Market monitor

The High Court has granted declarations that an online service has not broken conflict of interest rules or the Legal Services Act by helping divorcing couples draft their own documents and not use lawyers.

Leading insurance law firm Keoghs – which has enjoyed private equity investment for seven years – is to be bought by a private equity-backed professional services and technology business.

Experienced barristers are largely confident for their own futures but face challenges around wellbeing, the rising cost of doing business and the late payment of fees, a major survey has found.

The Ministry of Justice continues to insist that the whiplash reforms will come into force in April, even though the rules which will enable lawyers and compensators to prepare have still not been published.

Fast-growing listed law firm Knights is moving into Yorkshire this month as its chief executive says he is receiving an increasing number of approaching from potential acquisitions.

The biggest international law firms being driven by their clients towards a multi-disciplinary “integrated solutions” approach to delivering legal services, a report has found. But it won’t be easy.

Listed law firm Ince Group raised £12m through a placing today – with a further £4m in the pipeline – in a bid to support growth and its balance sheet, but saw its share price crash as a result.

The country’s first listed law firm will continue to diversify its offering, it said today as it unveiled a strong set of half-year results that showed how partners and staff are benefiting too.

Barristers instructed by now-defunct Birmingham law firm Public Interest Lawyers are set to lose out significantly from its liquidation, although its collapse may yet spark legal action.

The founders of a new consultant-led law firm are aiming to challenge not only the traditional law firm model but also the current fee-share models which have evolved over recent years.

City firms with ‘onshore’ offices in cities such as Belfast and Manchester are breaking professional rules by not making it clear to clients where the work is being done, groundbreaking research has suggested.

A personal injury law firm in Preston has been saved following its sale out of a pre-pack administration as the weeks before Christmas saw more mergers around the country.

Several listed legal businesses surged ahead of the market during 2019, with regional law firm Knights providing investors with a particularly rich return, a Legal Futures analysis has shown.

Knights has unveiled the sixth acquisition in its 18 months as a listed firm to boost its recently established presence in Birmingham. Fellow listed firm Rosenblatt has hired a former Met Police commissioner.

The listed legal sector is a “clear outperformer” against broader markets, with “many more” law firms – both corporate and consumer – likely to come to market, a new analysis has found.