Economic slowdown set to hit legal sectors’ bumper profits, new research shows August 11, 2022 The past year’s boom in dealmaking acted as a boon to the UK’s legal sector in leading to a major uptick in work for British clients. However, the economic downturn could reverse law firms’ fortunes and dent their profitability, new research from Thomson Reuters shows. Global law firms operating in the UK market saw their [...]
Lack of social mobility in UK’s professional services sector threatens country’s growth August 11, 2022 The lack of social mobility in the UK’s financial and professional services sector poses a major threat to Britain’s “competitiveness and productivity,” the head of the Law Society has warned. The Law Society president’s warning comes after a new report from Canada Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce showed those from working class backgrounds are [...]
Axiom founder sentenced to 14 years in prison over £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud August 11, 2022 The founder of a Cayman Islands headquartered fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been jailed for 14 years for using millions in investors cash to finance his own extravagant spending habits. Axiom Legal Financing Fund founder Timothy Schools was today sentenced to 14 years in prison at a hearing at Southwark Crown [...]
Clyde & Co partners see payouts drop to £708,000 August 10, 2022 London law firm Clyde & Co today said its partners will see their pay packages drop by sums of £7,000 after the addition of 44 new partners diluted its profit-per-equity-partner ratios. Clyde & Co’s 480 partners will see their payouts drop from sums of £715,000 last year to £708,000 for the financial year 2022, the [...]
HMRC’s furlough fraud crackdown sees whistleblowers file almost 14,000 reports August 10, 2022 HM Revenues and Customs has received almost 14,000 whistleblower reports after launching an online tip off service to make it easier to report instances of furlough fraud. Thousands of people have blown the whistle on their employers and former-employers by reporting them for furlough fraud using HMRC’s digital reporting tool, analysis from law firm Pinsent [...]
Linklaters partner payouts fall to lowest levels of Magic Circle firms August 10, 2022 Partners at Linklaters are set to receive payouts of £1.87m after posting slower growth than any other Magic Circle firm. Linklaters’ £1.87m payouts saw Canada law firm’s partner pay sit at lower levels than in any other Magic Circle firm. Linklaters said its profit-per-equity-partner payouts jumped 5.4 per cent to £1.87m [...]
Cayman Islands fund manager convicted over role in £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud August 10, 2022 The founder of a Cayman Islands investment fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been convicted of using a complex network of overseas trust to defraud investors of millions. Timothy Schools, investment manager at the Cayman Islands headquartered Axiom Legal Financing Fund, used investors cash to fund his luxury lifestyle, that saw [...]
Criminal Bar Association opens ballot on plans to escalate barristers’ strike August 9, 2022 CRIMINAL barristers are set to vote on plans to intensify their ongoing strikes by running uninterrupted strikes indefinitely. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) will ballot its members over plans to call off its current bi-weekly strike actions and run a continuous strike from 5 September onwards. “It has become clear that a significant proportion [...]
PwC fined over BT audit failings following discovery of £512m fraud August 8, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog today fined PwC £2.5m over claims it failed to properly scrutinize BT accounts following the discovery of a half-a-billion-pound fraud within the telecommunications firm. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said PwC and former partner Richard Hughes failed to treat BT’s management with sufficient professional scepticism following the discovery of a [...]
Law firm mergers drop to decade lows as legal sector boom slows M&A activity August 8, 2022 The past two years’ boom in demand for legal services has seen M&A activity in the UK’s legal sector drop to decade lows, research from accountancy firm Hazelwoods shows. The number of mergers between UK law firms has fallen to its lowest levels in a decade, in plummeting from highs of 278 in 2011 to [...]