Market monitor

Simplify, the private equity-owned group that leads the conveyancing market, is now one of the largest legal businesses in the country with a turnover of £139m last year, its accounts have shown.

A representative action has been launched against IP law firm Marks & Clerk alleging that it “grossly overcharged” thousands of SMEs through a “secret commissions scheme” with CPA Global.

National consumer giant Irwin Mitchell is planning a stock market float valuing the law firm at £500m, according to press reports at the weekend. It could happen this year, said Sky News.

Revenue and profits at Co-operative Legal Services fell as a result of coronavirus but case volumes grew during last year, its annual results have shown.

A former major in Army Legal Services has described how taking a “military approach” has helped him when launching his law firm this week.

Most law firms are “complacent” about sharing technology with clients, according to the partner who leads Shoosmiths new division offering a range of legal and non-legal products.

Fast-growing consumer law firm Taylor Rose MW is eyeing up further acquisitions and office openings over the coming year after receiving investment totalling nearly £5m.

Some people have been “unable to access legal advice at all during the pandemic” to enforce their rights, peers have found, with the number of lawyers doing legal aid work at risk of falling.

The prime minister, the Lord Chancellor and the heads of the Bar Council and Law Society have condemned the Chinese government for imposing sanctions on two QCs and a London barristers’ chambers.

A legal business that uniquely runs both a regulated and unregulated practice says a 220% increase in the cost of its professional indemnity insurance justifies the way it operates.

The barrister at the heart of a dispute between law firms over a plagiarised letter of claim said he had acknowledged a “technical breach of copyright” but that his apology had not been accepted.

A barrister who co-founded a groundbreaking business that allows separating couples to obtain advice from a single legal expert at any point in the process, has won a £50,000 Women in Innovation award.

The Ministry of Justice faces “significant risks across the full range of its services, without a clear sense of prioritisation”, MPs on the influential public accounts committee have warned.

Listed law firm Knights continued its consolidation play yesterday by announcing a £5.3m deal to buy Surrey firm Mundays, as we also report on activity at two insurance-led ABSs.

The effects of furlough or lack of work in the past year has had a “devastating” impact on solicitors, with a record number turning to The Solicitors’ Charity for help, the organisation said today.