Magic Circle law firm Freshfields offers staff $60k worth of egg freezing, IVF, and surrogacy services January 26, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has said it will give each of its employees up to $60,000 (£44,430) worth of fertility clinic services, to cover the costs of egg and sperm freezing, in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and surrogacy. In a statement, Freshfields said it had partnered with fertility clinic Carrot Fertility, which offers a [...]
Tetrosyl seeks £1m in compensation from BDO over 9-month audit delay January 26, 2022 Rochdale-based car products manufacturer Tetrosyl is seeking more than £1m in compensation from Belgian accountancy firm BDO, over claims that BDO’s “inadequate” handling of its audit damaged Tetrosyl’s relationships with its contractors and led to Tetrosyl’s directors facing criminal proceedings from Companies House. In documents seen by The Times, Tetrosyl said BDO’s nine-month delay in [...]
UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch fails bid to delay US extradition ruling January 26, 2022 British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, who is facing extradition to the US after being accused of fraud, has failed to delay a decision by the Home Office this morning. US authorities accused Lynch of being involved in a multibillion-dollar fraud over the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for £8.5bn, which [...]
Goodwin Proctor ups the stakes in battle for legal talent in offering juniors £161,500 a year January 26, 2022 US law firm Goodwin Proctor has raised the stakes in the battle for legal talent, in offering newly qualified lawyers in its London office an unprecedented £161,500 a year. The Boston headquartered law firm’s move will see junior lawyers’ pay boosted by 10 per cent from £147,000 to £161,500, City PM understands. Goodwin’s decision to [...]
KPMG invests $160m into upping salaries as Big Four face the heat in battle for talent January 26, 2022 KPMG is set to invest $160m into boosting the salaries of its 35,000 staff, as the battle for white collar talent continues to put pressure on Big Four firms. In a Linkedin post titled “investing in our people,” Paul Knopp, Chair and CEO of KPMG in the US said the “increase in salaries embodies our [...]
CMA launches probe into £1.9bn merger between National Express and Stagecoach January 26, 2022 The UK competition watchdog said this morning it has launched an investigation into the £1.9bn merger between National Express and Stagecoach due to concerns over the tie-up. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had served a so-called initial enforcement order, which stops the companies from fully combining while it considers the deal. Stagecoach [...]
Credit Suisse beats investment banker in London court as £66m espionage case is thrown out January 26, 2022 A former Credit Suisse banker’s £66m lawsuit was rejected yesterday afternoon as a London court found that the banking giant was under no obligation to protect its former employee from the risk of criminal charges while he was working in Romania. Vadim Benyatov had demanded $89m, or nearly £66m, in lost earnings after a court [...]
High Court blocks barrister’s appeal against six-month suspension for making lewd comments to woman on mini-pupillage January 25, 2022 The High Court has rejected an appeal put forward by a criminal barrister from Manchester against a decision to suspend him from practice for six months for making inappropriate comments to a woman he had brought into his office on work experience. Criminal barrister Michael Kearney was suspended from practice for six months, in March [...]
£150,000 salaries are “out-of-control” and will see lawyers burn out before they hit 30, top in-house lawyer says January 25, 2022 One of Britain’s most prominent in-house lawyers has said the “eye-watering sums” being paid out to newly qualified lawyers have gotten “out-of-control,” whilst claiming that solicitors on £150,000 salaries will burn out “before they hit 30.” The comments come after New York headquartered law firm Milbank last week upped the stakes in the battle for [...]
Audit watchdog is ‘in poor state’, says FRC candidate for chair: ‘This is really not the way to run a regulator’ January 25, 2022 Sir Jan du Plessis, the government’s preferred candidate to head the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), has said the independent regulator is now in a “pretty poor state” due to the failures of its top level managers. Du Plessis, who has previously chaired some of Britain’s major companies including BT and Lloyds TSB, vowed to “address [...]