The risk of key staff being poached by rivals, taking major clients with them, now poses a “significant threat” to City law firms, according to new research by Thomson Reuters Legal. A third of top 100 UK law firm finance directors see it as a major risk to profitability. Thomson Reuters’ Samantha Steer says: “The spectre of star lawyers or whole teams defecting to rivals is starting to stalk City firms once again. Team defections can also tend to lead to faster pay inflation for lawyers across the firms concerned.”
16 April 2015
"Significant threat" of poaching key legal staff
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Signature Litigation—Catherine Naylor
International fraud and asset recovery offering boosted by partner hire
Stevens & Bolton—Alexa Payet
Private wealth disputes team adds contentious probate specialist
Morgan Lewis—Paul Feldberg
Firm strengthens investigations and sanctions capabilities with London partner hire
NEWS
Cheshire West, which established an ‘acid test’ for deprivation of liberty safeguards, has been overturned by the Supreme Court
The Chancery Division and other segments of the High Court are to be replaced by a new Business and Property Division (BPD), in a major civil justice shakeup
Law firms that hold client money will need to file annual accountants’ reports and make a declaration, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) confirmed this week
Two district judges and a tribunal judge have been sanctioned for delays in delivering judgments and orders
Private equity (PE) investment into UK law firms halved to £250m last year, but deal volume rose, according to research by Acquira Professional Services’ Momentum private equity market tracker
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
