Market monitor

The Ministry of Justice has provided an unsatisfactory response to a Freedom of Information Act request on how the figures for the new whiplash damages tariff were calculated, lawyers have claimed.

Many court closures in the past have not been based on the real travelling times it would take people to get to an alternative building, the chief executive of the courts service has admitted.

One of the country’s largest and fastest-growing personal injury law firms has announced record results and its ambition to expand further despite next year’s Civil Liability Act reforms.

The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice has downplayed the recent 4.9% boost to its resources budget, saying it would in part simply help to “keep the lights on”.

Large City and international firms outsourcing legal and non-legal functions to lower-cost centres elsewhere in the UK produces significant benefits for those areas, a report has found.

Global investments in legal technology companies are nearing a record £1bn this year, with the £44m raised by London-based ContractPodAI the largest in the UK, a new analysis has revealed.

Amazon has launched a “curated network” of intellectual property law firms to provide trade mark registration services to SMEs, which it plans to roll out internationally.

A niche employment firm launched in Birmingham is combining HR consultants and lawyers to cut the fees it charges SMEs. Its founder said some HR consultants were “more than a match” for lawyers.

There are nearly three times as many solicitors now than there were 30 years ago, but the profession’s growth has slowed significantly over the past decade, new figures have shown.

MPs and campaigners are wrong to say that the Ministry of Justice’s budget has fallen by 40% since 2010, new justice minister Chris Philp said last week.

The economic benefits of legal aid outweigh the costs and public funding can bring significant advantages, a detailed global analysis conducted jointly by the World Bank and International Bar Association has found.

A cash flow crisis that led to payments to its consultants being withheld and they then leaving as a result caused the collapse of new-model law firm Cubism Law, it has emerged.

There has been a surge of law firm mergers and acquisitions in recent weeks, as is usual at this time of the year when most still renew their professional indemnity insurance.

The Ministry of Justice official heading whiplash reform programme has maintained that April 2020 remains the goal, but said minister Lord Keen wants “to get this right and not rush it”.

City firm Rosenblatt has the highest revenue per fee-earner of any of the listed law firms, it told investors yesterday. The analysis came as the firm unveiled strong results for the first half of 2019.