Pulse UK

  • July 21, 2025

    Ex-Union Lawyer Loses Claim Job Lost Over Whistleblowing

    A former solicitor for the National Education Union has lost her claim that she was fired for raising concerns about its insurance cover, as an employment tribunal ruled she was actually dismissed for refusing to work.

  • July 21, 2025

    Disputes Pro Joins Lewis Silkin From Rosenblatt

    A Rosenblatt Law Ltd. commercial litigation expert with extensive experience in the banking sector has jumped to Lewis Silkin LLP as a partner in its London dispute resolution practice.

  • July 21, 2025

    MPs Call For Review To Fix 'Dysfunctional' County Courts

    U.K. parliamentarians called on Monday for an "urgent and comprehensive, root-and-branch" review of the County Court system after a scathing report warned of unacceptable levels of delays, rat infestations in buildings and outdated operations.  

  • July 21, 2025

    Linklaters Workers Banned For Falsifying Overtime Hours

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority has sanctioned three people who were employed by Linklaters LLP's business support division after they deliberately claimed overtime for hours they had not worked.

  • July 21, 2025

    Barrister Loses Appeal Over Disbarment For Dishonesty

    A barrister who supervised an unregistered immigration advice firm and lied to his regulator about it failed to overturn his disbarment, as a judge held Monday that the sanction was "clearly appropriate."

  • July 21, 2025

    Pinsent Masons Appoints Former CMA Chief To Board

    Pinsent Masons said Monday that it has appointed the former chair of the Competition and Markets Authority as one of two new external board members, taking the overall number of representatives to nine.

  • July 21, 2025

    Charles Russell Speechlys' Firmwide Revenue Tops £240M

    Charles Russell Speechlys said Monday that revenue across the firm has increased by a double-digit figure to more than £240 million ($323 million), fueled by a strong performance by the business across the globe.

  • July 20, 2025

    LexisNexis Launches AI Assistant 'Protégé' In the UK

    LexisNexis announced on Monday the U.K. launch of an assistant that uses advanced artificial intelligence technology to help lawyers carry out legal tasks quickly and efficiently, enabling them to focus on higher-value client work.

  • July 20, 2025

    Tech Startup CaseCraft.AI Launches Small Claims Platform

    Legal technology startup CaseCraft.AI said Monday that it has launched an AI-powered platform to streamline the litigation process for small claims for individuals and businesses.

  • July 18, 2025

    BigLaw's Two-Tier Model Risks Widening Gender Disparities

    More BigLaw firms are adopting two-tier partnership models, prompting legal industry experts to warn that the non-equity track risks becoming a "parking lot" for women — potentially entrenching gender disparities at the top of the profession.

  • July 18, 2025

    The Revolving Door: Ashurt's M&A Co-Head Joins Cooley

    Over the past week, Cooley hired Ashurst’s tech M&A co-head, Cadwalader added a leveraged finance expert from Paul Hastings, and Latham & Watkins brought in a private equity heavyweight from White & Case. Here, Law360 looks at those and more of the week's most notable lateral hires around the U.K...

  • July 18, 2025

    UK Law Firm Mills & Reeve Fills New AI-Focused Role

    London-headquartered law firm Mills & Reeve this week promoted one of its construction attorneys to a newly created role focused on artificial intelligence.

  • July 18, 2025

    SRA Ends Probe After Fieldfisher Pro Lied About Assault

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority said Friday that it won't be taking any further action after a former senior associate at Fieldfisher LLP was fired following "deliberate false evidence" by a female colleague that he sexually assaulted her in a toilet at a work event.

  • July 18, 2025

    Irwin Mitchell Can't Escape Costs In Pension Fraud Claim

    Irwin Mitchell LLP failed on Friday to recover costs after it persuaded a London court that it had been wrongly named in a retired naval officer's negligence claim because its broader effort to throw out the case fell short.

  • July 18, 2025

    Paralegal's Bias Claims Tossed Over 'Unreasonable' Conduct

    A paralegal's employment claims against a law firm and legal recruiter have been thrown out, after a judge concluded Friday that her conduct in the proceedings is so unreasonable it's impossible to have a fair hearing.

  • July 18, 2025

    SRA Cuts Compensation Fund Fees, Solicitors Save £1

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority said Friday that the overall cost of practicing for individual solicitors will fall by £1 ($1.34) in the coming year, due to a growing number of solicitors on the roll and a reduction in payments from the watchdog's compensation fund.

  • July 18, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen the former owner of British oil refinery Prax Group sued following the collapse of his business empire, a unit of Shard Credit Partners target a married couple believed to have inflated the value of their companies before selling them, and Aerofoil Energy reignite patent action against AFE Group over the design of its F1-inspired cooling units.

  • July 17, 2025

    Fieldfisher Plans Relocation To New Office In Birmingham

    Fieldfisher LLP said Thursday it is moving to a new location in Birmingham, England, and that it intends to double its headcount there as it continues to pursue a strategy to become "Europe's leading law firm."

  • July 17, 2025

    UK Risk Report Flags Persistent Money Laundering Threat

    Money laundering risk for British firms remains high as criminal cash is being generated at over £12 billion ($16.1 billion) a year, with financial and legal services deemed particularly vulnerable, according to the government's National Risk Assessment 2025 released Thursday.

  • July 17, 2025

    Fountain Court KC Was Victim Of 5-Year Stalking Campaign

    A man who bombarded a Fountain Court barrister with unwanted explicit messages for nearly five years and showed up at her chambers admitted in court on Thursday to stalking her.

