Pulse UK

  • July 03, 2026

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London, Russia's state development bank was sued in a commercial fraud claim involving military GPS technology, one of Nike's subsidiaries brought an intellectual property claim against a menswear company owner, BlackBerry re-opened a $6.49 million claim against its South Asian licensee and CBRE property services filed a claim against CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP. 

  • July 03, 2026

    Reed Smith To Retain Almost All London NQs In September

    Reed Smith LLP will retain almost its entire cohort of trainees who are due to qualify as solicitors this fall after 11 of its 12 trainees accepted permanent positions at the firm.

  • July 03, 2026

    The Revolving Door: DWF Loses Pros To RPC, Hill Dickinson

    Over the past week, DWF lost top talent to Hill Dickinson, RPC and Shoosmiths, an insurance M&A pro left DLA Piper for Sidley Austin, and Ashurst Perkins Coie hired a partner from Stephenson Harwood to head up its post-merger real estate litigation team. Here, Law360 looks at those and more of the week's most notable lateral hires across the U.K.

  • July 03, 2026

    DLA Piper Raises NQ Pay In London 8% To £140K

    DLA Piper has hiked the pay of newly qualified solicitors in London to £140,000 ($187,000), marking its second increase in less than 12 months as law firms continue to offer higher pay to attract emerging talent.

  • July 03, 2026

    SRA Proposes New Client Update Rules For Complaints

    The solicitors' watchdog has proposed two new rules that would require law firms to communicate more clearly and regularly with clients who make complaints as part of reforms to strengthen complaint-handling standards before matters are escalated to the Legal Ombudsman.

  • July 03, 2026

    Axiom Ince Says SRA Missed £65M Shortfall For Months

    Axiom Ince has challenged the solicitors watchdog's defense to the law firm's negligence claim, arguing that the regulator missed a "crucial opportunity" to uncover the alleged £65 million ($87 million) misappropriation of client money by intervening too late.

  • July 02, 2026

    Reed Smith Adds Ex-Norton Rose Partner, RE Atty In Munich

    Reed Smith LLP has bolstered its private equity practice with the hire of a former Norton Rose Fulbright group leader in Munich.

  • July 02, 2026

    Voir Dire: Law360 Pulse's Weekly Quiz

    The legal industry began the second half of 2026 with another busy week as BigLaw firms merged and expanded their practice offerings. Test your legal news savvy here with Law360 Pulse's weekly quiz.

  • July 02, 2026

    SRA Finds Consumer Confusion With High-Volume Firms

    Confusion during the onboarding process and a lack of clear information about costs are among problems people experience when they turn to law firms and claims management companies specializing in high-volume consumer claims, research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed Thursday.

  • July 02, 2026

    Hill Dickinson Not Negligent In Doctor's Whistleblowing Case

    Hill Dickinson defeated a doctor's bid for a wasted costs order Thursday, with an appellate tribunal ruling that the firm's failure to disclose a document didn't amount to negligence even if it might have been relevant to his whistleblowing case.

  • July 02, 2026

    DWF Fights Appeal In Personal Injury Data Privacy Claim

    Three personal injury claimants on Thursday sought to revive their data privacy claim against DWF, arguing at an appeals court that the law firm should not have shared their health data in proceedings involving their insurers without removing identifying information.

  • July 02, 2026

    BCLP Plans Move To Bigger Frankfurt Office In 2027

    Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has said that it is planning to move to a larger office in Frankfurt as it seeks to expand in Germany.

  • July 02, 2026

    Macfarlanes NQ Pay Hits £150K To Match Magic Circle Firms

    Macfarlanes LLP said Thursday that it has raised the basic salary for newly-qualified lawyers to £150,000 ($200,000), matching the level offered by Magic Circle firms.

  • July 01, 2026

    Withers Promotes 12 Partners In US, UK, Singapore

    International law firm Withers has appointed a dozen new partners across three countries, nearly half of whom are based in the United States.

  • July 01, 2026

    Setfords' In-House Tech Platform Built For Consultant Lawyers

    Setfords has launched a new legal technology platform that it built in-house and combines case, accounts and practice management capabilities, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Hogan Lovells Cadwalader Sees 'Opportunity' In Boston

    With the official launch of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, Boston attorneys at Hogan Lovells are expecting the firm to be able to leverage Cadwalader's strengths and some of the Hub's unique traits in what they call a truly "additive" merger.

  • July 01, 2026

    Walkers Promotes 4 New Partners In Europe

    Walkers said Wednesday that it has promoted a total of 14 new partners across its global network, with women making up more than half. 

  • July 01, 2026

    KC Thought He Was 'Clever Enough' To Lawfully Cut Tax Bill

    A senior barrister accused of cheating the public revenue out of nearly £2 million ($2.6 million) believed he was "clever enough" to devise a lawful scheme to reduce his tax liability, his counsel told the trial Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    KC Faces July Contempt Hearing Over Palestine Action Trial

    A senior barrister at Garden Court Chambers is set to face contempt of court proceedings over allegations that he breached rulings when he delivered a closing address to a jury while representing a Palestine Action activist in criminal proceedings.

  • July 01, 2026

    Simmons & Simmons' Revenue Nears £700M In Record Year

    Simmons & Simmons said Wednesday that it has set records as profits climbed 14% and revenue rose to almost £700 million ($927 million), driven by a focus on sectors including asset management, use of new technology and growth in partner numbers.

