Insights & News

Innocent partners may not be liable for losses caused by the fraudulent conduct of rogue partners

28 July 2021

In July 2021 the Court of Appeal held that innocent partners in a firm of solicitors are not always liable to former clients of the firm for losses caused by the acts of a fraudulent partner[i].

Any member of an LLP may be subject to a Disqualification Order – not just those on the Management Committee

06 April 2021

Pursuant to the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA) the court may, in certain circumstances, make a ‘Disqualification Order’ preventing an individual from being a company director for a period of up to 15 years.

How Law Firms Can Preserve Their Talent Pipelines Through the Pandemic: Carolyn Soakell writes for Law.com International

Press

10 November 2020

The challenges posed by the current pandemic and the shift to mass home-working present both opportunities and risks for firms competing to attract and retain talent.

Without Prejudice and Without Prejudice Save as to Costs – Reasons to be Careful

21 November 2019

The judgment in Sternberg Reed Solicitors v Andrew Paul Harrison [2019] EWHC 2065 (Ch) has put practitioners on notice that mislabelling without prejudice correspondence may have serious implications.

“Once privileged, always privileged”

24 October 2019

The Court of Appeal has held that legal advice privilege attaching to communications between a company client and its lawyers survived the dissolution of the company client, even where the Crown had disclaimed its interest in the documents concerned.

Steven Jennings comments for The Telegraph: Fraudsters try to cash in on the good name of British legal companies

Press

15 July 2019

Steven Jennings has commented in an article for The Telegraph that discusses how leading British law firms are being targeted by cyber criminals who set up fake email accounts and pose as top lawyers to try to con people and companies out of millions.

UsToo? – Addressing bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession

16 May 2019

Earlier this week, the International Bar Association published its report on bullying and harassment in the legal profession. The message is clear – as a profession we are not meeting the highest standards of conduct which are integral to our positions as bastions of the law. We must change within the profession, and take responsibility for driving wider societal change.

Supreme Court decision on professional negligence and loss of chance: Perry v Raleys Solicitors

21 February 2019

The Supreme Court has upheld the appeal of a firm of solicitors defending a professional negligence claim and helpfully reiterated well-established principles about the approach the court must take when considering the issue of causation in loss of chance cases. The decision clarifies what has to be proved in cases where the question for the court depends on what: (a) the claimant would have done (which the claimant must prove to the usual standard ‘on the balance of probabilities’); compared with (b) what others would have done (which are better assessed on a loss of chance basis).

Two wrongs don’t make a right: Court of Appeal decides illegality is no defence to professional negligence claim

16 October 2018

For public policy reasons, the Court of Appeal has held that the defence of illegality was not available to a firm of solicitors that failed to register a property transfer to a client involved in mortgage fraud. The court decided that there was no risk that enforcing the client’s negligence claim would undermine the integrity of the justice system and she was entitled to damages, in spite of the fraud.

The legal sector and #metoo

29 November 2017

Sexual harassment is clearly big news at the moment. Not, of course, because it is a new phenomenon, but because it seems that the allegations swirling around numerous big Hollywood names have opened the floodgates and made it OK to say #metoo.

The law firm Christmas party - avoiding a legal hangover

Press

21 December 2016

What are the main do’s and don’ts at the office Christmas party? Michael Burd dicusses in an article for LexisNexis.