  • July 17, 2025

    Dechert Settles Jordanian Lawyers' UAE Torture Claims

    Dechert and Neil Gerrard, its former head of white collar crime, have settled claims of torture and hacking in a web of litigation spawned from the firm's work for a UAE sovereign wealth fund, a spokesperson for the outfit confirmed Thursday.

  • July 17, 2025

    DAC Beachcroft's £348M Milestone Sets Stage For New Leader

    DAC Beachcroft said Thursday that it has posted record revenue of just under £350 million ($467 million), while profits and partner profits have also hit an all-time high before its first leadership change in a decade.

  • July 17, 2025

    MoJ Dodges Holiday Pay Claim From Tribunal Member

    The Ministry of Justice has defeated a holiday-pay claim brought by a lawyer who has sat as a specialist member of several tribunals as a London judge concluded that she did not hold a worker's status.

  • July 17, 2025

    Dentons Crosses £300M Mark In UK, Ireland And Middle East

    Dentons said Thursday that it has posted record-breaking revenue of more than £300 million ($402 million) in the U.K., Ireland and the Middle East, crediting the rise to its strategy of developing deeper client relationships and investing in high-growth markets.

  • July 17, 2025

    No Default Secrecy For Judges' Criticism Of Bench Applicants

    The Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that sitting judges can continue to give feedback about applicants for judicial office but told the Judicial Appointments Commission it must weigh whether to disclose negative feedback to candidates in each case.

Expert Analysis

  • What Rise Of AI Means For Future Of Junior Lawyer Careers

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    While artificial intelligence is reshaping law firms’ approach to core tasks, it is unlikely to eliminate the need for human oversight, and if junior lawyers can embrace new technologies with integrity, they can focus on more meaningful work and add greater value to their teams, says Valeriya Zinchenko at Teacher Stern.

  • Practice Leader Insights From HFW's Michelle Chance

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    Michelle Chance, head of HFW's London employment practice, discusses the challenges of defending a high-profile race discrimination class action in the civil courts, the need for male employees to take shared parental leave, and the significance of the new employer duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Cleary's Sebastian Sperber

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    Sebastian Sperber, leader of Cleary's EMEA capital markets and debt finance practice, discusses the challenges of working on complex transactions in pre-internet days, why regulators should think carefully before imposing additional disclosure burdens on corporations, and his hope that the recent U.K. listing reforms will encourage more companies to choose to list in London.

  • What Age Bias Ruling Means For Law Firm Retirement Policies

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    The recent employment tribunal age discrimination decision in Scott v. Walker Morris demonstrates that while law firms may implement mandatory retirement schemes, the policy must pursue a legitimate aim via proportionate means to pass the objective justification test, says Chris Hadrill at Redmans Solicitors.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From HFW's Christopher Foster

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    Christopher Foster, global head of insurance and reinsurance at HFW, discusses the challenges of conducting complex arbitration, why arbitration rules should be amended, and how learning about the market makes working in insurance law easier.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Broadfield's Sajjad Khan

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    Sajjad Khan, head of Broadfield's intellectual property practice, discusses how trademark matters that appear to be simple can end up being complex, why the regulatory framework for artificial intelligence and copyright is in clear need of reform, and how junior lawyers should persevere if interested in this competitive area of law.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Cleary's Gareth Kristensen

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    Gareth Kristensen, head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa intellectual property practice group at Cleary, discusses the challenges when data laws are not adapted to frontier artificial intelligence, why IP rights can have such significant value, and how nothing beats a deep understanding of what you enjoy within the realm of tech, IP and data.

  • Series

    PR Perspectives: 3 Misconceptions Around Law Firm Brands

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    Despite an implicit understanding of the value of brand, misconceptions around logo and financial value have resulted in law firms being slow to manage and build this valuable asset, without which it becomes difficult to attract the same caliber of client or recruit the best lawyers, says Daniela Conte at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Covington's Sonia Campbell

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    Sonia Campbell, head of the U.K. insurance recovery practice at Covington, discusses the challenges of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, why cyber underwriting risk will be critical for sector reform, and how junior lawyers need to be resilient and tenacious.

  • Roundup

    Practice Leader Insights

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    In this Law360 U.K. Expert Analysis series, leaders of employment, intellectual property, insurance and transactions practice groups share thoughts on keeping the pulse on legal trends, tackling difficult cases and what it takes to make a mark in their area.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Bird & Bird's Rebecca O'Kelly-Gillard

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    Rebecca O'Kelly-Gillard, who co-heads Bird & Bird's international copyright group, discusses the challenges of working on long cases with complex issues, whether current copyright law is fit for purpose in light of artificial intelligence, ​​​​​​​and why understanding technology makes it easier to argue the nuances of the law.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Birketts' Maria Peyman

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    Maria Peyman, who heads Birketts' intellectual property team, discusses the challenges of cases involving multiple patents, the need to reform legislative provisions in light of artificial intelligence, and why junior lawyers should take opportunities to get a broad range of experience before specializing.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights: Mishcon de Reya's Daniel Naftalin

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    Daniel Naftalin, who chairs the employment practice at Mishcon de Reya, discusses the challenges of working on multijurisdictional litigation, the need to show consideration for lawyers' well-being, and why employment law offers unique opportunities to specialize in a commercial field with a high degree of human interest.

  • Series

    Practice Leader Insights From Baker McKenzie's David Scott

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    David Scott, head of the London mergers and acquisitions practice at Baker McKenzie, discusses the excitement of working on a highly complex transaction, the need for a harmonized approach to deal regulatory scrutiny, and why deal work can become addictive.

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