Market monitor

There was good and bad news from Parliament yesterday for opponents of the Civil Liability Bill as its consideration by MPs was delayed but chances of it being amended receded.

Law firms should design their websites to “repel” the kind of clients they are not interested in, the founder of a niche commercial firm told an SRA event yesterday.

The legal industry has joined forces with other professions and business services to set out the EU market access they will need to ensure Brexit does not curtail their work.

Most listed UK businesses with a strong legal element are beating the market so far this year, with Keystone Law’s share price rocketing, a Legal Futures analysis has found.

The number of law firms specialising in personal injury work has fallen by 10% over the past two years, with one practitioner describing solicitors now as the “dairy farmers” of the market due to their declining influence.

Gordon Dadds Group, the law firm acquisition vehicle, has unveiled strong results for its first year as a listed company and announced its first international expansion, into Hong Kong.

The Civil Liability Bill completed its passage through the House of Lords yesterday with Labour saying that it would continue to oppose increases in the small claims limit for personal injury cases.

Regional law firm Knights has raised £50m from its initial public offering, valuing the company at £103.5m when it starts trading on AIM on Friday.

Deloitte has been awarded its alternative business structure licence, some five months after announcing that it was to become the last of the Big Four accountancy firms to offer reserved legal activities.

The newest legal business to list on the stock exchange saw its shares rise 7.5% on admission yesterday as it predicted that it would benefit from the government’s proposed personal injury reforms.

A former hedge fund boss who wants a better service for those needing family law services is backing a multi-disciplinary law firm aimed at high net-worth individuals and family offices.

Women have become the majority of practising solicitors for the first time, but men are still twice as likely to be partners, according to new figures.

Law firms are at risk of being overtaken by changes in the legal marketplace if they do not rethink how their businesses are run, according to a new survey.

A group bringing together credit hire and legal services is to list on the stock exchange this week. Anexo Group has recently obtained an ABS licence.

Top-25 practice DWF is considering whether to become by far the largest law firm to list on the London Stock Exchange, it emerged today. The move would galvanise interest in law firms going public.