Pulse UK

  • November 10, 2024

    SRA Closed 43 Firms For Mishandling Client Money In 2023

    The closure of Axiom Ince Ltd. by the solicitors' watchdog was just the tip of the iceberg, as new data shows that the regulator was responsible for shuttering more than 10% of all law firms which folded in 2023.

  • November 10, 2024

    Esports Tees Up New Field Of Opportunities For Lawyers

    The growing popularity of esports offers a significant opportunity for law firms looking to make the most of their dispute resolution teams, with the partnership between video game developer Riot Games and a German law firm to set up an arbitration court for the high-profile video game competitions underscoring the potential for the legal sector.

  • November 08, 2024

    Cohen & Gresser Taps French Firm For White Collar Pro

    Cohen & Gresser LLP has recruited a white collar expert in France to augment its capabilities representing clients in international regulatory investigations and cases involving allegations of financial crimes.

  • November 08, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen collapsed German airline Air Berlin take action against its former auditor KPMG, the associate editor at The Spectator hit with a libel claim by a mosque over the far-right riots that took place in August and British licensing authority the Performing Right Society sue Parklife Manchester and four other festival organizers. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • November 08, 2024

    What's In A Global Footprint? Firms Slim Down In Profit Hunt

    Faced with geopolitical events, hybrid working and disruption caused by artificial intelligence, BigLaw is rethinking its international footprint, signaling that legal business must continue to evolve if it is to stay profitable.

  • November 15, 2024

    A&O Shearman Hires Travers Smith's Incentives Chief

    Allen Overy Shearman Sterling said on Friday that it has recruited the head of incentives and remuneration at Travers Smith LLP, the latest exit from the partnership ranks of the London law firm.

  • November 08, 2024

    Lawyers Deny Giving Bad Advice On £635K Crypto-Fraud

    A boutique investment law firm has denied providing "valueless advice" to an alleged victim of a cryptocurrency fraud on how to recover her money, and said it helped to secure a freezing order against the fraudsters.

  • November 07, 2024

    Latham Elevates 24 Associates To Partner In Reduced Class

    Latham & Watkins LLP will promote 24 associates to partner at the start of 2025, a number that is down significantly from the 34 associates who were promoted to partner in January 2024, the firm has announced.

  • November 07, 2024

    One Essex Court KC Tapped To Chair Takeover Panel

    The U.K.'s Takeover Panel has appointed a senior barrister at One Essex Court to serve as its chair from May 1, according to a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Thursday. 

  • November 07, 2024

    Solicitor's Bias Claim Against SRA Dismissed Again

    A solicitor has lost his bid before the Employment Tribunal to prove that the Solicitors Regulation Authority's decision to place restrictions on his practicing certificate were linked to discrimination, with the tribunal saying the lawyer had presented no new evidence to prove his claim. 

  • November 07, 2024

    Kingsley Napley Launches Regulatory Consultancy

    Kingsley Napley LLP has launched a consultancy to help clients deal with regulatory issues as legal markets open up around the world.

  • November 07, 2024

    Riot Games Launches Dispute Resolution For Esports

    Video game developer Riot Games said Thursday that it is launching an independent court of arbitration for esports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to resolve contractual and financial issues in professional and semi-professional competitions.

  • November 07, 2024

    Ex-KWM London Chief Faces Tribunal For Kissing Colleague

    A former managing partner at King & Wood Mallesons' office in London has been referred to a tribunal to face allegations that he engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said on Thursday.

  • November 14, 2024

    Mishcon Hires Video Games Pro From Lewis Silkin

    Mishcon de Reya LLP has hired a partner at its London office to head up its new dedicated video games team, where he will advise a range of clients from game developers and publishers to esports teams and licensors.

  • November 06, 2024

    Hedge Fund Lawyer Defends Signing Off On £1.4B Fraud Docs

    The former top lawyer at a hedge fund accused of defrauding Denmark's tax authority of £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion), who signed off on documents falsely confirming the trades were legitimate, told a London trial he didn't think it "was a big deal at the time."

  • November 06, 2024

    Fieldfisher Unfairly Fired Lawyer Amid Sex Assault Probe

    A former senior associate at Fieldfisher LLP was unfairly fired over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a colleague in a toilet at a work event after the firm relied on the co-worker's "deliberate false evidence," an employment tribunal has ruled.

  • November 06, 2024

    SRA Could Reconsider New Fining Framework Amid Criticism

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority has indicated that it might need to go back to the drawing board on plans to revise its fining powers after strong criticism that the plans could be unlawful and vulnerable to judicial review.

