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Pulse UK
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November 07, 2025
PE-Backed Fletchers Enters Family Law With Rayden Deal
British law firm Fletchers Group, backed by private equity firm Sun European Partners LLP, has agreed to acquire St. Albans-based Rayden Solicitors, stepping into the family law practice and adding a new specialty to its portfolio for an undisclosed amount.
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November 07, 2025
UK LLPs Face Reduced NICs, But Equity Partners Still At Risk
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has reportedly scaled back plans to impose National Insurance contributions on LLP members but is reportedly considering a reduced rate — a move experts warn could still significantly impact equity partners.
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November 07, 2025
Minimum Pupillage Pay Raised To £26K In London In 2026
The Bar Standards Board said Friday that the minimum amount those undertaking pupillages in London must be paid will rise to almost £26,000 ($34,000) at the start of 2026, as part of the regulator's latest round of uplifts.
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November 07, 2025
SRA Publishes Details Of Restrictions On Mazur Litigator
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published its decision on the law firm employee at the heart of the landmark Mazur court ruling, divulging that he had been suspended as a solicitor in 2008.
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November 07, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Big Technologies file fresh claims against its ousted chief executive, West Ham United FC sue Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance for breach of duty, and RSM UK face a new claim over a company's administration. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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November 07, 2025
The Revolving Door: Eversheds, Paul Hastings Make Big Hires
Over the past week, Eversheds Sutherland recruited three new partners from DLA Piper to boost its transactional risk insurance and construction practices, Paul Hastings LLP added a structured finance specialist from Ashurst LLP and Charles Russell Speechlys LLP hired a tax expert from Clifford Chance LLP. Here, Law360 looks at those and more of the week's most notable lateral hires around the U.K.
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November 07, 2025
Gov't Floats FCA Powers To Punish Lawyers For AML Lapses
The U.K. government has said it intends to give the Financial Conduct Authority broad powers to enforce anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism regulations against the legal sector, including the ability to issue fines and bans mirroring those imposed against financial firms.
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November 07, 2025
AI Platform Legora Launches Portal To Ease Firm-Client Work
Swedish legal AI platform Legora said Friday it is developing a document portal that lets lawyers and clients work together in a secure workspace that avoids "inefficient" email chains with a roll-out date expected in early 2026.
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November 06, 2025
Akin's London Chief Leaves For GC Spot At Dubai Tech Biz
Digital technology provider Veon Ltd. said Thursday that it has hired Sebastian Rice as general counsel, where he will take on a new role after spending the past 24 years at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
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November 06, 2025
City Firms Lead Profit Growth As Regional Firms See Decline
The financial gap between City and regional law firms is widening, with big players seeing their partner profit pools surge more than 12% in financial years ending in early 2025 while regional firms saw declines of more than 10%, according to a new report published Thursday.
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November 06, 2025
Broadfield Can't Dodge £10M Property Sale Negligence Claim
Broadfield Law cannot dodge a £10 million ($13 million) negligence claim over a botched property transaction, after a judge held Thursday that the sellers had a realistic chance of proving that it was liable for the actions of its predecessor.
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November 06, 2025
Historic England Picks 3 Law Firms For Legal Panel
Bevan Brittan LLP, Trowers & Hamlins LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson have all secured places on the legal panel of Historic England, a public body responsible for protecting and promoting the country's heritage.
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November 06, 2025
Solicitor Avoids Suspension Over Fraudulent Property Deals
A solicitor who failed to prevent a number of fraudulent or potentially fraudulent property deals can continue to practice after the profession's tribunal declined to impose an immediate suspension on Thursday.
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November 05, 2025
SDT Bars Solicitor Who Lied Over Client's Asylum Claim
A former law firm partner who misled a client and other parties into thinking that he had lodged information with the Home Office to support an asylum claim has been barred from practicing as a solicitor, a tribunal has said.
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November 05, 2025
Legal Watchdog Pushes For Hub To Flag Troubled Firms Early
A leading legal consumer advocate called Wednesday for the creation of a centralized hub to pool all warning signs about solicitors' firms — from complaints and inspection findings to whistleblower reports — to prevent another collapse like that of SSB Group Ltd.
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November 05, 2025
Funder Can't Stop Businessman's Bid To Reopen Asset Fight
A businessman can try to reopen a long-running dispute over the assets of Gerald Smith, a former software company boss with a long history of financial crime, a London judge ruled on Wednesday.
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November 05, 2025
No5 Barrister Tapped As New High Court Judge
A silk at No5 Barristers' Chambers has been appointed as a judge at the High Court to the King's Bench Division.
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November 05, 2025
Burges Salmon Names Ex-Foot Anstey Vet New Finance Chief
National U.K. law firm Burges Salmon has appointed a former Foot Anstey finance executive as its new chief financial officer.
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November 05, 2025
Fieldfisher To Merge With Regan Wall To Boost Irish Presence
Fieldfisher LLP said Wednesday that it is merging with boutique law firm Regan Wall LLP, a move to boost its services in the corporate market in Ireland as it continues its expansion in Europe.
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November 04, 2025
Pierson Ferdinand Adds 6 More Partners In US, London
Fast-growing Pierson Ferdinand LLP has announced that the firm added six new partners in five U.S. markets and in its London office during the month of October.
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November 04, 2025
Dechert Requiring 4 Days In Office For Some Attys, All Staff
Dechert LLP joined a growing list of BigLaw firms increasing their office attendance requirements, rolling out a new policy requiring rising second-year associates and all nonattorney business professionals to work in person four days a week beginning next year.
