Market monitor

A commercial QC has taken the unusual step of setting up an alternative business structure with an accountant, in contrast with what he described as the “outmoded” chambers structure.

The Lord Chancellor today announced yet another delay to implementation of the whiplash reforms, pushing the date back a month to May this year, but lawyers are saying that more time is needed.

Acquisitive regional practice Knights was the only listed law firm to defy the Covid gloom and end 2020 with its share price higher than where it began, a Legal Futures analysis has shown.

A group of claimant and defendant representatives and judges has outlined a range of concerns about next year’s whiplash reforms, including claims management companies exploiting injured people.

Talks about a reverse takeover of NAHL Group – the owner of National Accident Helpline – by fellow listed company Frenkel Topping are to continue into the New Year, they announced today.

More than a third of consumers believe that video witnessing of wills is “a good alternative” to being there in person, according to a major study, while a majority are happy to have an online consultation.

A brand management company owned by London law firm Mishcon de Reya has acquired a Philippines-based business to boost its Asian presence, among various deals struck recently in the legal market.

There are “high expectations” among law firm leaders of consolidation in the legal services market during 2021 and beyond, research has found – although there is often little strategy behind deals.

Demand for family and private client services recovered in the second quarter of this year as the impact of the first national lockdown began to take effect, research has found.

Alternative legal services providers “lag behind the leading law firms by quite a margin” in Europe, but their use of technology is “impressing clients”, a report has found.

As many as 3,000 law firms could be forced to close or merge over the next few years after the conveyancing bubble bursts and the recession really kicks in, a leading law firm consultant has warned.

A senior solicitor at the Environment Agency is suing a director of a garden centre business for libel and harassment after he successfully prosecuted the man for waste offences.

A professional services consultancy specialising in advice to foreign businesses wanting to set up in the UK has become an alternative business structure after “exponential growth” in 2020.

A not-for-profit criminal law firm has launched  a free web app aimed at people who have been issued fines for breaching the Coronavirus Regulations.

Communications giant BT has become the first non-law firm to open a legal hub in Northern Ireland, investing over £2.7m to create up to 30 lawyer jobs in Belfast over the next four years.