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Pulse UK
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October 22, 2025
Lawyers Could See Probes Double As FCA Takes Over AML
The decision to make the financial watchdog the sole regulator of AML and counter-terrorist financing for professional services providers could be "tricky" for lawyers in the short term, even as some experts predict it might ultimately help to simplify an overly complex regulatory regime.
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October 22, 2025
Email 'Did Not Cause' Barrister's Mistreatment, Stonewall Says
An email complaining about a gender-critical barrister's tweets was not the cause of discrimination against her, LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall argued Wednesday as it fought her appeal to hold the organization liable.
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October 22, 2025
Kingsley Napley Hires 1st Chief Legal Officer From Mishcon
Kingsley Napley has appointed a former Mishcon partner to serve as its chief legal officer, a newly-created board-level position.
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October 22, 2025
Oil Co. Loses £44M Costs Appeal Over Fraud At Top UK Court
Britain's top court rejected on Wednesday an attempt by an energy company to change the currency of its £44 million ($59 million) costs bill after it committed fraud, with the justices calling the dispute a "sorry tale involving human greed and corrupt practices."
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October 21, 2025
Debevoise Taps Goodwin Team For Private Funds Group
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has hired a team of secondaries lawyers from Goodwin Procter LLP, including a partner who will co-chair the firm's private fund transactions group.
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October 21, 2025
Outgoing SRA Chief Criticizes Solicitors Holding Client Funds
The chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority said Tuesday that the cost of regulation would decrease considerably if solicitors and their firms were no longer allowed to hold client money, as he prepares to step down after nearly 12 years at the helm.
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October 21, 2025
Trowers Accused Of Coercion In $1.1M Fees Dispute
An affordable housing provider has denied owing Trowers & Hamlins LLP more than £800,000 ($1.1 million) for work between 2023 and 2024, arguing that the law firm had used "coercion" to secure approval for out-of-scope fees from an unauthorized individual.
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October 21, 2025
Gender-Critical Barrister Fights To Blame Charity For Probe
A barrister argued at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall should be held liable for a complaint by one of its employees that prompted a discriminatory probe into her online activity.
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October 21, 2025
SRA Chief Downplays Mazur Impact Ahead Of New Guidance
The solicitors' watchdog promised Tuesday to publish more guidance for lawyers after a ruling on who can litigate fee disputes for law firms, as its chief said the decision didn't change the law but called into question how "diluted" litigation outfits might have become.
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October 21, 2025
FCA To Take Reins Of AML Regulation From SRA
The government said Tuesday that the Financial Conduct Authority will become the sole regulator of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing for professional services providers, slashing the supervisory role of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and other industry watchdogs.
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October 20, 2025
Reed Smith Opens 3rd Middle East Office In Saudi Arabia
Reed Smith LLP announced Monday that it has expanded its Middle East operations by launching an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the help of three new hires from local law firm Mahassni & Co.
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October 20, 2025
Firms In 'Purgatory' As Regulators Respond To Mazur Fallout
A recent court ruling that trainees and paralegals cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision, has left some firms "in purgatory" as they grapple with a judgment that, lawyers warn, could make swathes of work unviable.
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October 20, 2025
HBOS Fraud Victims Hit Gunnercooke With Negligence Case
A family driven into bankruptcy by a £245 million (£329 million) fraud against HBOS are suing Gunnercooke LLP, alleging that the firm caused them to lose more than £4 million by bungling a settlement with their bankruptcy trustee.
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October 20, 2025
Solicitor Fined For Missing Fraud, Money Laundering Signs
A solicitor who admitted missing signs of potential fraud and money laundering when carrying out property transactions on behalf of two lenders was fined £15,000 ($20,000) by a tribunal on Monday.
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October 20, 2025
UK Firms' Fees On The Rise But AI Threatens Model, PwC Says
The top 10 law firms whose headquarters are in the U.K. drove fee income growth in 2025 by raising rates by more than 10% — but sustaining increases above inflation might be difficult as generative AI threatens the billable hour model, a report published Monday warned.
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October 20, 2025
Clifford Chance Hires A Team Of 15 For Frankfurt Office
Clifford Chance said Monday that it has hired a team of 15 lawyers for its Frankfurt office in Germany from rival White & Case, joining the law firms poaching large groups to make a rapid increase in their market share.
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October 20, 2025
Ex-Mishcon Duo Go For Gold With New Sports-Focused Firm
Two former lawyers at Mishcon launched a new sports, commercial and technology-focused law firm on Monday, drawing on their experience in working on high-profile deals such as Marcus Rashford's blockbuster move to Barcelona.
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October 20, 2025
Morgan Lewis Boosts Life Sciences Team With Regulatory Pro
Morgan Lewis has bolstered its life sciences capability with a regulatory veteran from Arnold & Porter as clients prepare for the European Union's regulatory overhaul of its medicines framework.
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October 17, 2025
Law Society Publishes New Guidance After Mazur Ruling
The professional body for solicitors in England and Wales has issued guidance to help lawyers after a shock ruling that unauthorized law firm staff cannot conduct litigation, even under supervision.
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October 17, 2025
UK Lawtech Sector Poised For Record-Breaking Year In 2025
Investments in the U.K. legal tech sector surged to nearly £120 million ($161 million) in the first half of 2025, as technology continues to reshape how legal services are delivered, according to a new report.
