UK

UK updates from The Lawyer, covering London and regional law firms and the Bar.

News

Forsters swipes former Winckworth senior partner and team

Forsters has hired a team from Winckworth Sherwood, including former senior partner and head of employment Jo Keddie. Joining on 2 April, Keddie will lead its employment and partnerships practice. She will move with colleagues Danielle Crawford and Daniel Parker, who will join the team as counsel and senior associate, respectively. Forsters said that the […]

Jo Nayler

Ki Insurance recruits new GC

The general counsel at Crown Agents Bank has moved to Ki Insurance after just five months. Joanna Nayler made the move from the cross-border payments and FX services provider to become GC and compliance director at the insurance firm as of March 2024. Ki Insurance is a digital insurance company, driven by algorithmically powered underwriting. […]

TLT targets 50 per cent female partnership by 2029

TLT has announced its latest goal as part of its diversity and inclusion strategy, aiming for female lawyers to make up half of its partnership in five years time. Since the introduction of its strategy in 2019, TLT has built its Women’s Equality Network (WEN) to action plans around the improving equality, D&I and wellness […]

parental leave

Lewis Silkin matches Ashurst with 26-week parental leave policy

Lewis Silkin has become the latest firm to introduce a parental leave policy that enables staff to take 26 weeks off at full pay. The new system means that all parents, regardless of gender identity, can take up to 52 weeks’ leave with 26 weeks at full pay. This matches policies already introduced by Ashurst, […]

Ashurst

Ashurst snaps up Dechert white collar crime partner

Ashurst has hired a white collar crime and investigations partner from Dechert, as the firm builds out its disputes and investigations offering as part of its firmwide strategy.  Making the move is Judith Seddon, who has been at Dechert for two years and was formerly at Ropes & Gray and Clifford Chance. She specialises in […]

Wellington Place, Leeds

CMS lands in Leeds with office launch

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang has followed up on several hires in Leeds with the opening of a new office. Located at Wellington Place, the office has been primarily set up to provide a space for its lawyers when working with clients in Yorkshire. A spokesperson for CMS said in a statement: “We have a […]

Dentons triumphs as M&S wins Oxford Street store dispute

Dentons has secured a triumph for Marks & Spencer, safeguarding the retailer’s plans for its flagship store on Oxford Street. In a judgment handed down this morning, Mrs Justice Lieven ruled in favour of the supermarket on five of the six grounds it had brought against the Secretary of State (SoS) for Levelling Up, Housing […]

Website emissions

Revealed: The most polluting law firm websites

Hogan Lovells, Clyde & Co and Clifford Chance have the most environmentally polluting websites among UK law firms, data provided to The Lawyer has found. According to data from Website Carbon and compiled by TBD Marketing, Hogan Lovells is at the bottom of the list with its website generating 1,728.52 kg of CO2 per year. […]

Everton FC

A court room six-pointer: Pinsents secures appeal win for Everton

Everton Football Club’s landmark 10-point penalty has been reduced to six following a successful appeal by Pinsent Masons against the Linklaters-advised Premier League. Pinsents instructed One Essex Court’s Laurence Rabinowitz KC for the appeal with the team reducing an an independent commission decision in November to dock Everton 10 points for breaches of the League’s […]

Hiring surge ahead as Euro firms double down in London

A raft of Europe’s elite law firms are set to increase their lawyer headcount and office space in London as they sense greater opportunity in the capital than ever before. Research undertaken by The Lawyer for an upcoming report on the International Signal channel found that around one-third (11) of European 100 law firms with […]

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Shoosmiths Court of Protection boss gets yellow card from SRA

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has imposed practice restrictions on Shoosmiths’ national head of Court of Protection (CoP). The SRA’s conditions relate to Sue Bowler, who has headed Shoosmiths CoP team since 2020. Bowler has been told that she can remain in her current position as partner and head of CoP, subject to the SRA’s […]

Analysis

Stars

The top 10 hires of 2023: Northern edition

Team moves were all the rage last year, fuelled by firms launching offices in both Leeds and Manchester. Over 2023 and the trend was very much centred on finding the right lateral hires to kickstart a new practice area offering, particularly in the areas of energy, real estate and employment. Here, we look at the […]

Puzzle

City talk: The Weil jobshare is an elegant fudge

Does nobody really want Mike Francies’ job? Or has Weil Gotshal & Manges been incredibly diplomatic in its choice of two London managing partners? The firm has appointed corporate duo David Avery-Gee and Jonathan Wood to share the top office role. The two incoming leaders will have a year with Francies before he retires. They […]

Spencer Collins

An inside look: The GC behind Arm’s “monumental” listing

The long-awaited listing of Arm on the Nasdaq stock market finally took place yesterday – a key milestone in the UK-headquartered technology provider’s 33-year history. Achieving this mega-listing, especially at a time when technology IPOs have been few and far between, has been no mean feat. Nonetheless, it was a challenge that Arm executive vice […]

Latest UK Briefings

HICBC: January 2022 update – 2017/2018 tax position

A number of taxpayers with HICBC appeals awaiting the outcome of the forthcoming Court of Appeal in HMRC v Wilkes have recently contacted the firm about correspondence received from HMRC about their 2017/18 tax position.

APP fraud: Confirmation of payee, developments and trends

In the first half of 2021, £355 million was lost to authorised push payment (APP) fraud. This compares to £208 million in the first half of 2020. As a result, APP fraud losses now exceed card fraud losses for the first time. This significant growth in sums lost to APP fraud comes despite the successful introduction of phase 1 of Confirmation of Payee.

Financier Worldwide roundtable: Corporate fraud

Financier Worldwide regularly bring together leading experts from around the world to discuss issues at the centre of their audiences’ interest. Shoosmiths were invited to contribute to the November 2021 roundtable which covers the significant, ongoing challenge many companies face: corporate fraud.

Menopause and disability discrimination

On 18 October 2021 we marked World Menopause Day. It is, therefore, timely that, this month, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has provided one of the few binding rulings on this topic. It has considered whether employees experiencing severe menopause symptoms can be protected from disability discrimination.

New plans for the UK immigration system

The Government has published its first statement setting out its vision for legal migration and border control as part of the new plan for immigration. This article summarises the key goals that form part of the vision.

CMA review into competition law and ‘vertical agreements’ in the UK

The CMA recently launched its much anticipated review as to how competition law should apply to many common types of commercial arrangements (including, among others, distribution agreements (including exclusive and selective distribution), agency and franchising). It will, of course, be relevant in the automotive sector, bearing in mind that dealer agreements now fall under the “general” competition law rules rather (with the Motor Vehicles Block Exemption being confined to aftermarkets).

Online Harms regulation – getting closer?

The Government’s much anticipated response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation has finally been released but those seeking clarity at this stage may be left scratching their heads. It appears to represent no more than an indication of the Government’s direction of travel under considerable media pressure to ensure that “something must be done” […]

Balancing fear and greed: Does an expansion of the UK foreign direct investment rules beckon?

By Bernardine Adkins, Sean Giles In 2018, new measures were introduced to expand the scope of government intervention in mergers. This year, the government’s briefing note accompanying the Queen’s Speech proposes new rules on investment screening. What does this mean for business? Our experts examine the existing UK foreign direct investment rules, and explain what any […]

The Environment Bill 2019 – water, water, everywhere

By Lee Perry Part 5 of the Environment Bill, contains a number of disparate proposals relating to water – which could have major implications for many. Senior associate Joanne Sear and solicitor Grace Mitchell take a look at some of the key points in the Bill. Water resources planning According to its explanatory notes, the […]