Latham & Watkins brings in mental health counsellors to deal with employee burnout March 16, 2022 Los Angeles law firm Latham & Watkins has hired two mental health counsellors to work in its UK offices, amid mounting concerns around burnout in the legal sector. The California firm, which is one of the most profitable law firms in the world, has brought in two full time counsellors, with a view to offering [...]
Raab says barristers’ strike would be ‘totally unwarranted’ following legal aid reforms March 16, 2022 Justice secretary Dominic Raab has said it would be “totally unwarranted” for barristers to go forwards with strike action, after the Ministry of Justice said it would invest an extra £135m a year into criminal legal aid. The comments come after the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said 94.34 per cent of criminal barristers had voted [...]
Exclusive: Most in-house lawyers are now working from the office March 15, 2022 The UK’s in-house lawyers are leading the return to the office, with almost half of Britain’s in-house lawyers now working from the office full time, according to the results of a poll shared exclusively with City A.M.. The majority of Britain’s in-house lawyers have now spend at least part of their time working in the [...]
London lawyer forged letter and ‘tipped off’ client during Serious Fraud Office probe March 15, 2022 A senior partner at London law firm Osmond & Osmond has been charged with forging a legal letter and tipping off a client over plans by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to launch an investigation under the proceeds of crime act. Sixty-seven-year-old solicitor William Osmond – who founded London law firm Osmond & Osmond in [...]
London’s largest law firm DLA Piper closes Russian offices March 15, 2022 The City of London’s biggest law firm by revenue, DLA Piper, is set to close its Moscow and St Petersburg offices, as law firms from across the globe continue to pile out of Russia. In a statement, DLA Piper said it will transfer its Russian business to the UK, in line with the “legal and [...]
Russian judge rolls back Peppa Pig copyright in retaliation against Western sanctions March 15, 2022 Peppa Pig has been dragged into the conflict between Russia and the West, after a Russian judge said Russians are free to use the children’s cartoon character in retaliation against Western sanctions. A judge in the Russian city of Kirov said Russian businesses are free to copy Peppa Pig and create their own versions of [...]
Raab vows to boost legal aid with extra investment of £135m a year March 15, 2022 The UK government has agreed to invest an extra £135m a year into criminal legal aid, in line with recommendations made by the Bellamy report, which said £135m is the minimum investment needed to ensure the UK’s criminal legal aid system continues to function effectively. In a statement, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it [...]
UK underwriting vacancies hit record highs in 2021 as insurers sought to revisit policies March 14, 2022 The number of vacancies for underwriting positions hit all-time highs in 2021, following a surge in hiring last year, as insurers sought to protect themselves against the potential for ruinous “black swan” events in the wake of the global pandemic. All in all, a record 2,100 underwriting vacancies were advertised last year, according to new [...]
US law firm Squire Patton Boggs drops Russia’s Gazprombank as client March 12, 2022 US law firm Squire Patton Boggs has dropped Russia’s Gazprombank as a client, after closing its Moscow offices. Squire Patton Boggs’ decision to exit its relationship with Russia’s third largest bank comes after the US law firm was hired by Gazprombank in 2014 to lobby against US sanctions, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Gazprombank’s relationship [...]
Law giant CMS closes Moscow offices after coming under fire for links to oligarchs March 11, 2022 European law giant CMS has said it will close its Moscow offices and withdraw from the Russian market, after Conservative MP Bob Seely named CMS partner Geraldine Proudler as one of four “amoral” lawyers working for oligarchs to silence the press. In a post on Linkedin today, the law firm said it had decided that [...]