  • June 30, 2026

    Legora CFO Pledges SPAC Recusal Amid Acquisition Spree

    Legora's chief financial officer also serves as a director of a newly listed SPAC and could have oversight of future investments there as the legal artificial intelligence company grows through acquisitions.

  • June 30, 2026

    Uber Ruling Clouds Privilege For Funders' Law Firm Talks

    A recent ruling that communications between claimant lawyers and prospective litigation funders are not automatically protected by litigation privilege could widen disclosure and make it harder for claimant firms to secure funding, experts say.

  • June 30, 2026

    Billionaire Appeals Abuse Of Process Ruling In $415M Suit

    Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego urged an appeals court Tuesday to overturn a ruling refusing him a quick win in his $415 million fraud claim, arguing that using a private intelligence agent to gain information from his opponent's lawyer did not amount to an abuse of process.

  • June 30, 2026

    Cripps Says Live Nation Advice Did Not Cause £3.4M Loss 

    Cripps has denied costing Margate Dreamland's operator £3.4 million ($4.5 million) for misadvising the venue on using a termination clause to exit a catering contract, arguing that the operator had not retained the firm during its sale to Live Nation. 

  • June 30, 2026

    Solicitor Can't Sue Top Judge Again Over Sheriff Suspension

    An employment tribunal has tossed a lawyer's second bid to sue the most senior judge in Scotland, finding that he already had his chance to sue over his suspension as a part-time sheriff.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Makes Law Firm Change Management A Client Issue

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    As artificial intelligence implementation is causing clients' expectations of outside counsel to shift toward greater risk control and more transparent value, successful law firm transformation and the preservation of professional trust will require governance, training and accountability, says John Hutchinson at Broadfield.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Broadfield's Sinéad Lester

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    Sinéad Lester, Broadfield's head of commercial litigation, discusses how important it is for a leader to support their team in meeting deadlines, the challenges of not receiving instructions from a client in good time, and how the reforms to witness evidence continue to reshape how lawyers prepare cases.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Mayer Brown's Miriam Bruce

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    Miriam Bruce, Mayer Brown's head of business protection, discusses how being promoted on the eve of the pandemic was a baptism of fire in leadership, the challenges of multidimensional disputes, and why lawyers should invest in relationships, not just technical knowledge.

  • Bar AI Guidance Shifts Verification Duty Focus To Law Firms

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    The Bar Standards Board’s new guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, following two recent cases highlighting risks of misuse, sends a clear message to law firm leadership that firms’ operational processes and the conduct of those who supervise now sit within the regulatory frame, says Marcella Rich at Williams Lea.

  • Nonequity Partner Tier Presents Lawyers With Pros And Cons

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    While the nonequity partner model may offer law firms' management flexibility and be a genuine stepping stone for lawyers in some organizations, at others the tier functions more as an extended holding pattern whose uncertainty can cause frustration for ambitious lawyers, say Filippo Falchi and Portia White at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Covington's David Berman

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    David Berman, Covington's head of EMEA financial services, discusses how he perceived a gap in the market for practical financial regulatory advice, the challenges of advising Egypt on its new banking law, and how firms that neglect artificial intelligence governance do so at their peril.

  • Internal Investigation Strategy After Glencore Privilege Ruling

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    The recent High Court ruling in Aabar Holdings v. Glencore PLC confirms that legal privilege can extend to intraclient communications, materially improving the position of companies that design investigations carefully, define legal channels properly and maintain discipline in their internal communications, says Nicolas Groffman at Harligan.

  • Series

    Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Macfarlanes' Andrew Barton

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    Andrew Barton, head of the insurance team at Macfarlanes, discusses the challenges of conducting a transaction under Indian foreign direct investment rules, why the Draft Insurable Interest Bill should be followed through, and how the defined benefit pensions risk transfer space has become the fastest growing insurance market in the world.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From CRS' Sarah Wigington

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    Sarah Wigington, head of CRS' U.K. corporate team, discusses the challenges of conducting a joint venture with numerous moving parts that had to land at precisely the same moment, how simplification of corporate reporting and disclosure obligations would help midmarket businesses, and why ESG factors are now a threshold issue.

  • PE's Path In UK Legal Market Offers Playbook For US Firms

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    The U.K. offers 14 years' worth of data on private equity's involvement in the legal market, demonstrating for U.S. firms what worked, what didn’t and why, and illustrating several lessons about operational readiness, cultural fit and timing, says Tom Lenfestey at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Lack Of Associate Pay Progression May Leave Firms Exposed

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    Willkie’s recent salary increases for newly qualified lawyers in London made headline news, but the more important issue is how firms pay midlevel associates, since allowing pay progression to lag materially risks undermining the cohort firms rely on to sustain client relationships and train the next generation, says Adam Stocker at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Wedlake Bell's Adam Grant

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    Adam Grant, head of employment at Wedlake Bell, discusses the challenges of persuading a business to offer employees greater support when it makes large-scale redundancies, the need for new guidance on returning data subject access requests to their intended purpose, and how economic uncertainty with less job security may lead to more office presence.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Willkie's Gavin Gordon

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    Willkie's chair of European private equity, Gavin Gordon, discusses the challenges of conducting a merger across differing time zones and in a complex regulatory environment, how clients are frustrated by the growing impact of antitrust filings, and why there is a mismatch on valuation expectation between buyers and sellers.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From CRS' Dewdney Drew

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    Dewdney Drew, head of brand protection at Charles Russell Speechlys, discusses the challenges of working on a firm's rebrand under time pressure, how the process to simplify U.K. design protection is under way, and why lawyers need to harness the power of artificial intelligence.

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