Number of personal injury CMCs falls below 1,000
The number of personal injury claims management companies (CMCs) has fallen below 1,000, it has emerged, down from 2,300 at the start of 2013. Smaller CMCs have been hit hard by ban on personal injury referral fees, the cuts in portal fees and ban on inducements.
New video platform is “missing link” for direct access barristers
A new video platform has been hailed as the “missing link” in improving the ability of direct access barristers to attract more clients. Virtual chambers ShenSmith has been trialling ODRO Vision.
Gateley set to raise £30m from AIM listing, as Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of Quindell completes
National law firm Gateley is looking to raise £30m from its imminent listing on AIM, documents filed at the London Stock Exchange today have revealed. The firm is due to list on 8 June with a market capitalisation of £100m.
Major US divorce firm lands in UK with ambitions to dominate the market
A family law practice that specialises in acting for men and has more than 100 offices across the US has opened in London with the prediction that it could “very quickly dominate the UK market”. It is already running radio advertisements announcing its arrival.
Linder Myers heading for profit a year after avoiding administration
Manchester-based Linder Myers is heading back into profit little more than a year after escaping administration, its chief executive has said. Tony Stockdale, chairman of consultants Assure Law, helped secure a refinancing deal with RBS in March 2014.
European Court of Human Rights: Lawyers do not have same freedom to speak out as journalists
Lawyers do not have the same rights to speak out on sensitive and high-profile cases as journalists, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. It said that if lawyers are to make value judgements in public, they must have a factual basis.
Acquisition-hungry Metamorph Law looks to transform high street practice
A new venture that aims to “acquire, transform and aggregate” around 60 high street law firms over the next five years to create an alternative business structure with a turnover of more than £80m will shortly buy its first practice in a bid to prove the concept.
Anti-solicitor campaigners who burned court bundles found liable for contempt
Two men who posted a YouTube video showing them burning a box of court bundles to the sound of Arthur Brown’s 1968 number one hit ‘Fire’ have been found liable for contempt at the High Court.
Law firms need an exit strategy, SRA says
Law firms should ensure they have a proper exit strategy, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned, after five solicitors were fined for failing to close their firms properly in the space of just nine days.
SRA investigated baby with ‘material interest’ in ABS
The lengths to which the Solicitors Regulation Authority goes to approve people involved in alternative business structures has been highlighted by the case of a six-month-old baby.
