Mishcon faces £65m lawsuit over claims its ‘negligent’ advice to led to collapse of London property deal March 22, 2022 A Jersey registered real estate fund has sued London law firm Mishcon de Reya for £65.8m over claims the firm’s negligent advice led to the collapse of a major property deal. Property investor Aurium Real Estate London Ultra Prime Ltd is suing Mishcon after the law firm advised the fund to “build around” a hold-out [...]
Civil Court delays will harm UK businesses, legal experts say March 22, 2022 Legal experts have warned that record long civil court delays will create complications for UK businesses, after new data showed claimants must now face 74 weeks waiting times before their cases are heard. Claimants are being forced to wait for more than a year for their cases to be heard in civil courts, new data [...]
Lawyers say P&O broke the law by firing 800 staff over pre-recorded video call March 18, 2022 Dubai owned ferry operator P&O could be subject to a series of successful lawsuits over its decision to fire all 800 of its UK staff via a pre-recorded video call, lawyers have said. Speaking to Morning Wire Helen Crossland, employment partner at West End law firm Seddons said P&O’s decision will expose the firm to [...]
Clyde & Co set to merge with insurance specialist BLM March 18, 2022 London law firm Clyde & Co is in advanced negotiations to merge with insurance specialist BLM, the two law firms have said. A spokesperson for BLM confirmed to Morning Wire that the law firm is in advanced talks for a merger with Clyde & Co, as she said the firm will be holding a partner [...]
UK solicitors watchdog says it will not tell law firms to drop Russian clients March 18, 2022 The UK solicitors’ watchdog has said it will not tell law firms to drop Russian clients. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said its “general position is that firms can choose who they act for,” as it said the issue is “highly unlikely to be a regulatory matter.” “The current situation with the conflict in Ukraine [...]
‘Panicked’ solicitor struck off after she hid complaint and sent false email March 17, 2022 A “panicked” solicitor has been struck off the register and told to pay £11,400 after she hid a complaint from her company’s compliance officer and then emailed the client pretending to be her firm’s compliance officer. Elizabeth Nedin, a solicitor at Welsh law firm Philip Avery & Co, intercepted emails complaining about her conduct, and [...]
Explainer: What is the Economic Crime Act and how will it help the government tackle oligarchs? March 17, 2022 The government’s Economic Crime Bill, which gives the UK new powers to tackle oligarchs, has gained Royal Assent after being fast tracked through parliament. In a statement, the government said the new laws will make it easier for the government to “tackle corrupt elites” and crack down on “Putin’s cronies.” Notably, the law will require [...]
Dechert lawyers held ‘mock trial’ to help witnesses construct false cover story, court hears March 17, 2022 Lawyers in Dechert’s London office have been accused of holding meetings to come up with a “cover story” for how the firm obtained a cache of hacked emails that were used to win a lawsuit against Iranian airline tycoon Farhad Azima. A High Court heard that Neil Gerrard, Dechert’s former head of financial crime, put [...]
Roman Abramovich used ‘barrage’ of legal threats to silence journalist, MPs hear March 17, 2022 A prominent British journalist has said she received legal threats from Roman Abramovich after she published a book laying out the oligarch’s links to Vladimir Putin. Reuters journalist Catherine Belton told MPs she received a “barrage” of legal threats from Russian oligarchs, including sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich and Everton backer Alisher Usmanov, after she published [...]
UK government vows to crack down on use of ‘lawfare’ to silence ‘valid criticism’ March 17, 2022 The UK government is preparing to crack down on those using legal threats to intimidate journalists and silence the British press. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab will today set out plans to stop wealthy individuals and large businesses from “using the threat of endless legal action” to “stifle legitimate criticism”, the government said in a statement. [...]