Pulse UK

  • December 02, 2025

    Gov't Will End Jury Trials For Complex Financial Crime Cases

    The government confirmed on Tuesday that it plans to get rid of jury trials for the most complex fraud and financial crimes, part of a battery of changes designed to cut soaring court backlogs.

  • December 01, 2025

    Law Firm Sued Over Advice On Ballooned £11M Home Loan

    A homebuyer has accused a British law firm of negligently failing to advise her on the risks of funding her £1.9 million ($2.5 million) property deal with a bridging loan, telling a London court that with costly interest rates, her debt soared beyond £11 million.

  • December 01, 2025

    A&O Shearman Deal Boosts Firm's Americas Revenue By 150%

    A&O Shearman's financial results for the fiscal year ending April 30 show the firm's Americas revenue soared during the first full financial year following its momentous transatlantic combination, while still lagging behind the global behemoth's U.K. and Europe regions' revenue, according to a new report.

  • December 01, 2025

    Farrer & Co. Hires IT Director, Head Of Innovation And AI

    Farrer & Co. LLP announced on Monday the hiring of a former information technology director at Capsticks Solicitors LLP and a head of innovation and artificial intelligence previously at Macfarlanes.

  • December 01, 2025

    Ashurst Opens 1st Office In Africa With Clifford Chance Team

    Ashurst LLP said Monday that it has opened a new office in Casablanca, Morocco, the international law firm's first outpost on the African continent.

  • December 01, 2025

    DWF Opens Third German Office With 16-Strong Team

    DWF said Monday that it will open its third German office in Hamburg after hiring a 16-strong team from two local rivals as part of its continuing expansion.

  • December 01, 2025

    ClearBank Hires New Group GC Amid Growth Plans

    London-headquartered ClearBank said Monday that it has taken on a new group general counsel as it looks to expand after acquiring a license in 2024 that allows it to provide regulated banking services across Europe.

  • December 01, 2025

    AmTrust Fights Sompo For £59M At Trial Over Legal Funding

    AmTrust argued on the first day of trial on Monday that the insurer of two defunct law firms is liable to pay it £59 million ($78 million), in the latest development in the battle of who should cover the costs of a failed litigation-funding scheme.

  • December 01, 2025

    Brett Wilson Denies Mishandling Ex-IT Exec's Defense

    Brett Wilson has rejected claims that it provided negligent advice and failed to properly defend a former chief technology officer in criminal and civil proceedings over a cyberattack at his employer.

  • December 01, 2025

    Foot Anstey Appoints First Chief Client Officer

    Foot Anstey said Monday it has hired its first chief client officer as it looks to strengthen its position in the U.K. legal market after recently posting record revenues of more than £75 million ($99 million) and expanded its business into Northern Ireland.

  • November 28, 2025

    The Revolving Door: MoFo, Gibson Dunn On City Hiring Spree

    Over the past week, MoFo hired HSF Kramer's head of international private equity, Stephenson Harwood tapped a tax expert from French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel, and A&O Shearman lost an employment expert to Gibson Dunn.

  • November 28, 2025

    Mishcon Trials AI Interview Recruitment Technology

    Mishcon de Reya said Friday it will pilot a new artificial-intelligence screening tool for its 2026 U.K. graduate recruitment cycle amid the growing adoption of the technology in the legal sector.

  • November 28, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen the National Crime Agency target an Azerbaijan politician and a subsidiary of Withers over a disputed £50 million ($66 million) property portfolio, the eldest son of a British aristocratic family challenge the trustees of their multimillion-pound estate, and a sports lawyer suspected of dishonesty face action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority following his firm's closure.

  • November 28, 2025

    Bar Council, BSB Team Up To Enforce Anti-Harassment Rules

    The Bar Council and Bar Standards Board have formed a joint steering group to implement recommendations from an independent review that found a culture of "impunity" and "collusive bystanding" around bullying, harassment and sexual harassment at the Bar.

  • November 28, 2025

    Solicitors Face Rising Threat Levels, Law Society Warns

    Threats, abuse and intimidation against solicitors have surged over the past year, as half of legal professionals or their organizations have reported incidents, according to research by the Law Society published on Friday.

  • November 28, 2025

    Orrick Hires 4 Corporate Lawyers From Norton Rose In Munich

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has hired a group of four lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright in Germany to boost its services to clients in mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions.

  • November 28, 2025

    UK Budget Lowers Apprentice Costs For Smaller Law Firms

    Small and midsized law firms in England were given a welcome boost when the chancellor revealed in her Budget statement a new funding plan to make apprenticeships for under-25s "completely free" for smaller enterprises, although legal recruiters point to unresolved questions over age restrictions.

  • November 27, 2025

    Former Top Prosecutors Back Judge-Only Fraud Trials

    Radical reforms dispensing with jury trials for complex fraud and many other criminal cases may be the only way to stop the justice system from collapsing under its own weight, former chief prosecutors have told Law360.

  • November 27, 2025

    Osborne Pro Fights To Reverse SDT's Zahawi SLAPPs Ruling

    An Osborne Clarke partner urged a court on Thursday to overturn a ruling by a disciplinary tribunal that he had wrongly attempted to prevent a tax policy journalist from disclosing that he was being threatened with a defamation claim by former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.

  • November 27, 2025

    Barrister Says Hacker's Negligence Claims Are Baseless

    A barrister has denied claims that he negligently gave advice to a former chief technology officer who was found guilty of hacking a previous employer, arguing that the cyberattacker's arguments were simply bad law and weren't going to succeed. 

  • November 27, 2025

    LSB Proposes Framework To Boost Diversity In Legal Sector

    The Legal Services Board launched a public consultation on Thursday into a draft policy statement aimed at driving greater equality, diversity and inclusion within the legal sector.

