Pulse UK

  • April 28, 2026

    Akin Rehires Weil Trio For London Restructuring Practice

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP said Tuesday that a team of three partners at U.S. rival Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is returning to the firm to strengthen its financial restructuring practice in London.

  • April 28, 2026

    Gray's Inn Barrister Hit With 2-Year Ban For Misleading Boss

    The barristers' regulator has banned a junior lawyer from practicing until 2028 after a disciplinary tribunal found that she had lied to her supervisor when she was still in the final practicing stage of her pupilage at Gray's Inn.

  • April 28, 2026

    Solicitor Suspended For Misleading Client About Fees

    A solicitor has been suspended for two years and ordered to pay £15,000 ($20,000) after a tribunal found she had fabricated an attendance note certifying that a client had agreed to a change in legal fees.

  • April 28, 2026

    Ex-ENRC Internal Lawyer Says SFO Probe Justified Legal Bills

    A former top in-house lawyer for ENRC told a London court Tuesday that fees paid to law firms during the mining company's response to the Serious Fraud Office's criminal investigation were not excessive, as the company was in an "existential" situation.

  • April 28, 2026

    Ex-SRA GC To Help Steer New Consumer Law Firms Group

    The former general counsel of the Solicitors Regulation Authority has joined the board of a new industry body representing the interests of consumer law firms.

  • April 28, 2026

    Winston Taylor Merger Launch Date Might Slip To June

    Winston & Strawn LLP and Taylor Wessing LLP said Tuesday that they might have to delay the launch of their merger until June rather than May as initially planned. 

  • April 28, 2026

    LexisNexis Parent RELX Agrees To Buy Legal AI Co. Doctrine

    LexisNexis Legal & Professional plans to expand its offerings in Europe as its parent company, RELX Group, agreed to acquire the France-based legal artificial intelligence platform Doctrine on Tuesday.

  • April 28, 2026

    Gibson Dunn Expands In EU With Paris Hires, Madrid Opening

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has hired a team of seven lawyers from Clifford Chance LLP to launch an investment funds practice in Paris and has also opened its first office in Spain as it pursues further growth in Europe.

  • April 28, 2026

    Solicitor Avoids Immediate Suspension For Antisemitic Tweets

    A former Rosenblatt Solicitors lawyer avoided an immediate suspension on Tuesday for posting a series of antisemitic and offensive comments on social media when he was no longer at the firm, with a tribunal agreeing to suspend his sanction for two years.

  • April 28, 2026

    Fletchers Acquires 2 Firms To Create Court Of Protection Arm

    Fletchers Group said Tuesday that it has acquired two law firms to create a specialist court of protection and private client division, as consolidation continues in the U.K. legal sector.

  • April 28, 2026

    Weil Expands German Antitrust Team With Heavyweight Duo

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP has hired a pair of antitrust partners in Germany from White & Case and Latham & Watkins to meet rising demand for cross-border regulatory advice.

  • April 27, 2026

    BSB Confirms 10 Investigations Linked To Post Office Scandal

    The Bar Standards Board said Monday it has 10 open investigations in the wake of the Post Office scandal that saw hundreds of branch managers wrongfully convicted of fraud and theft due an accounting software glitch.

  • April 27, 2026

    Solicitor Beats Dishonesty Claims Over Late Applications

    A solicitor has been cleared of dishonesty over emails she sent about lasting powers of attorney applications she had unknowingly filed late, with a tribunal finding no intention to mislead while accepting that she was overworked and given limited support from her firm.

  • April 27, 2026

    Top White-Collar Pro Admits Overcharging ENRC On £22M Bill

    A top commercial crime lawyer admitted on Monday that his former barristers' chambers overcharged ENRC some of the £22 million ($30 million) his team earned on the Serious Fraud Office's criminal investigation, but denied suggestions the billing process was "shambolic."

  • April 27, 2026

    Shoosmiths Hires Construction Disputes Pro Peter Stockill

    Shoosmiths has hired Peter Stockill, a construction disputes expert formerly at Penningtons Manches Coopers LLP, as part of efforts to meet growing demand from clients in the real estate sector.

  • April 27, 2026

    ICO Commissioner Steps Down Amid HR Investigation

    The U.K. data protection watchdog confirmed Monday that its commissioner has voluntarily stepped down amid a human resources investigation.

  • April 27, 2026

    Mayer Brown Posts Record Revenue Of $268M In London

    Mayer Brown said Monday that its office in London had delivered record revenue of $268.2 million in 2025 as the firm invested in crucial practices including private equity and energy.

  • April 27, 2026

    Simmons & Simmons Promotes 9 To Partner In 2026

    Simmons & Simmons said Monday that it has promoted nine individuals from across the firm to its partnership, with women accounting for more than half of the latest round.

