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As the economy remains sluggish, a number of distinct trends have become apparent. In-house HR departments have skilled up over the course of the downturn, and have made redundancy exercises into a ‘tick box’ process. Low-level basic employment advisory instructions have decreased, due to client cost restraints and the availability of online materials. Firms are consequently competing at the higher end of the market, where specialisation gains increased currency.

One area which has continued to show a high level of activity is litigation, in both the High Court and the employment tribunals. The number of trials relating to team moves, restrictive covenants, bonus schemes, and all kinds of discrimination has increased, with employees striving to maintain scarce jobs, and employers taking action to stem the flood of claims. Firms such as Linklaters LLP; McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP; Herbert Smith LLP; Farrer & Co; Fox Williams LLP and Simmons & Simmons have been at the forefront for finance houses and executives, and have witnessed the development of a new thread of litigation – data breaches and privacy issues in defections to competitors. Discrimination in all its forms has also been in the spotlight, with notable cases being fought by Leigh Day & Co; Bindmans LLP; and Russell Jones & Walker.

Another consequence of the recession – attempts to enforce more stringent regulation of remuneration in the financial sector – has led to advisory work for firms such as Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy LLP; while others, from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP to Squire Sanders Hammonds and Ashurst LLP, have assisted corporates to consolidate by transferring employees on divestments.

The change of government has, inevitably, brought wide-ranging legal changes. In the employment field, union firms Thompsons Solicitors LLP, Pattinson & Brewer, and Simpson Millar LLP – and their opponents – are gearing up for a likely increase in collective consultation and industrial action as trade unions flex their muscles over public sector cuts. The ripple effects into the private sector may encourage many growing employment teams to expand further and breakaway firms to set up.

The coalition government’s policy towards immigration led to a bewildering number of rapid changes to Tier 1 and Tier 2 immigration categories, throwing firms such as Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP, CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal LLP and Fragomen LLP into frantic lobbying and a whirlwind of updating and appeals.

The most significant aspect of the change of government for health and safety lawyers came with the Young report and the 35% cut in the Health and Safety Executive’s budget, leading inevitably to less regulation in the area. However, the passing of the first custodial sentence for a workplace death, together with the potentially bankrupting level of fines which the first corporate manslaughter prosecution (defended by Pinsent Masons LLP) demonstrated, should mean that teams at firms such as Bond Pearce LLP, Kennedys, DLA Piper UK LLP, and Eversheds LLP remain in demand.

The world of pensions law continues to challenge corporates and fund trustees alike. Recent trends include dealing with deficits in pension schemes that have had the potential to run into billions of pounds, and liability management, particularly the management of accrual liabilities. In terms of new legislation, the change of inflation measure from RPI to CPI created automatic changes in the valuation of schemes. Sacker & Partners LLP remains the leading specialist firm and, together with global full-service giants CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, Hogan Lovells International LLP and Linklaters LLP, provides a top-tier service in both contentious and non-contentious pensions matters.

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