  • November 27, 2025

    SRA Issues Scams Alert As Solicitors' Firm Hit By Fraud

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued a warning after scammers used a law firm's name and credentials to set up a fraudulent website offering help with bringing claims over housing disrepair.

  • November 27, 2025

    Bar Council Flags AI Pitfalls After High Court Rebuke

    The Bar Council has updated its ethics guidance on the use of generative artificial intelligence at the bar after the High Court issued a sharp reminder earlier this year of the dangers of lawyers relying on the technology in court.

  • November 26, 2025

    Aston Bond Denies Negligence In £2M Property Deal Clash

    A law firm has hit back against a £1.9 million ($2.5 million) negligence claim from two former clients, saying that it should not be held responsible for the clients' settlement decisions and that the claim was filed too late.

  • November 26, 2025

    Law Firms Spared Partnership Tax Grab In UK Budget

    The absence of a rumored increase in national insurance contributions for limited liability partnerships in the chancellor's U.K. budget statement on Wednesday suggested that the proposal might have been quietly shelved after heavy lobbying from the legal sector.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Addleshaw's Michael Leftley

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    Michael Leftley, head of employment at Addleshaw Goddard, discusses the challenges of combining novel legal issues with lawyers' expectations, why he believes the system for workplace conflict resolution is broken, and the importance of possessing a broad skill set that includes good emotional intelligence.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Squire Patton's Ranajoy Basu

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    Ranajoy Basu, global head of structured finance at Squire Patton, discusses the challenges of working on a transaction recognized by the G20 as a "game-changing financial innovation," the benefits of streamlining pretransaction due diligence, and why increased market activity in alternative asset securitizations is likely.

  • Opinion

    Collective Action Reform Can Save UK Court System

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    The crumbling foundations of Britain’s legal system require innovative solutions, such as investment in institutional infrastructure to reduce court backlogs, a widening of the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s remit and legislative clarity over litigation funding underpinning collective actions, says Neil Purslow at the International Legal Finance Association.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Baker Botts' Mark Castillo-Bernaus

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    Mark Castillo-Bernaus, global chair of project finance at Baker Botts, discusses the challenges of working on a global project financing in multiple time zones, the need for consistency in regulatory frameworks across different jurisdictions, and why lawyers who work constructively with clients and colleagues tend to deliver better outcomes.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Shakespeare's Selina Hinchliffe

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    Selina Hinchliffe, head of commercial services at Shakespeare Martineau, discusses the challenges of advising a large U.S. corporation on complex licensing issues, how copyright law is struggling to keep pace with technology, and why mastering contract drafting and negotiation is so important for IP lawyers.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From RPC's Patrick Brodie

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    Patrick Brodie, head of employment at RPC, discusses the challenges of working with government departments and National Health Service trusts to find common ground between competing interests, the increasing use of AI in recruitment and performance management, and why finding an exceptional mentor is so important.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Baker Botts' Neil Coulson

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    Neil Coulson, chair of intellectual property at Baker Botts, discusses the challenges of tackling a patent litigation with a short timetable, the post-Brexit delineation between the European Union's and the U.K.'s approaches to trademark examination, and why it is important to be able to discourse with clients easily on technical topics.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Freshfields' Kathleen Healy

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    Kathleen Healy, partner in London and co-leader of Freshfields' people and reward practice in Asia, discusses the challenges of advising on employment and industrial relations during the financial crisis, why the employment tribunal system would benefit from additional funding, and how reforming noncompete clauses will create plenty of legal and practical issues.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From HSF Kramer's Sarah McNally

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    Sarah McNally, head of the global insurance disputes practice at HSF Kramer, discusses the challenges of orchestrating an expedited proceeding during the pandemic, how document disclosure in litigation is becoming a huge burden, and why insurance is all-pervasive, and accordingly interesting and varied.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Shakespeare Martineau's Phil Pepper

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    Phil Pepper, head of employment at Shakespeare Martineau, discusses the challenges of working on a high-stakes case that progressed to the European Court of Justice, the need for reform of employees' rights legislation when a business transfers, and why lawyers should develop soft skills early in their careers.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Forbes' Kella Bowers

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    Kella Bowers, head of insurance at Forbes, discusses the challenges of balancing the needs of the people and institutions involved in child sexual abuse exploitation cases, why a preaction protocol for abuse work is needed, and how insurance law can enable lawyers to work on many hard-hitting issues.

  • AI Risks Legal Sector Must Consider In Dispute Resolution

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    Artificial intelligence presents significant opportunities to lawyers and decision-makers navigating increasingly data-heavy legal proceedings, but two recent cases provide a sobering reminder of the potential for misuse, say lawyers at White & Case.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Harbottle & Lewis' Yvonne Gallagher

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    Yvonne Gallagher, head of employment at Harbottle & Lewis, discusses the challenges of dealing with clients' emotions, the significance of the widening scope for discrimination disputes, and why junior lawyers should focus on learning the basic contractual and statutory principles of employment law. 

  • How Cos. Can Straddle US-UK Split On Work Misconduct, DEI

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    With U.K. regulators ordering employers to do more to prevent nonfinancial misconduct and discrimination, and President Donald Trump ordering the rollback of similar American protections, global organizations should prioritize establishing consistent workplace conduct frameworks to help balance their compliance obligations across the diverging jurisdictions, say lawyers at WilmerHale.

  • Viral Comms Crises Create Dual Corp. Governance Threats

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    As legislative hearings increase in frequency and social media fuels their reputational impact, corporate legal teams face a new dual challenge that reflects a fundamental shift in accountability and demands new strategies, governance frameworks and organizational capabilities, says Joanna Ludlam at Jenner & Block.

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