header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Litigation lawyers look to future

21 January 2021
Issue: 7917 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Covid-19 , Brexit
printer mail-detail
36574
Mental health, diversity and inclusion should be top priorities and more can be done to further efforts, according to a survey of litigation lawyers

The research, conducted by the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA) and NLJ, found 95% in favour of action to promote mental health, such as less emphasis on billable hours and respecting holidays and weekends. Some 89% of the 148 respondents believe agile working should be available post-Covid, while flexible working and wellbeing support for lawyers were seen as important.

Asked whether their firm’s approach to diversity and inclusion has improved in the past 12 months, 86% said it has. Unsurprisingly, 93% think more needs to be done within the profession―specific areas highlighted by respondents were tackling racism and racial discrimination, promoting and supporting social  mobility, ensuring diversity in senior management, focusing on creating an inclusive workplace culture and eliminating bias in recruitment, evaluation and promotion.

LSLA president Chris Bushell, partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, said: ‘Although there has been a willingness to discuss mental health in the legal profession and across society as a whole in the last few years and embrace agile working, 2020 saw a real step change.

‘It is a similar story when we look at diversity and inclusion. Real progress is being made (which is fantastic), but there is still a long way to go and we cannot rest on our laurels.’

Also in the survey, three-quarters of respondents say the litigation market is growing (compared to only 44% last year), 82% predict a rise in litigation due to cross-border issues post-Brexit, and 89% expect a spike in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 89% of lawyers responding also believe courts of the future should make greater use of virtual hearings.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll