Pulse UK

  • January 17, 2025

    Fieldfisher Hires Disputes Pro From DWF In Birmingham

    Fieldfisher LLP has hired a new dispute resolution partner to its Birmingham office from DWF LLP, with the new arrival saying Friday that he is keen to work on high-value matters that are "unheard of" at other firms in central England.

  • January 10, 2025

    Investors Sue Ackland & Co. Over Negligent Property Advice

    A Welsh law firm has been sued by a group of individuals over alleged breaches of duty in connection with their failed purchases of property in a development in England that collapsed before the promised residential apartments were built.

  • January 10, 2025

    Law Firm Sued For £1.8M Over Property Payments Advice

    A property company has sued Manuel Swaden for £1.8 million ($2.2 million), accusing the law firm of failing to inform it of unpaid payments when it gave advice on the purchase of a residential property in London.

  • January 09, 2025

    Skadden Opens Abu Dhabi Office With Freshfields Hire

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP announced Thursday that its first Middle East office has opened in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, spearheaded by a new corporate transactional partner who previously led the region for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.

  • January 09, 2025

    CILEX Regulator Still Faces Uncertainty About Its Future

    The current regulator of legal executives for England and Wales said Thursday that it remains uncertain about its future as it awaits a decision on whether its powers will be transferred to the solicitors watchdog.

  • January 09, 2025

    Trainee Misled Firm Over Annual Leave Request

    A former trainee solicitor at a central English law firm has been banned from being employed by another law firm after she lied to her employer about needing to take time off to go to court over a planning matter, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.

  • January 09, 2025

    Lawyer Disbarred For 'Recklessly' Misleading Upper Tribunal

    A barrister who "recklessly misled" the court over the course of judicial review application proceedings into immigration decisions was disbarred by the profession's disciplinary tribunal on Thursday.

  • January 09, 2025

    Direct Line Names New GC Ahead Of Planned Aviva Merger

    Direct Line Group has appointed a new general counsel to its executive committee, as the insurer moves toward its anticipated merger with rival Aviva later in 2025.

  • January 09, 2025

    Barbara Mills KC Elected As New Bar Council Chair

    The Bar Council has elected family law specialist Barbara Mills KC as the first Black person to serve as its chair as the profession continues to wrestle with a lack of diversity and underinvestment in the justice system.

  • January 09, 2025

    Tech Biz Says Barrister Failed To Flag Law Firm's Negligence

    A tech company has accused a barrister of failing to spot his instructing law firm's alleged negligence, telling a London court that this armed the law firm with a limitation defense that cut the value of an eventual settlement.

  • January 09, 2025

    SFO To Claw Back £1M From Solicitor Convicted Of Fraud

    A lawyer who was imprisoned for 14 years for siphoning off investors' money through a fraudulent offshore "get-rich-quick" legal aid scheme will repay victims more than £1 million ($1.23 million), the Serious Fraud Office said Thursday.

  • January 09, 2025

    Ex-Lawyer Sues BT Over Lost £8M From Search Invention

    A retired real estate lawyer has accused British Telecommunications and a paralegal firm of conspiring to exclude him from a system he created to find building asset risks, alleging they robbed him of more than £8.75 million ($10.8 million) in future annual revenue.

  • January 08, 2025

    Lawyer Accused Of AML Failings And Accounts Rules Breach

    England's solicitors watchdog told a tribunal Wednesday that a lawyer lied about anti-money laundering failings and used his firm's client account as a banking facility to hold more than £2 million ($2.7 million) for a client.

  • January 08, 2025

    Reed Smith Names Brigid North As New London Chief

    Reed Smith LLP named long-time real estate partner Brigid North on Thursday as the new managing partner at its London office, as the U.S. law firm targets "sustainable" growth in the increasingly competitive legal market.

  • January 08, 2025

    Howard Kennedy Recruits IP Partner From Gunnercooke

    Howard Kennedy LLP has recruited a new partner from Gunnercooke LLP to its intellectual property team in London, with the lawyer saying Wednesday she's ready to leave behind the "eat what you kill" model to join a more traditional setup.