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October 17, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Johnson & Johnson hit with a £1 billion ($1.34 billion) claim for allegedly selling contaminated baby powder, Carter-Ruck bring a claim against the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Hewlett Packard file a probate claim against the estate of Mike Lynch.
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October 17, 2025
Longtime Gowling WLG Lawyer Tapped As UK CEO
Gowling WLG said Friday that Chris Towle will lead the firm's U.K. LLP from May 2026, succeeding the current chief executive, David Fennell, who is stepping down after 12 years in the job.
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October 17, 2025
Ex-Solicitor Gets 4 Years For £400K Theft From Clients
A former solicitor and part-time judge who misappropriated almost £400,000 ($537,000) from clients between 2003 and 2020 has been sent to prison for four years.
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October 17, 2025
5 Questions For Excello Law COO Jo Losty
London law firms are chasing talent with seemingly ever-increasing salaries, and here Excello Law's Jo Losty tells Law360 that there is room in the legal profession for an alternative to the traditional partnership model.
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October 17, 2025
The Revolving Door: US Firms Swap London Heavyweights
Over the past week, Morgan Lewis expanded its life sciences and regulatory practice with a senior hire from Arnold & Porter, Paul Hastings lost top lawyers to White & Case and Milbank, and Gibson Dunn strengthened its energy and infrastructure M&A team with the addition of a partner from Latham & Watkins.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From Mayer Brown's James West
James West, co-leader of Mayer Brown's private equity practice, discusses the challenges of conducting complex deals at pace, the benefits of maintaining a relatively light regulatory framework in the private equity arena, and why the current economic climate has led to a need for the industry to be more flexible in its approach to dealmaking.
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Practice Leader Insights From Norton Rose's Paul Griffin
Paul Griffin, head of employment and labor for Europe, Middle East and Asia at Norton Rose, discusses the challenge of litigating a whistleblowing case with a CEO remaining in post, why the qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal should be reviewed, and the importance of retaining one's authenticity as a lawyer.
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What Rise Of AI Means For Future Of Junior Lawyer Careers
While artificial intelligence is reshaping law firms’ approach to core tasks, it is unlikely to eliminate the need for human oversight, and if junior lawyers can embrace new technologies with integrity, they can focus on more meaningful work and add greater value to their teams, says Valeriya Zinchenko at Teacher Stern.
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Practice Leader Insights From HFW's Michelle Chance
Michelle Chance, head of HFW's London employment practice, discusses the challenges of defending a high-profile race discrimination class action in the civil courts, the need for male employees to take shared parental leave, and the significance of the new employer duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From Cleary's Sebastian Sperber
Sebastian Sperber, leader of Cleary's EMEA capital markets and debt finance practice, discusses the challenges of working on complex transactions in pre-internet days, why regulators should think carefully before imposing additional disclosure burdens on corporations, and his hope that the recent U.K. listing reforms will encourage more companies to choose to list in London.
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What Age Bias Ruling Means For Law Firm Retirement Policies
The recent employment tribunal age discrimination decision in Scott v. Walker Morris demonstrates that while law firms may implement mandatory retirement schemes, the policy must pursue a legitimate aim via proportionate means to pass the objective justification test, says Chris Hadrill at Redmans Solicitors.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From HFW's Christopher Foster
Christopher Foster, global head of insurance and reinsurance at HFW, discusses the challenges of conducting complex arbitration, why arbitration rules should be amended, and how learning about the market makes working in insurance law easier.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From Broadfield's Sajjad Khan
Sajjad Khan, head of Broadfield's intellectual property practice, discusses how trademark matters that appear to be simple can end up being complex, why the regulatory framework for artificial intelligence and copyright is in clear need of reform, and how junior lawyers should persevere if interested in this competitive area of law.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From Cleary's Gareth Kristensen
Gareth Kristensen, head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa intellectual property practice group at Cleary, discusses the challenges when data laws are not adapted to frontier artificial intelligence, why IP rights can have such significant value, and how nothing beats a deep understanding of what you enjoy within the realm of tech, IP and data.
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Series
PR Perspectives: 3 Misconceptions Around Law Firm Brands
Despite an implicit understanding of the value of brand, misconceptions around logo and financial value have resulted in law firms being slow to manage and build this valuable asset, without which it becomes difficult to attract the same caliber of client or recruit the best lawyers, says Daniela Conte at Gibson Dunn.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From Covington's Sonia Campbell
Sonia Campbell, head of the U.K. insurance recovery practice at Covington, discusses the challenges of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, why cyber underwriting risk will be critical for sector reform, and how junior lawyers need to be resilient and tenacious.
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Roundup
Practice Leader Insights
In this Law360 U.K. Expert Analysis series, leaders of employment, intellectual property, insurance and transactions practice groups share thoughts on keeping the pulse on legal trends, tackling difficult cases and what it takes to make a mark in their area.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights: Bird & Bird's Rebecca O'Kelly-Gillard
Rebecca O'Kelly-Gillard, who co-heads Bird & Bird's international copyright group, discusses the challenges of working on long cases with complex issues, whether current copyright law is fit for purpose in light of artificial intelligence, and why understanding technology makes it easier to argue the nuances of the law.
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From Birketts' Maria Peyman
Maria Peyman, who heads Birketts' intellectual property team, discusses the challenges of cases involving multiple patents, the need to reform legislative provisions in light of artificial intelligence, and why junior lawyers should take opportunities to get a broad range of experience before specializing.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.