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Pulse UK
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June 17, 2025
Spanish Law Firm Voids Danish Outfit's 'Legaltech' TM
A Spanish law firm has persuaded European Union officials to void most of a Danish organization's protections over its "Legaltech" name, proving that the word is too descriptive to function as a trademark.
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June 17, 2025
DWF Rolls Out Legora For Its Alternative Legal Services
DWF LLP said Tuesday it is rolling out Legora's artificial intelligence platform to handle routine legal work outsourced by clients — including other law firms — as more legal providers adopt generative AI to stay competitive.
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June 17, 2025
Legal Services Price Spikes May Hit Access To Services
The Legal Services Board said Tuesday that rising prices for legal services are potentially offsetting the benefits to consumers of shopping around and accessing legal support remotely, including where prices might be lower.
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June 24, 2025
Squire Patton Taps V&E For Partner On Construction Team
Squire Patton Boggs LLP has hired construction and engineering specialist Ciaran Williams as a partner in its litigation practice, as the firm continues to bulk up its global construction team.
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June 17, 2025
Anexo Investors Get More Time To Weigh Buying Out Stake
Anexo Group PLC said on Tuesday that its largest shareholders will have a further two weeks to say whether they plan to buy out the rest of the specialist motor accident credit hire and legal services business.
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June 16, 2025
Birketts Launches Employment Support Service, Resolve
Birketts LLP said Monday that it has launched a new service to provide holistic employment support to clients under one roof as workplace challenges become increasingly complex.
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June 16, 2025
McDermott Goes West To Mayfair As London Grows Rapidly
McDermott Will & Emery LLP said Monday that it will relocate its U.K. headquarters to Mayfair in London in 2028, moving from its current City offices to accommodate future expansion and to be closer to private equity clients.
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June 16, 2025
Knights Group Completes £16.6M Birkett Long Deal
Knights Group Holdings PLC said on Monday that it has completed the acquisition of the Birkett Long law firm and financial advisory company, in a deal estimated to be worth up to £16.6 million ($22.5 million).
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June 16, 2025
Gov't Urged To Fund Legal Support For 'Windrush' Victims
A report urged the government Monday to fund legal support for victims of the "Windrush" scandal after it found that claimants who were wrongly classified as illegal immigrants from the Caribbean received little or no compensation under a Home Office program.
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June 16, 2025
DWF's Knowles Steps Down After Driving 60% Revenue Jump
DWF LLP said Monday that Nigel Knowles will retire as its chief executive at the start of August, ending a five-year tenure as the firm prepares to enter a new phase of growth under fresh leadership.
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June 13, 2025
The Revolving Door: Simmons Arbitration Co-Head Departs
Over the past week, Simmons & Simmons' international arbitration co-head joined Stephenson Harwood, White & Case picked up another investment fund pro from Ropes & Gray, and the A&O Shearman exodus continued with a partner leaving to join Baker McKenzie.
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June 13, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Tottenham Hotspur FC kick off against Manchester United co-owner Ineos Automotive following a soured sponsorship deal, Acer and Nokia clash over patents for video coding technology, and two investors reignite litigation against the founders of an AI exercise bike business that unlawfully pocketed $1.2 million in investments to fund their own lifestyles. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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June 13, 2025
Weightmans Promotes 2 To Equity Partners, Hires IT Director
Weightmans LLP has promoted two attorneys to its equity partnership, increasing the firm's total equity partnership strength to 45 and the total partner count to 267.
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June 13, 2025
Bar Council Pushes Back On LSB's Ethical Conduct Proposals
The Bar Council has urged the sector's oversight watchdog not to be overly prescriptive as it looks to combat poor ethical conduct by lawyers in the wake of high-profile scandals.
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June 13, 2025
Solicitors Owe SRA £1M+ In Fines Amid Financial Struggles
Solicitors and law firms regulated by the solicitors' watchdog owe more than £1 million ($1.35 million) in unpaid fines, which experts say is linked to financial pressures across the profession.
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June 13, 2025
Law Society Says UK Must Act As Employment Claims Grow
The Law Society urged the government on Friday to ensure that employment tribunals are funded to handle an anticipated deluge of new claims once the Employment Rights Bill becomes law, as official figures show a worsening backlog of unresolved cases.
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June 13, 2025
Ashurst Raises NQ Pay To £140K Amid Legal Sector Pay Race
Ashurst LLP said Friday that it has raised the salaries of its newly qualified lawyers in London by 12%, as leading law firms in the capital continue to offer inflation-busting pay increases amid intensifying competition in the legal sector.
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June 12, 2025
TLT Names Financial Services Chief As Senior Partner
TLT LLP said Thursday that it has elected its head of financial services as its next senior partner.
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June 12, 2025
UK Legal Sector Revenue Dips 9% As Economy Contracts
The U.K. legal industry posted revenues of approximately £4.7 billion ($6.4 billion) in April as performance took a dip amid broader contraction in the economy, official statistics showed Thursday.
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June 12, 2025
Reed Smith Appoints New Head Of Its Frankfurt Office
Reed Smith LLP said Thursday that it has appointed debt finance specialist Oliver Hahnelt as the managing partner of its office in Frankfurt following the departure of its previous incumbent.
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June 12, 2025
PI Law Specialist Fletchers Buys Clinical Negligence Biz
Fletchers Group, which specializes in personal injury, said Thursday it has acquired the clinical negligence business of Sheldon Davidson Solicitors, a boutique law firm in Bury in northwest England.
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June 12, 2025
DLA Hikes London NQ Pay By Inflation-Busting 18% To £130K
DLA Piper said Thursday that it has raised salaries for its newly qualified lawyers in London to £130,000 ($177,000) per year, as part of what it describes as a "significant investment" in its U.K. workforce.
