legal regulators will have to regulate the tech itself rather than the providers, according to a prominent academic.
Blog
Listening, learning and leading The Solicitor’s Charity with care
As I prepare to hand over the mantle of chair of The Solicitor’s Charity next month, it doesn’t feel like an end. Instead, it feels like a wonderful journey.
Is competition in the legal sector stifling innovation?
As the legal sector’s competitive landscape continues to evolve, Nobel laureates remind us that innovation is not inevitable,and that competition may not always be an incentive to innovate.
What high-performing consumer claims firms get right
Recurring concerns about parts of the volume claims sector show that the gap between well-run firms and those struggling to manage volume effectively is widening.