  • November 06, 2024

    Kennedys Recruits Arbitration Pro From Hogan Lovells

    Kennedys has recruited a new partner from Hogan Lovells to its Paris office to help lead and develop its commercial and investment arbitration practice.

  • November 06, 2024

    SRA Fines Law Firm That Fell Short On AML Rules

    A law firm has been fined more than £6,000 ($7,700) for a failure to comply with money-laundering regulations that meant it had undermined public confidence in the profession, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said on Wednesday.

  • November 06, 2024

    Lawyer Fails To Overturn Striking Off For Fake Whiplash Claim

    A solicitor who made a false insurance claim over a road traffic accident failed in his bid to be restored to the profession, after a London judge found Wednesday that a lesser punishment would not be proportionate to the wrongdoing.

  • November 06, 2024

    A&O Shearman Partner Rapped Over Drink Driving Conviction

    A structured finance lawyer who resigned from A&O Shearman after he was convicted of drink-driving has been handed a reprimand, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said.

  • November 05, 2024

    Barrister Fights Suspension Over 'Vague' Client Money Case

    A barrister suspended for mishandling client money urged a court Tuesday to reduce the 18-month sanction, arguing that the vagueness of the charges before the industry's disciplinary tribunal was unfair to his client.

  • November 12, 2024

    DWF Hires 2 Barristers For In-House Chambers

    DWF LLP has taken on two senior barristers for its in-house set of chambers to boost its services in areas such as personal injury and civil fraud.

  • November 05, 2024

    Northern Irish Criminal Lawyers Strike Over Legal Aid

    Criminal barristers and solicitors in Northern Ireland have gone on strike over a failure by the province's executive to address funding pressures that they say have made it financially unviable to take on publicly funded work. 

  • November 05, 2024

    SRA Closing In On CILEX Takeover Despite Controversy

    The solicitors' watchdog said Tuesday that it is "close" to submitting an application to take over the regulation of paralegals and legal executives, despite its shifting priorities.

Expert Analysis

  • Legal Technology Is Likely To Flourish In The UK

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    The U.K. may soon surpass the U.S. in legal technology, thanks to regulatory reform, law firm investment and an entrepreneurial environment, says Bridget Deiters of InCloudCounsel.

  • Law & Reorder: The Emergence Of The UK Legaltech Sector

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    Recent market dynamics are driving the U.K. legal industry to adopt nascent technologies in new service offerings as well as pre-existing solutions. The rise of legaltech should also lead to an increase in acquisitions by law firms striving to maintain relevance, says Jo Charles of Livingstone Partners LLP.

  • Why English Courts Are Prepared To Assist Cyber Victims

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    This year, a number of cases have illustrated how English courts are dealing with legal hurdles for cybercrime victims and making it easier to obtain a freezing order or injunction under such circumstances, says Fiona Cain of Haynes and Boone LLP.

  • Extradition To The United States: Fight Or Flight?

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    Recent extradition cases have demonstrated that individuals in the United Kingdom facing charges in the United States can either fight extradition proceedings tooth and nail, or voluntarily travel to the U.S. An approach carefully tailored to the facts of each case is required in order to best protect a requested person's interests, says Ben Isaacs of 7 Bedford Row.

  • UK Internal Investigations Are Taking An Ungainly Turn

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    The London High Court's decision in Serious Fraud Office v. Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation has a lot to say on the vitality of legal professional privilege and the conduct of internal investigations in the U.K., but its flawed logic and lack of pragmatism feel like the latest installment in SFO Director David Green's pushback against U.S.-style investigation procedures, say Matthew Herrington and Tom Best of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

  • Once More Unto The Breach — Rehearing In Newman?

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    On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York decided to seek appellate review of several aspects of the recent insider-trading decision in U.S. v. Newman and Chiasson. En banc rehearing petitions are rarely granted in any circuit, and are particularly rare in the Second Circuit, which hears the fewest number of rehearings of any circuit in the country, say Eugene Ingoglia and Gregory Morvillo of Morvillo LLP.

  • UK Tax Advisers Are Beyond Legal Advice Privilege

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    A recent judgment from the U.K. Supreme Court in one of the most significant decisions on legal advice privilege for many years. Prudential PLC v. Special Commissioner of Income Tax, which dealt a blow to tax advisers and other nonlegally qualified service providers who provide legal advice to their clients, confirmed that — consistent with the position in the U.S. — legal advice privilege only protects communications to or from a qualified lawyer, say Richard Hornshaw and Daniel Cohen of Bingham McCutchen LLP.

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