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November 04, 2025
London Partner Moves Surge 12% In Post-Summer Rebound
London partner hiring bounced back in September and October after a summer dip to post a 12% increase, according to data published Tuesday by a leading London legal recruiter.
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November 04, 2025
Proposed Tax Reform Could Spur UK Law Firm Consolidation
Facing a new tax on limited liability partnership members, U.K. law firms are weighing alternative structures in a shift experts say could accelerate consolidation across the sector and spur U.S. firms to reconsider their local setups.
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November 04, 2025
Ex-Slaughter & May Lawyer Banned For Lying In Pupillage Bid
A disciplinary tribunal has struck off a former Slaughter and May associate after he admitted to telling a host of lies in his attempt to secure a pupillage within a prominent central London barristers' chambers.
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November 04, 2025
Carter-Ruck Invokes Privilege In Legal Bid To Stop SRA Case
Carter-Ruck has asked the High Court to block the Solicitors Regulation Authority from investigating it for allegedly using abusive tactics against a politician during a failed libel claim brought by a client who is a donor to the Conservative Party.
AI Startup Legora Aims To Reshape Law Firm-Client Dynamics
In-house lawyers might send an email or get on the phone when they want to talk to outside counsel. But the head of artificial intelligence startup Legora tells Law360 he sees a future where a client's first port of call might be an artificial intelligence tool offered by a law firm.
Judge's Case To Shine Light On Secretive Selection Process
A judge's challenge on Wednesday to the lawfulness of a secretive process used to appoint judges will shine a light on part of the U.K. legal system that is often criticized but largely opaque.
Incoming Law Society Leader Has Her Eye On Modernization
When Dana Denis-Smith launched her campaign to become president of the Law Society of England and Wales, her message was clear: the legal profession has changed dramatically over the past two decades — and must keep evolving.
AI-Driven Fake Evidence Could 'Play Havoc' In Legal Disputes
A recent High Court judgment exposed how nonexistent artificial intelligence-generated citations had been used in legal arguments — but experts say this could be the tip of the iceberg for increasingly sophisticated fake evidence making its way into disputes.
Editor's Picks
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The Revolving Door: Sullivan & Cromwell Bags Finance Head
Over the past week, the head of Allen Overy Shearman Sterling's financial services group joined Sullivan & Cromwell, Baker McKenzie swiped an investment funds specialist from Latham & Watkins, and a cyber heavyweight exited Deloitte Legal for Reynolds Porter Chamberlain.
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The Revolving Door: Addleshaw Hires Cyber Chief From Bird
Over the past week, Addleshaw Goddard LLP hired a new director of cyber investigations from Bird & Bird LLP, Dechert LLP saw two experts in international capital markets transactions move to Baker Botts LLP, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP recruited an expert in secondaries transactions from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
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AI-Powered Law Firm Sparks Debate On Legal Sector's Future
The country's first approved artificial intelligence law firm could be a turning point, making it easier for individuals and small businesses to get legal support. But the proliferation of artificial intelligence in the legal sector could also put considerable pressure on small firms and solo practitioners.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Practice Leader Insights From RPC's Patrick Brodie
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.
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Practice Leader Insights From Baker Botts' Neil Coulson
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.
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Practice Leader Insights From Freshfields' Kathleen Healy
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.
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Practice Leader Insights From HSF Kramer's Sarah McNally
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.
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Practice Leader Insights: Shakespeare Martineau's Phil Pepper
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.
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Practice Leader Insights From Forbes' Kella Bowers
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.
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AI Risks Legal Sector Must Consider In Dispute Resolution
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.
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Practice Leader Insights: Harbottle & Lewis' Yvonne Gallagher
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.
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How Cos. Can Straddle US-UK Split On Work Misconduct, DEI
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.
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Viral Comms Crises Create Dual Corp. Governance Threats
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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Practice Leader Insights From Mishcon's Richard Leedham
Richard Leedham, head of the commercial litigation practice and insurance disputes team at Mishcon de Reya, discusses the challenges of coordinating a complex lawsuit during lockdown, why the remedy for damages for late insurance claim payments is practically worthless, and the importance of focusing on hard legal argument in class actions.
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Practice Leader Insights From V&E's David Berkery
David Berkery, head of aviation finance at Vinson & Elkins, discusses the challenges of striking an asset-backed securitization deal after the 2008 financial crisis rewrote the rules, why sustainable aviation goals need more government encouragement, and why young attorneys should focus on finding people they enjoy working with.
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Practice Leader Insights From Gibson Dunn's Sandy Bhogal
Sandy Bhogal, co-chair of Gibson Dunn's tax practice, discusses the challenges of working on a complicated restructuring during the financial crisis, the difficulty of dealing with rules that are adjusted by nonbinding guidance, and why tax lawyers need to know the law as well as they possibly can.
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SRA Ruling Raises Issue Of Jurisdiction Over Private Conduct
The recent Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ruling, suspending a former Orrick associate after determining that a criminal offense of nonconsensual touching had occurred, serves as a cautionary tale that the regulator's jurisdiction may extend into private social settings, even where no abuse of power is proven, says Nick Brett at Brett Wilson.
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Why Leveson Review Is Significant For UK Court System
Brian Leveson’s recent review into the U.K. criminal justice system calls for judge-only trials in serious and complex fraud cases, a controversial recommendation that is sparking debate over the future of jury trials, says Louise Hodges at Kingsley Napley.