  • April 27, 2026

    Dentons Fails To Prevent Rerun Of Watchdog's AML Case

    Dentons failed on Monday to prevent a rerun of allegations that it breached money laundering rules while acting for a politically exposed client, as an appeals court said a new tribunal must decide whether the firm's actions amounted to professional misconduct and what sanction might follow.

  • April 26, 2026

    Ex-Mishcon Duo's Boutique Hires Legal AI Pro As Partner

    London boutique Three Points Law said Monday it has recruited a former KPMG and Bryan Cave lawyer in a deal where the firm will adopt a legal AI tool created by its new partner.

  • April 24, 2026

    Tribunals' Reform Plan May Not Be Enough To Avert Collapse

    Stewards and users of the U.K.'s employment tribunals are searching for ways to reform a system at breaking point — but proposed tweaks may not be enough amid a shortage of judges, rocketing numbers of claims and a deluge of AI-assisted correspondence.

  • April 24, 2026

    Legal Tech Roundup: Freshfields Partners With Anthropic

    A BigLaw firm partnering with a leading developer of generative artificial intelligence models tops this week's news. Other developments include another partnership and a legal tech company establishing an entity in Singapore. Here's a roundup of the week's biggest legal tech news.

  • April 24, 2026

    Tycoon's Son Can't Appeal £3.1M Howard Kennedy Bill

    The son of a diamond tycoon accused of swindling $1 billion from banks has lost his latest bid to challenge his legal bills from Howard Kennedy LLP, as a judge held Friday that he understood his "ongoing liability" from the international fraud case.

  • April 24, 2026

    The Revolving Door: Eversheds, CMS Make Big Hires

    Over the past week, Eversheds Sutherland recruited a derivatives expert from Macfarlanes, CMS UK brought on a patent litigation specialist from McCarthy Denning and Birketts appointed four new partners to boost its finance and construction offering. 

  • April 24, 2026

    Women Still Make Up Just 1 In 5 KCs Despite Influx, BSB Says

    Only about one in five women are King's Counsel, even though women now make up the majority of lawyers entering the profession, the Bar Standards Board said Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Bristows' Robert Burrows

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    Robert Burrows, joint head of patent litigation at Bristows, discusses the challenges of remote working when preparing cases, the need for reform in respect of second medical use patents, and whether recent European Union court decisions could mark the beginning of a shift in European litigation practice.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Farrer & Co.'s Kathleen Heycock

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    Kathleen Heycock, leader of the employment practice at Farrer & Co., discusses why challenging cases foster a sense of achievement, how an increase in workplace investigations has affected her practice, and the importance of emotional intelligence when working on both positive and negative employment matters.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Morgan Lewis' Timothy Corbett

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    Timothy Corbett, leader of Morgan Lewis' London corporate and business transactions practice, discusses the challenges of divesting a company of its Russia operations under wartime conditions, the need to align regional regulatory approaches to artificial intelligence across global businesses, and why junior lawyers should develop an area of special interest.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Covington's Gregor Frizzell

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    Gregor Frizzell, head of the EMEA corporate group and vice chair of the global corporate practice at Covington, discusses the creative challenges of merger and acquisition document provisions, how modernizing the archaic stamp duty regime would be welcomed by tax lawyers, and the guidance offered by a recent case on the interpretation of material adverse clauses.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Farrer & Co.'s Simon Ward

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    Simon Ward, leader of the private capital practice at Farrer & Co., discusses the challenges of coordinating an acquisition with lawyers from other practice areas, why finding ways to connect education institutions to regulators and decision-makers would be a positive shift, and why young lawyers should get involved in the business world early on.

  • Russia Sanctions Spotlight: Divergent Approaches Emerge

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    With indications of greater divergence and uncertainty in Russia sanctions policy between the U.K., European Union and U.S., there are four general principles and a range of compliance steps that businesses should bear in mind when assessing the impact of a potentially shifting landscape, says Alexandra Melia at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Morgan Lewis' Nick Bolter

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    Nick Bolter, leader of the London intellectual property practice at Morgan Lewis, discusses the challenges of acting in disputes where the other party is a lay person representing themselves, the need to refocus trademark law on consumer protection, and why IP is a challenging area of law.

  • FCA Update Eases Private Stock Market Disclosure Rules

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s recently updated proposals for the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System would result in less onerous disclosure obligations for businesses, reflecting ongoing efforts to balance an attractive trading venue for private companies while maintaining sufficient investor protections, say lawyers at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Mayer Brown's James West

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    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.

  • Practice Leader Insights From Norton Rose's Paul Griffin

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    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.

  • What Rise Of AI Means For Future Of Junior Lawyer Careers

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    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.

  • Practice Leader Insights From HFW's Michelle Chance

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    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.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Cleary's Sebastian Sperber

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    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.

  • What Age Bias Ruling Means For Law Firm Retirement Policies

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    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.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From HFW's Christopher Foster

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    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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