Ex-Irwin Mitchell duo set up London boutique employment firm May 4, 2021 Former Irwin Mitchell partners Emilie Cole and Shazia Khan have launched a boutique law firm specialising in employment and professional discipline law. The firm, Cole Khan, is located in Chancery Lane, London’s legal heartland, across the road from the Law Society. Currently the firm is all-female, with just the founding partners, though it is looking [...]
ETL Global doubles UK legal footprint with London law firm buy May 4, 2021 International professional services group ETL Global has acquired Laytons, in a deal that will double the company’s footprint in the UK legal sector. Laytons, located just down the road from Liverpool Street station, is a 30-partner firm and employs a further 66 people. ETL has not disclosed how much it paid for the London firm, [...]
Listed law firm Knights buys Yorkshire firm May 4, 2021 Knights has agreed to acquire Keebles, a century-old Sheffield-based law firm, for £11.54m. The acquisition will see 138 lawyers join Knights, and will provide the listed law firm with entry into Sheffield. Knights will buy Keebles from its ten existing equity partners for a total of £11.54m, subject to working capital adjustments at the [...]
Clifford Chance to work minimum of 50 per cent in the office post-pandemic April 30, 2021 Clifford Chance will expect staff to be in the office for at least 50 per cent of the week post-pandemic, as the law firm moves to a more flexible way of working. The new approach means staff at the Magic Circle law firm could work remotely for up to 50 per cent of the time. [...]
Linklaters promotes Alex Beidas to global head of employment & incentives April 29, 2021 Magic Circle firm Linklaters has made Alex Beidas global head of employment & incentives, taking over from Nicola Rabson, whose tenure in the role ends on 30 April. Beidas will stay in the new role for four years, where she will be in charge of supporting clients. Rabson will return to her role as partner, [...]
Keystone Law CEO: ‘There’s always been a culture of presenteeism in law firms – but that makes less sense now’ April 29, 2021 AIM-listed Keystone Law has enjoyed a good financial year, with profits and revenue at the firm up, something it attributes to being accidentally pandemic-ready thanks to its flexible approach to work. Revenue for the year jumped nearly 11 per cent to £55m, while profit before tax rose to £5.4m, some £200,000 more than the previous [...]
Litigation funders’ cash pipeline hits £2bn for the first time amid growing popularity April 28, 2021 The value of the pipeline of court cases and cash held by top UK litigation funders has hit £2bn for the first time as the asset class grows in popularity. The value held by litigation funders has rocketed in recent years, according to data by law firm RPC, with funding doubling in three years from [...]
Clifford Chance to make redundancies in London April 22, 2021 Clifford Chance has launched a redundancy scheme that will see tens of London-based employees leave the law firm. The Magic Circle law firm will make between 44 and 73 people redundant in the capital, with those working as legal support secretaries and in the document production unit and the mail room to be affected. The [...]
Ex-City law firm accountant jailed for stealing £400,000 from Clyde & Co April 19, 2021 A former Clyde & Co accountant has been banned from working in the legal profession after she stole £400,000 from the firm over the course of six years. Victoria Lucy Brown was convicted of one count of fraud by false representation at Guildford Crown Court in October 2019, having pleaded guilty to the offence. She [...]
Enforcement of judgments: Brussels opposes UK entry to the Lugano Convention legal pact April 13, 2021 Brussels is pushing for the UK to not be able to join the Lugano Convention, an international legal pact, after officials held a crunch meeting yesterday. The EU is reportedly against allowing the UK to join the convention on the grounds that it is not a member of the European Economic Area or the European [...]