The reaction of the Magic Circle firms to the downturn seems to be kicking up a stink whatever strategy they pursue. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer told staff yesterday (9 February) that salaries for associates will be kept at 2008 levels. The move makes it the first UK law firm to break assistant lockstep and means that its associates will not progress through to the next pay band. Newly-qualified lawyers will also remain on the same salary after one-year PQE instead …

The woes of the UK BigLaw may seem distant to solicitors in smaller firms and across the regions but the Magic Cirlce does seem to be monopolising the headlines at the moment. Whilst the splurge of negative news continues throughout the profession and lawyers across the country brace themselves with each swing of the axe, it is difficult to ignore what happens at the top of the tree.

Clifford Chance, the first of the MC firms to anounce large scale …

In the battle between the law schools to sign up firms to exclusive deals, BPP Law School has managed to bag City law firm Travers Smith. According to The Lawyer it will be the sole provider of the Legal Practice Course to all of the firm’s future trainee solicitors. Travers will send all its trainees to BPP’s Holborn, London, branch and students will study an LPC tailor-made especially for the firm. Suits you sir.

Continuing the student theme, one wannabe …

Following the recent political drive to create social mobility in the professions , new research has now found that lawyers are from more privileged backgrounds than those working in other professional jobs.

The Lawyer concluded that the legal profession is even more elitist than other professions and the gap has widened in the last decade after comparing the average monthly family income for lawyers born in 1958 with those born in 1970.

The research was conducted for The Lawyer by the …

It wasn’t in time for a white Christmas but lots of lawyers across the country were stranded at home yesterday as snowfall hit large swathes of the country.

Solicitr understands from its (very) relaible sources that pubs across London and elsewhere were packed to the rafters as would-be commuters celebrated the extended weekend with a pint or two.

Many law firms experienced difficulties, with a large number of lawyers and support staff unable to travel into work. Although the day off …

With the uncertainty created by the economic crisis and layoffs affecting legal staff at all levels from secretaries to partners, there is understandably a fair amount of nervousness about. With that in mind it is no surprise that people are looking at all sorts of ways to protect their interests.

Following a difficult year for Cadwalder Wickersham & Taft last year , the recent exit of seven London partners to join US rival Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker earlier this …

With the downturn providing plenty of negative news at the moment, we though it appropriate to throw in a funny law student story nice and early this week to cheer everyone up.

"At Stanford, the law school was on the semester system, while the rest of the university ran on a quarter system. That meant that our finals periods did not coincide with those of the undergraduates.
MemLib, the undergraduate library, was always loud, but during finals it was a madhouse. …

The largest fraud case in history is certainly not going to just fade away, especially for those advisors who may not have taken a proper look at it before taking the plunge. As every junior lawyer knows, due diligence is not always the most exciting process but then again clients don’t pay their fees for nothing.

According to The Times a number of UK investors are planning legal action against HSBC, UBS, Barclays and Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean fund over advice …

Distilling some droplets from the legal ether, here are some points of interest for the week.

One law firm ends up in hot water after it moves to dismiss a trainee for gross miscunduct – a Sheffield Employment Tribunal last week ruled that a Manchester firm, Express Solicitors, was in breach of the terms of a training contract when it dismissed trainee solicitor Iain Montgomery for ‘gross misconduct’ last year. See the Gazette for more.

Bernie Ecclestone has a change of …

Following the episode involving Deidre Dare of Allen & Overy whose sex diary, ahem online novel sorry, received stern disapproval from her bosses; it seems sex can still provokes a certain amount of bother amongst the lawyering classes. It is not for us to pass judgement on Ms Dare; we consider the episode as more entertaining in nature than offensive even if, for her professionally, it may have been a little unwise. However, comments from some readers (we presume they …

The sad news is that as businesses implode and law firms cut back, the redundancies are stacking up for associates (more have been announced this week). When it comes staffing issues amongst law firms, associates appear to be like fish in the proverbial barrel.

At the same time, it is positive to note that trainee recruitment appears to be holding up (unless you are one of said associates, in which case it might grate a little). Bearing in mind that …