Trainees take on business
How can lawyers intelligently use AI?
In recent weeks, the legal press has been inundated with reports of different Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools being utilised by law firms. In case you are wondering what’s what, this post will clarify what a handful of the different systems can do, which firms are using them and the impact on legal services.
Read moreRevisiting the Referendum
Never afraid to shy away from the most challenging of topics, in May of this year – with the EU Referendum vote looming – the blog’s Editorial Team decided to tackle Brexit head on.
Read moreWhat Feng Shui says about your office space
Feng Shui holds significant influence over many business people in China. So what's it all about?
Read morePolitical adverts – freedom to misinform?
Promises of an additional £350m per week to be given to the NHS, posters featuring "white thugs" shouting at vulnerable old ladies, and billboards plastered with images of a flood of new refugees. These are just a few of the wildly misleading, harmful and offensive adverts that featured in the build-up to the EU referendum on 23 June.
Read moreArt works: businesses and the value of art
You're heading to a company's offices for a meeting. Does this company's involvement with art affect its success as a business, and if so, how?
Read moreMaking a racket about the tennis pay gap
In 2015 Novak Djokovic, men’s world number one, received $21.65m in prize money whereas Serena Williams, women’s world number one, won less than half of that amount
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect the NHS?
The potential effect of a Brexit on the NHS has become a key political battleground with wildly divergent statistics being quoted and outlandish claims being made by both campaigns. Should the UK vote to leave the EU on 23 June there are a number of potential impacts on the NHS, outlined below.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect employment in the UK?
Whilst the papers tell us to panic and the politicians speak of a potential apocalypse, the general view is that there will likely be very little immediate change to employment law should we vote to leave the EU on 23 June 2016.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect Intellectual Property laws in the UK?
The future of IP law in the UK might not be at the top of your list of considerations when thinking about which way to vote on the 23 June. However, this area of law is heavily harmonised across the EU meaning that a vote to leave could have serious ramifications for businesses relying on IP rights.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect the banking and finance sector in the UK?
Financial services represent around £26bn or 57.5% of the City of London's total income and accounts for 7.5% of the total national income of Great Britain; 18% of cross-border lending is arranged in the UK and over 250 foreign banks are in London. A Brexit could threaten the City of London's well established reputation as detailed below.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect the property market in the UK?
Industry participants have forecast a slowdown in residential and commercial property markets in the lead up to polling day on 23 June.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect the cost of living in the UK?
The Brexit campaign is littered with statistics about the impact of a Brexit on the UK's economy. But how does this translate to its potential impact on the cost of living?
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect law firms in the UK?
As with many sectors, the implications of a Brexit for law firms in the UK are largely unknown and heavily dependent on the UK's relationship with the EU. Law firms will need to be alive to the impact across different practice areas as well as on the business as a whole.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect environmental protection in the UK?
In 2013, the EU introduced an interim ban on a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect the insurance industry in the UK?
The insurance industry plays an essential part of the UK economy and manages investments equivalent to 25% of the UK’s total net worth.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect online shopping from the EU?
In or out? No matter which side you’re on, there’s one thing we can all agree on: we buy a lot from Europe.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect our trade relationship with Europe?
There are a number of variables which would materially shape our trade relationship with Europe in a post-Brexit world.
Read moreHow would a Brexit affect financial services regulation in the UK?
Financial services is one of the UK's most important sectors, contributing over £126bn to the UK economy and representing 10% of GDP. The key post-Brexit issues for the sector are summarised below.
Read moreHow effective is China's corruption crackdown?
At the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on 8 November 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to hunt down 'tiger and flies'; in other words, crack down on the endemic corruption between high-level officials and lower-level civil servants.
Read moreA Mayor Fayre
Thursday May 5 2016 will (hopefully) see Londoners flocking to their local polling stations to vote for the next London Mayor.
Read moreHow to lose $1,000,000,000,000 in 30 minutes: HFT, Liquidity and Volatility in 2016
The Wall Street we all knew is dead. It has been replaced by high frequency trading (HFT).
Read moreWill staying in Europe mean greater access to Netflix?
Given the recent press attention given to David Cameron’s tax affairs it is doubtful that much could chill his concerns at the moment – even watching Netflix.
Read moreBanker bashing: the end of an era?
Ever since George Osborne's Mansion House speech in June 2015, commentators have been queuing up to argue that "banker bashing" is coming to an end.
Read moreThe UK housing crisis: a problem for businesses?
The UK is in the midst of a housing crisis. But should businesses care? And what, if anything, can they do about it?
Read moreAt last – the long-awaited price drop in Hong Kong's residential properties?
As with many of the developed cities in the world, Hong Kong faces the phenomenon of a soaring residential property market.
