Pulse UK

  • April 28, 2026

    Akin Rehires Weil Trio For London Restructuring Practice

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP said Tuesday that a team of three partners at U.S. rival Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP is returning to the firm to strengthen its financial restructuring practice in London.

  • April 28, 2026

    Gray's Inn Barrister Hit With 2-Year Ban For Misleading Boss

    The barristers' regulator has banned a junior lawyer from practicing until 2028 after a disciplinary tribunal found that she had lied to her supervisor when she was still in the final practicing stage of her pupilage at Gray's Inn.

  • April 28, 2026

    Solicitor Suspended For Misleading Client About Fees

    A solicitor has been suspended for two years and ordered to pay £15,000 ($20,000) after a tribunal found she had fabricated an attendance note certifying that a client had agreed to a change in legal fees.

  • April 28, 2026

    Ex-ENRC Internal Lawyer Says SFO Probe Justified Legal Bills

    A former top in-house lawyer for ENRC told a London court Tuesday that fees paid to law firms during the mining company's response to the Serious Fraud Office's criminal investigation were not excessive, as the company was in an "existential" situation.

  • April 28, 2026

    Ex-SRA GC To Help Steer New Consumer Law Firms Group

    The former general counsel of the Solicitors Regulation Authority has joined the board of a new industry body representing the interests of consumer law firms.

  • April 28, 2026

    Winston Taylor Merger Launch Date Might Slip To June

    Winston & Strawn LLP and Taylor Wessing LLP said Tuesday that they might have to delay the launch of their merger until June rather than May as initially planned. 

  • April 28, 2026

    LexisNexis Parent RELX Agrees To Buy Legal AI Co. Doctrine

    LexisNexis Legal & Professional plans to expand its offerings in Europe as its parent company, RELX Group, agreed to acquire the France-based legal artificial intelligence platform Doctrine on Tuesday.

  • April 28, 2026

    Gibson Dunn Expands In EU With Paris Hires, Madrid Opening

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has hired a team of seven lawyers from Clifford Chance LLP to launch an investment funds practice in Paris and has also opened its first office in Spain as it pursues further growth in Europe.

  • April 28, 2026

    Solicitor Avoids Immediate Suspension For Antisemitic Tweets

    A former Rosenblatt Solicitors lawyer avoided an immediate suspension on Tuesday for posting a series of antisemitic and offensive comments on social media when he was no longer at the firm, with a tribunal agreeing to suspend his sanction for two years.

  • April 28, 2026

    Fletchers Acquires 2 Firms To Create Court Of Protection Arm

    Fletchers Group said Tuesday that it has acquired two law firms to create a specialist court of protection and private client division, as consolidation continues in the U.K. legal sector.

  • April 28, 2026

    Weil Expands German Antitrust Team With Heavyweight Duo

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP has hired a pair of antitrust partners in Germany from White & Case and Latham & Watkins to meet rising demand for cross-border regulatory advice.

  • April 27, 2026

    BSB Confirms 10 Investigations Linked To Post Office Scandal

    The Bar Standards Board said Monday it has 10 open investigations in the wake of the Post Office scandal that saw hundreds of branch managers wrongfully convicted of fraud and theft due an accounting software glitch.

  • April 27, 2026

    Solicitor Beats Dishonesty Claims Over Late Applications

    A solicitor has been cleared of dishonesty over emails she sent about lasting powers of attorney applications she had unknowingly filed late, with a tribunal finding no intention to mislead while accepting that she was overworked and given limited support from her firm.

  • April 27, 2026

    Top White-Collar Pro Admits Overcharging ENRC On £22M Bill

    A top commercial crime lawyer admitted on Monday that his former barristers' chambers overcharged ENRC some of the £22 million ($30 million) his team earned on the Serious Fraud Office's criminal investigation, but denied suggestions the billing process was "shambolic."

  • April 27, 2026

    Shoosmiths Hires Construction Disputes Pro Peter Stockill

    Shoosmiths has hired Peter Stockill, a construction disputes expert formerly at Penningtons Manches Coopers LLP, as part of efforts to meet growing demand from clients in the real estate sector.

  • April 27, 2026

    ICO Commissioner Steps Down Amid HR Investigation

    The U.K. data protection watchdog confirmed Monday that its commissioner has voluntarily stepped down amid a human resources investigation.

  • April 27, 2026

    Mayer Brown Posts Record Revenue Of $268M In London

    Mayer Brown said Monday that its office in London had delivered record revenue of $268.2 million in 2025 as the firm invested in crucial practices including private equity and energy.

  • April 27, 2026

    Simmons & Simmons Promotes 9 To Partner In 2026

    Simmons & Simmons said Monday that it has promoted nine individuals from across the firm to its partnership, with women accounting for more than half of the latest round.

  • April 27, 2026

    Dentons Fails To Prevent Rerun Of Watchdog's AML Case

    Dentons failed on Monday to prevent a rerun of allegations that it breached money laundering rules while acting for a politically exposed client, as an appeals court said a new tribunal must decide whether the firm's actions amounted to professional misconduct and what sanction might follow.

  • April 26, 2026

    Ex-Mishcon Duo's Boutique Hires Legal AI Pro As Partner

    London boutique Three Points Law said Monday it has recruited a former KPMG and Bryan Cave lawyer in a deal where the firm will adopt a legal AI tool created by its new partner.

  • April 24, 2026

    Tribunals' Reform Plan May Not Be Enough To Avert Collapse

    Stewards and users of the U.K.'s employment tribunals are searching for ways to reform a system at breaking point — but proposed tweaks may not be enough amid a shortage of judges, rocketing numbers of claims and a deluge of AI-assisted correspondence.

