Market monitor

Profit per equity partner is down by 10%, although other performance indicators are up, according to an influential benchmarking report of SME law firms, published today. However, although PEP was down – from £120,000 last year to £108,000 – median fees per equity partner were up by an inflation-busting 5.4% to £539,000 last year.

Next week’s float of Rosenblatt will see the largest raise yet by a law firm after it revealed that it should raise £43m through the admission. The issue price will be 95p – coincidentally the same price on admission as the first listed firm, Gateley – and with 80m shares giving a market capitalisation of around £76m.

The aim of the government’s £1bn court modernisation programme is to cut annual spending on the courts by £250m every year from 2022, with thousands of jobs to go, it has emerged. Around 6,500 out of 16,500 court staff will lose their jobs by 2022 and the number of courts will shrink further from the existing figure of 350.

Listed firm Keystone Law has reassured investors that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has ended its investigation into a case in which a High Court judge accused it of conniving with clients to try and avoid a debt. Meanwhile, we also report on a series of high-level departures and arrivals at some of the country’s most high-profile ABSs.

Keystone Law – the self-styled ‘challenger’ law firm that listed on AIM late last year – has unveiled strong annual results today, pushing its share price ever higher. The firm reported a 24% increase in revenue to £32m, with profit before tax up 63% to £2.9m. Underlying EBITDA jumped 43% to £3.27m.

City law firm Rosenblatt is to become the fourth law firm to list on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, it announced today. The 19-partner commercial law firm, best known for its litigation work, is to be admitted on 8 May, joining Gateley, Gordon Dadds and Keystone Law.

One of the claimant solicitors working with the Ministry of Justice on the new small claims limit for personal injury cases says he is operating on the assumption that it will not happen until October 2019 at the earliest – six months later than the government’s target. He also warned that the reforms may unintentionally trigger a “have a go” culture among claimants.

Criminal defence lawyers in England and Wales could become “extinct”, the Law Society has warned on the back of data showing that this is an increasingly ageing part of the profession. It comes amid cross-profession unity for action over the huge damage lawyers say the government is causing the criminal justice system.

A new law firm regulated by the Bar Standards Board aims to attract young barristers and solicitors interested in working together. Black Antelope Law is made up of two barristers, both of whom work on a direct access basis, and two solicitors. The lawyers work partly from home.

The founder of easyJet has entered the legal world today with the launch of easyConveyance, a conveyancing comparison tool. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou said it was “time for the home buying process to be brought into the 21st century”.

Claims management companies have been warned by their regulator not to use “misleading headlines” or “sensational language” in clickbait-style advertisements. Meanwhile, two directors of CMCs that made misleading sales calls and took unauthorised payments, have been disqualified by the High Court.

The value of the business legal services market will grow strongly over the next couple of years, powered partly by Brexit, a report has predicted. It also highlighted the importance of networking for commercial lawyers, with businesses large and small actively attending client seminars and other events.

Estate agents will need to be more transparent over referral fees they receive from lawyers, while conveyancers will have to publish performance data, the government has decreed. It will also demand that conveyancers adopt more quality standards as part of a continuing push to help potential clients choose their lawyer.

The Co-op has acquired Simplify Probate, the UK’s second largest provider of probate, as it bids to become the dominant player in the market. It has also unveiled a 13.6% increase in legal services turnover for 2017 and announced a strategic alliance with the Simplify Group for property and conveyancing services.

Multinational companies with turnovers of over $1bn are spending less than half their external legal budgets on large law firms, a report has indicated. The survey found that specialist firms accounted on average for 28% of their budgets, while freelance contributors and consultants took 18% and online platforms 13%.