Market monitor

Global law company Elevate – which bought UK law firm Halebury earlier this year – has secured a $25m (£20m) minority investment as it continues to scale up.

Eversheds Sutherland is to hive off three of its ‘alternative’ legal services teams into an alternative business structure, from which it will seek external investment to help more than double revenue to £100m.

An accountancy firm in Cornwall has set up an alternative business structure to provide will writing, trusts and power of attorney services – which it says is the first one-stop shop of its kind in the county.

Both the claimant and defendant representatives have expressed frustration with the progress of the government’s whiplash reforms, and doubted it will be ready for April 2020 as planned.

General counsel need to embrace technology and innovate in a “seismic” way if they are to endure an increasing bright spotlight from businesses eager to reduce their costs, a report from EY has argued.

Law firms need to become “fluid” and drop traditional resistance to opening themselves to outside talent, with an employed layer of project managers hiring freelance lawyers on a project-by-project basis.

Insurers will start pricing in savings from the whiplash reforms this year, even though the changes may be delayed until late 2020, new research has predicted.

The liquidators of Asons are suing its successor practice, alleging that the controversial law firm was sold at an undervalue, it has emerged. Unsecured creditors have so far claimed they are owned some £28m.

Solicitors have criticised the Ministry of Justice for cutting corners in developing the new whiplash portal “in order to meet the politically driven deadline of April 2020” – and suggested it still cannot be met.

Defendant insurers have agreed to be bound by the outcome of the alternative dispute resolution process being built into the new whiplash system, it has emerged.

The Motor Insurers Bureau has laid out a draft “customer journey” for those bringing claims through the new whiplash portal from next April, which it said should help law firms develop their own systems.

The founder of Quindell has won a High Court battle to have his old company pay a £1m tax bill incurred when it reversed into another business to become listed.

The trial of Slater & Gordon’s £637m claim over its acquisition of Quindell’s professional services division is set for October as the two sides continue also to argue over consideration still owing.

A groundbreaking conveyancing business offering a guaranteed time to exchange and encourages instructions from both sides of a transaction goes live this week, Legal Futures can reveal.

DWF, the world’s largest listed law firm, told investors today that it expects its 2018/19 revenues to be up by at least 15%. Meanwhile, fellow listed firm Ince Gordon Dadds has unveiled new branding.