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June 12, 2025
Consumer Panel Calls For Reform Of Legal Complaint Process
The Legal Services Consumer Panel on Thursday urged providers and regulators to "step up efforts" to address consumer complaints, after research revealed that only about a quarter of legal services' users knew the first step to take to complain about poor service.
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June 11, 2025
Gov't Pledges Up To £450M Per Year To Tackle Courts Backlog
The U.K. government has pledged up to an additional £450 million ($609 million) per year for the courts system in England and Wales by 2028-29 to boost crown court sittings to "record levels" and tackle the growing backlog, according to its spending review released Wednesday.
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June 11, 2025
Law Firm Fined £11K For Not Meeting AML Requirements
A law firm is being fined after it "showed a disregard" toward its anti-money laundering obligations and left itself vulnerable to being used to facilitate illegal activity, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said in a decision Monday that was published Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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What To Expect From UK's New Economic Crime Bill
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency bill, if passed, will reform aspects of Companies House and strengthen government anti-money laundering efforts, but it is also raising questions about how new information sharing requirements will affect businesses, say attorneys at Signature Litigation.
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A Trusted Cybersecurity Framework Is Imperative For Lawyers
The recent increased risk of cyberattacks has a number of profound implications for law firms, and complying with government guidance by embedding a cyber-savvy culture and adhering to a security framework will enable lawyers to add extra layers of defense and present their clients with higher levels of protection, says Marion Stewart at Red Helix.
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Opinion
Law School Admissions Shouldn't Hinge On Test Scores
The American Bar Association recently granted law schools some latitude on which tests it can consider in admissions decisions, but its continued emphasis on test scores harms student diversity and is an obstacle to holistic admissions strategies, says Aaron Taylor at AccessLex.
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New FCA Listing Rules May Start Regulatory Shift On Diversity
Listed companies that fail to meet new Financial Conduct Authority rules for minimum executive board diversity currently risk reputational damage mainly through social scrutiny, but should prepare for potential regulatory enforcement actions, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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What UK Professional Regulation Looks Like In A #MeToo Era
Two recent rulings from U.K. courts and tribunals reveal the increasingly shifting line between professional misbehavior and bad actions that would previously have been considered outside the scope of professional regulators, says Andrew Katzen at Hickman & Rose.
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How Immune Are State Agents From Foreign Courts?
The ongoing case of Basfar v. Wong is the latest to raise questions about the boundary between commercial or private activity and the exercise of sovereign authority that shields state agents from foreign judicial scrutiny — and the U.K. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in the matter will likely bring clarity on exceptions to the immunity doctrine, say Andrew Stafford QC and Oleg Shaulko at Kobre & Kim.
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Opinion
Justice Gap Demands Look At New Legal Service Models
Current restrictions on how lawyers structure their businesses stand in the way of meaningful access to justice for many Americans, so states should follow the lead of Utah and Florida and test out innovative law firm business models through regulatory sandboxes, says Zachariah DeMeola at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.
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Opinion
New NJ Fed. Rule On Litigation Funding Should Be Welcomed
The District of New Jersey's new local civil rule on litigation funding disclosure has faced exaggerated criticisms when it is a logical extension of the current practices in many U.S. jurisdictions, leads to greater transparency for the parties and the court without unduly burdening the parties, and is a positive development particularly in product liability cases, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Lessons In Civility From The Alex Oh Sanctions Controversy
Alex Oh’s abrupt departure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and admonishment by a D.C. federal judge over conduct in an Exxon human rights case demonstrate three major costs of incivility to lawyers, and highlight the importance of teaching civility in law school, says David Grenardo at St. Mary's University.
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Rebuttal
US Legal System Can Benefit From Nonlawyer Ownership
Contrary to claims made in a recent Law360 guest article, nonlawyer ownership has incrementally improved the England and Wales legal system — with more innovation and more opportunities for lawyers — and there is no reason why those outcomes cannot also be achieved in the U.S., say Crispin Passmore at Passmore Consulting and Zachariah DeMeola at the University of Denver.
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Increasing Investment Scams Can Implicate Lawyers, Too
With the pandemic serving as a catalyst for increased financial fraud, it's important to recognize that these scams are not only devastating for victims, they also pose a significant threat to law firms and individual solicitors who fail to do their due diligence, say James Darbyshire at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and Heather Clark at Burness Paull.
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UK Lawyers Can Adapt Due Diligence To Screen New Clients
As COVID-19-related fraud gains pace, U.K.-based practitioners should help combat money laundering by using alternative methods to verify that new clients are who they say they are, says Christopher Convey, a barrister at 33 Chancery Lane and chair of the Bar Council's Money Laundering Working Group.
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Key Risks And Developments For UK Law Firm Culture In 2020
In 2020, law firms throughout the U.K. will be increasingly reshaped by rapid changes in societal expectations and advances in technology, say Helen Rowlands and Niya Phiri of Clyde & Co.
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#MeToo Pressure On UK Businesses Is Set To Rise
Recent declarations by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority indicate that sexual harassment in the U.K.'s financial services industry may lead to consequences under the newly expanded Senior Managers and Certification Regime, and other sectors are facing growing scrutiny as well, say attorneys at Covington.
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Corporate Wrongdoing Risks Go Beyond Exec Departures
Recent controversy over misconduct allegations that led to the ousting of a KPMG executive reminds firms that the challenges caused by suspecting or uncovering internal wrongdoing are not so easily solved by the implicated executive's exit, says Sarah Chilton of CM Murray.