  • April 24, 2026

    Legal Tech Roundup: Freshfields Partners With Anthropic

    A BigLaw firm partnering with a leading developer of generative artificial intelligence models tops this week's news. Other developments include another partnership and a legal tech company establishing an entity in Singapore. Here's a roundup of the week's biggest legal tech news.

  • April 24, 2026

    Tycoon's Son Can't Appeal £3.1M Howard Kennedy Bill

    The son of a diamond tycoon accused of swindling $1 billion from banks has lost his latest bid to challenge his legal bills from Howard Kennedy LLP, as a judge held Friday that he understood his "ongoing liability" from the international fraud case.

  • April 24, 2026

    The Revolving Door: Eversheds, CMS Make Big Hires

    Over the past week, Eversheds Sutherland recruited a derivatives expert from Macfarlanes, CMS UK brought on a patent litigation specialist from McCarthy Denning and Birketts appointed four new partners to boost its finance and construction offering. 

  • April 24, 2026

    Women Still Make Up Just 1 In 5 KCs Despite Influx, BSB Says

    Only about one in five women are King's Counsel, even though women now make up the majority of lawyers entering the profession, the Bar Standards Board said Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Eversheds' Diane Gilhooley

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    Diane Gilhooley, who leads Eversheds Sutherland's employment, labor and pensions practice, looks at the multifaceted challenges of advising clients during pandemic lockdowns, the need to reform U.K.'s whistleblowing law, and why it's important for lawyers to enjoy their work.

  • 'Revolving Door' Model Can Help Bridge Legal Sector Gaps

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    The ability for lawyers to move freely between private and public sectors, a long-time feature of the U.S. legal landscape that was recently embraced by the U.K. Government Legal Department, offers valuable career experience and an effective way to close talent gaps at either end, say James Lavan and Thomas Hanlon at Buchanan.

  • Pros And Cons Of Nonequity Partnership For English Firms

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    With Cleary recently announcing a new nonequity partner category, it is an opportune time for firms governed by English law to examine the advantages and disadvantages of this position from the perspective of both the firm and the lawyer, says John Gould at Russell-Cooke.

  • Global Law Firms: The Challenge Of Where To Do Business

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    As the world becomes less predictable and operational risks present greater challenges, global law firms must contend with a range of pressures, yet financial considerations still drive much of the process when deciding where to plant a flag, say Bethaney Durkin and Liam McCafferty at Byfield Consultancy.

  • How Partners' Role In Firm Culture Affects Pay Decisions

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    Amid an increased regulatory focus on workplace culture, law firms are more than ever having to grapple with how they can reinforce the right partner behaviors when making decisions as to promotion or remuneration, in a way that is objective and fair, say Andrew Pavlovic and Corinne Staves at CM Murray.

  • 3 Reasons For Popularity Of Pro Bono In UK, Europe BigLaw

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    Several factors have contributed to the rise in organized pro bono work in the legal sector across the U.K. and Europe, and with large law firms looking to distinguish themselves and compete for talent, the trend seems likely to continue, says Paul Yates at Freshfields.

  • UK Election Offers New Opportunity To Promote Rule Of Law

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    With many members of Parliament entering the House of Commons for the first time following the election in July, it is a daunting time for those transitioning into elected legislators, and the input of lawyers is crucial to ensure we see evidence-driven and legally certain legislation, says Tyrone Steele at Justice.

  • The Art Of Storytelling In E-Discovery, And Why It Is Important

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    With document review accounting for a large proportion of legal costs, weaving in a storytelling approach to e-discovery alongside increasingly automated processes allows a more effective way of producing evidence that minimizes inefficiencies and ultimately achieves better outcomes, says Tiana Van Dyk at Epiq Legal Solutions.

  • Tips On Preparing A Business To Navigate A Corporate Crisis

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    The recent CrowdStrike IT issue demonstrates that while it can be difficult to predict when a crisis might hit, there are proactive steps senior executives and their legal advisers can take to be better prepared for such an eventuality and to weather the storm more effectively, says Jenny Afia at Schillings.

  • How Generative AI Is Changing Legal Department Functions

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    Generative artificial intelligence is of much greater consequence than previous legal technologies and is therefore poised to reshape legal functions, redefine the roles of legal professionals, and change how much legal work is delivered — and some key practice areas and legal activities stand to be most transformed, say members of Deloitte Legal.

  • Examining The State Of Paccar Fixes After General Election

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    Following the U.K. Supreme Court's Paccar decision last year, which made many litigation funding agreements for opt-out collective actions in the Competition Appeal Tribunal unenforceable, the judiciary will likely take charge in implementing any fixes — but the general election has created uncertainty, says Ben Knowles at Clyde & Co.

  • PR Perspectives: Judging When To Engage With Politics

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    Parliament's recent return from its summer break brings opportunities for legal public relations professionals to engage with political topics, and although it is less risky to say nothing, deciding to enter the conversation can reap rewards, says Ben Finnis at Greentarget.

  • Opinion

    Gov't Should Offer Support To Improve Firms' Cybersecurity

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    With an escalating sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks in law firms and businesses, there is a need to address potential threats and an opportunity to push the new government for significant legislative change to strengthen the U.K.’s cybersecurity framework, says Scott Kramer at Clio.

  • What M&A Uptick Will Mean For Legal Hiring

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    Thomson Reuters research reveals an improving macroeconomic picture of incoming interest rate cuts, and with market confidence in the new U.K. government, there is a higher corporate demand for transactional advice, leading law firms to increase their hiring in preparation for this heavier workload, says James Lavan at Buchanan Law.

  • How In-House Legal Teams Can Improve Their Reputation

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    In-house legal teams, long believed to create unnecessary hurdles, can reframe themselves as integral business partners by embedding best practices in governance and compliance, engaging directly with key stakeholders and fostering relationships with colleagues, says Sarah Davis at The Legal Director.

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