  • January 15, 2025

    Charles Russell Hires Disputes Pro From Swiss Firm

    Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has hired a dispute resolution specialist from Altenburger Ltd. Legal + Tax in Switzerland as the firm looks to continue growing its business internationally.

  • January 08, 2025

    Ashurst Reports 'Serious' Technical Incident

    Ashurst LLP said Thursday that it had experienced a "serious" technical incident that disrupted email communication for its lawyers and staff, highlighting the ongoing cyber issues faced by firms.

  • January 15, 2025

    ACG Metals Hires Ex-Kirkland Partner As Chief Legal Officer

    A former restructuring partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP has joined copper miner ACG Metals Ltd. to take up the position of chief legal officer as it pursues an ambitious acquisition strategy in the copper sector, the company said.

  • January 08, 2025

    London Partner Moves Hit Record, Driven By US Firms' Pay

    A record number of partners moved between firms in London in 2024, driven mainly by substantial investments by U.S. outfits, data published on Wednesday by a legal recruiter shows.

  • January 08, 2025

    RBG Fires Rosenblatt As Dispute Over Firm's Future Explodes

    RBG Holdings PLC said Wednesday that it has parted ways with its namesake Ian Rosenblatt as his dispute with the legal group's leadership over its future boiled over amid allegations that he was setting up another firm under his name.

  • January 07, 2025

    Lawyer Denied Bonus On Career Break Wins Sex Bias Case

    The Government Legal Department indirectly discriminated against a senior lawyer by skipping her £1,500 ($1,875) bonus because she was on a career break, an employment tribunal has ruled.

  • January 07, 2025

    Here's How Paul Hastings' Big Bet On Finance Paid Off

    As the financial markets swayed between booms and busts in recent years following the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul Hastings LLP stayed the course, doubling down on its transactional practices by recruiting top-tier talent across key global markets like New York and London, and rising hubs such as Texas.

  • January 07, 2025

    Shein GC Avoids Labor Abuse Claims At UK Inquiry

    Fashion retailer Shein was excoriated by MPs after it offered few answers to accusations of labor abuses in its supply chains at a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday.

  • January 07, 2025

    Gibson Dunn Appoints New Leaders Of London Office

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has had a change of leadership in London, with the appointment of resolution expert Osma Hudda and real estate finance lawyer Rob Carr as the new partners in charge of its base in the City.

  • January 07, 2025

    Shook Hardy & Bacon Winds Down London Office

    Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP is closing its three-lawyer London office after nearly four decades in the British capital, the firm said Tuesday, as two of the partners moved to CMS.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Law School Admissions Shouldn't Hinge On Test Scores

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    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.

  • New FCA Listing Rules May Start Regulatory Shift On Diversity

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    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.

  • What UK Professional Regulation Looks Like In A #MeToo Era

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    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.

  • How Immune Are State Agents From Foreign Courts?

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Justice Gap Demands Look At New Legal Service Models

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    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.

  • Opinion

    New NJ Fed. Rule On Litigation Funding Should Be Welcomed

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    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.

  • Lessons In Civility From The Alex Oh Sanctions Controversy

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    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.

  • Rebuttal

    US Legal System Can Benefit From Nonlawyer Ownership

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    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.

  • Increasing Investment Scams Can Implicate Lawyers, Too

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    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.

  • UK Lawyers Can Adapt Due Diligence To Screen New Clients

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    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.

  • Key Risks And Developments For UK Law Firm Culture In 2020

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    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.

  • #MeToo Pressure On UK Businesses Is Set To Rise

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    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.

  • Corporate Wrongdoing Risks Go Beyond Exec Departures

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    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.

  • 2 Perspectives On Navigating The Litigation Funding Process

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    Paul Martenstyn of Vannin Capital and Daniel Spendlove of Signature Litigation share their top tips on how to get a case funded, drawing from their respective experience as a funder and a lawyer.

  • Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

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    While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

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