Read moreAutomation isn't the end
There is something almost apocalyptic about the idea that technology will spell “the end of lawyers”, so it is comforting that research suggests that the near future will be more about the automation of activities than the replacement of entire professions.
Read moreNFL to touchdown in London
The NFL season is reaching its climax with the Denver Broncos preparing to take on the Carolina Panthers on 7 February in the Super Bowl.
Read moreBorrow My Brand
Businesses, do you want to boost your brand? The answer is simple - borrow someone else's. Perhaps most prominent in the fashion world, 'brand borrowing' is the concept of one brand procuring the use of another brand’s name or logo for their products.
Read moreThe Fed awakens: the US central bank raises the federal funds rate for the first time in nearly a decade
Simply put, the federal funds rate is the interest rate at which commercial banks in the US lend money to each other, usually overnight.
Read moreEU in or EU out?
The UK will soon be faced with a question that may well have a profound impact on its future and materially shape its place in the world, namely: should the UK remain in or out of the European Union.
Read moreChina's Two Child Policy: Too Little Too Late?
Announced in a very 21st century way, China's official news agency recently tweeted that China will be implementing a policy allowing couples to have two children.
Read moreEmployees on Social Media - Managing the Risk
Employees who actively use social media can be a fantastic 24/7 dynamic marketing tool for companies.
Read moreCheating or competing: the blurred lines of business
Volkswagen, Forex, LIBOR and Enron. All names that resonate with anyone involved in modern business.
Read moreIndiGo continues to soar over rivals in the Indian airline industry
On Monday 26 October, InterGlobe Aviation (the operator of IndiGo Airlines) is due to launch its initial public offering (IPO).
Read moreLinkedIn 101
Use social networks wisely and the rewards are great. Get it wrong and at best, you end up looking like a stalker having viewed your colleague's profile one too many times.
Read moreSending out an SOS
Britain's second-biggest steelmaker Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK (SSI UK) announced late last month that its Redcar plant is to be mothballed or closed, with the loss of at least 1,700 jobs.
Read moreLive to Work or Work to Live
“But what are the hours really like?” is a question that all trainees have been asked at some point, either by fresh faced law graduates sizing up the right firm for them, or by colleagues in other seats assessing their next move.
Read moreGetting Over Time
The five day working week is the norm in the professional services sector, but is it the most effective basis for structuring our time? After all, professional services do not roll off the end of a production line.
Read moreThe Internet of Things
If you believe the hype, the “Internet of Things” (IoT) is about to take over the world.
Read moreOut with the new, in with the old?
'The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it's as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.' Alan Bennett, The History Boys
Read moreLetting Go Of The Wheel
If you are someone who finds yourself regularly gripping the car steering wheel in frustration or mouthing obscenities at your fellow road users in a frenzied rage, then you may have welcomed the recent launch of the UK trials for driverless cars.
Read moreScraping the bottom of the barrel? The uncertain future of the UK energy industry after the 2015 election
Before the Scottish independence referendum, Alex Salmond argued that an independent Scotland would benefit from a stronger economy off the back of its oil and gas resources.
Read moreRussell Brand v Katie Hopkins
Whether we like it or not, celebrities can wield a great deal of power and influence; on the clothes we wear, the films we see or the products we buy.
Read moreCarry On Constitution…
Vote on Election Day, then wake up to a new Government and new Prime Minister. That's what people in this country have been used to for the best part of 150 years.
Read moreThe National Health Service: Protecting Britain’s most precious asset
With the general election now imminent, the hot topic of the NHS is being discussed more than ever before. Which party will protect it the best? Does it need to change? Read on to see!
Read moreThe Election: Getting the female vote
Despite women making up 52% of the electorate women are significantly less likely to vote than men - 55% of women are certain they will vote compared to 65% of men.
Read moreWho's paying (and voting) for Employment Tribunal fees?
It's about politics. So, what three-word issue links the UK's relationship with the EU, public service funding, gender equality and immigration?
Read moreThe rise of the food bank: society in action
The existence of, and the ever increasing reliance upon, food banks is an issue which has oft been mooted during the run up to the election with Jeremy Paxman ...
Read moreGet your 'om' back
You may have read Sarah Carmichael's 2014 article 'Are you sitting comfortably' on the dangers of having a predominantly sit-down job. For those of you who didn't instantly hand in your notice and take up a job landscape gardening, there is good news: yoga.
Read moreCyber Insurance: A Critical Weapon In The War On Cyber Attack
It will have been hard to have missed the reports of the recent surge in high profile cyber attacks – whether in relation to the Kaspersky Labs $1bn cyber robbery, points stealing from British Airways' air-miles accounts or the Sony Pictures hack following controversy over the film The Interview.
Read more