Market monitor

Three in 10 chambers do not think they will survive more than six months as Covid-19 continues to hammer them, with pupils also set to be badly affected, Bar Council research has warned.

A set of chambers in Birmingham, post Covid-19, is using unused floors in its offices to create a supported workspace for freelance solicitors, Legal Futures can reveal.

The Law Society has called on the government to allow firms to use the apprenticeship levy more flexibly than now to create new jobs and retrain staff as part of the support needed in the wake of Covid-19.

Mishcon de Reya has won an appeal over a judge’s refusal to grant the London law firm summary judgment on more than £150,000 of fees payable under a guarantee.

Anexo Group plc – the listed business which combines legal services with credit hire – saw turnover increase 39% in 2019 to £79m after spending the year focused on building up its law firm.

Consolidation at the top end of the conveyancing market is speeding up after Simplify announced the acquisition of a leading London and South East firm, the second private equity-backed deal this week.

The Community Justice Fund – which only went live six weeks ago – has already awarded nearly £2m in grants to the legal advice sector to help it cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Litigation financier Burford Capital has lived up to its self-description as “the legal profession’s investment bank” by taking a minority stake in a London law firm in return for providing finance.

NAHL plc has seen a modest recovery since lockdown restrictions eased but personal injury and conveyancing work is still at 50% of pre-Covid levels.

The ground-breaking DoNotPay chatbot – which describes itself as the world’s first robot lawyer – is to ramp up its UK offering after securing $12m (£9.6m) in backing from Silicon Valley.

A rapidly expanding alternative business structure which combines conveyancing and mortgage advice is expecting a record month as the property market roars back.

Leading conveyancing firm O’Neill Patient – which was last year bought by a private equity firm – has acquired Cavendish Legal Group, the first of what it says will be “a number of acquisitions”.

Yorkshire law firm Heptonstalls has joined forces with Call Brian, an automated personal injury claims system, to offer other firms a way to continue making money after the whiplash reforms come into effect.

A private equity company that last year bought two major volume conveyancing firms has now taken a minority stake in a solicitor-owned legal technology company for £1.5m.

A firm of financial advisers has launched an alternative business structure to provide its clients with legal services which it claims are faster and “at least a third cheaper”.