Top Stories

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  SRA Tells 'No Win, No Fee' Firms To Shape Up After SSB

  By Marialuisa Taddia

  The Solicitors Regulation Authority warned law firms on Wednesday to tighten up their "no win, no fee" practices...(read more)

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  FCA Urged To Clarify AI Rules For Senior Managers

  By Alex Davidson

  The Financial Conduct Authority is facing calls from legal experts for it to plug gaps in its rules that could l...(read more)

• Fund Managers Should Be Taxed As Partners, UK Court Told

  By Josh White

  Portfolio managers at a hedge fund should be taxed as partners, not disguised employees, because they have significant influence at the partnership, a hedge fund told the U.K. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

• European Lawmakers Push To Put More AI Tools Under IP Law

  By Hanna Vioque

  Members of the European Parliament approved a series of proposals Wednesday to ensure that intellectual property rights holders are fairly remunerated when artificial intelligence tools use their copyrighted work, including calling for European Union copyright law to apply regardless of where a model is trained.

• Belarusian Co. Fights To Overturn 'Irrational' UK Sanctions

  By Ronan Barnard

  A Belarusian construction company urged a London appellate court Wednesday to overturn a decision upholding the U.K. Foreign Office's imposition of economic sanctions on it, arguing that it no longer benefited from or supported the republic's government in Minsk.

• White & Case To Bring UK Staff Back To Office 4 Days A Week

  By Ashish Sareen

  White & Case LLP said Wednesday that will require all staff in the U.K. to spend four days a week in the office starting at the beginning of March, bringing London in line with its global policy on workplace attendance.

• Top German Court Rejects Antitrust FRAND Challenge

  By Jamie Lennox

  Germany's top civil court has ruled that a patent holder has not breached European Union antitrust laws by seeking an injunction against a mobile phone company amid the pair's failure to negotiate a license agreement on FRAND terms.

• Lawyers Urge UK Gov't To Expand Anti-SLAPP Laws

  By Eddie Beaver

  More than 120 lawyers and other representatives of civil society called on Wednesday for the government to include provisions in the next King's Speech for tackling strategic legal claims designed to gag reporting and silence criticism.

• Zaha Hadid Firm Asks Court To Ax IP Licensing Deal

  By Sophia Dourou

  Zaha Hadid's architectural firm urged an appeals court Wednesday to allow it to terminate a deal to use her trademarks signed before her death in 2016, arguing it would not have inked a licensing agreement that it could not escape.

• Coinbase Crypto Ads Banned Over Cost-Of-Living Claims

  By Alex Davidson

  The Advertising Standards Authority banned adverts by Britain's largest crypto-asset exchange on Wednesday, saying that they trivialize the risk of cryptocurrency investing by implying it could be an alternative to cost-of-living concerns.

• UBS Wants Hayes' $400M Malicious Prosecution Suit Axed

  By Jon Hill

  UBS AG has asked a Connecticut state court to throw out former trader Tom Hayes' lawsuit that alleges the bank scapegoated him for Libor-rigging, arguing the case doesn't belong in the state and improperly seeks to punish the bank for cooperating with prosecutors.

• Slapped Down: SRA At Crossroads After SLAPP Setbacks

  By Christopher Crosby

  The string of failed prosecutions brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority against City lawyers accused of trying to silence journalists on behalf of clients has raised questions about its enforcement strategy, with critics accusing the watchdog of overreaching its rules.

• Ex-OPEC Head Accused Of Taking Cash, Cars, Jets In Bribes

  By Christopher Crosby

  Diezani Alison-Madueke lived a "life of luxury" taking bribes that included cash, cars and the use of high-end properties to "favor" executives in Nigeria's oil and gas industry, prosecutors said at the start of her criminal trial in London on Tuesday.

• Home Office Pressed Over Failure To Explain RTW Fine

  By Adele Redmond

  The Home Office must explain how it has determined that someone does not have the right to work in the U.K. when it issues penalty notices to employers, a restaurant argued at Britain's top court on Tuesday.