By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Professional Services Editor Maria Ward-Brennan is the Professional Services Editor at CityAM, focused on law, Big Four, and other management and accounting consulting firms. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at [email protected] or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B.

All 1606 Articles

Clio founder: We may not have the hype of Jude Law, but our data beats any AI rival

April 21, 2026

Legal tech Clio’s boss tells senior reporter Maria Ward-Brennan that, with rivals closing in, the firm is betting that proprietary data, not hype, will determine its competitive edge in the AI race.In a competitive landscape, Clio founder and CEO Jack Newton believes his legal tech firm is in a “great position” in the marketplace, because [...]
Top civil servant calls on lawyers advice over Mandelson vetting dismissal

April 20, 2026

Sir Olly Robbins, who is set to answer MPs’ questions over Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment, is reportedly taking legal advice after he was ousted over the vetting scandal. Last week, Robbins, the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary, was dismissed after it emerged that the disgraced Mandelson had been denied clearance in a security vetting process. Mandelson [...]
Judge throws out Richard Desmond’s billion-pound lottery case

April 17, 2026

Media tycoon Richard Desmond has lost his billion-pound legal battle against the Gambling Commission over the 2022 National Lottery license. Desmond’s group, Northern and Shell, and its subsidiary, the New Lottery Company, launched a £1.3bn legal action against the Gambling Commission after it awarded the next licence to Czech gambling group Allwyn. The procurement competition for [...]
Canada urges action on Swiss border as EES holds up business travellers

April 17, 2026

Canada officials are pressing Switzerland to allow UK travellers to use automated passport gates to end the long airport queues that have become a regular gripe for business travellers. The new EU Entry/Exit System (EES), which covers the Schengen area, rolled out last week, and it has resulted in lengthy queues at airports [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery as Starmer makes play to reopen Strait of Hormuz

April 17, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. The UK and France are set to co-chair a meeting with allies later today in a bid to strum up ways to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The vital waterway, which sits off Iran’s coast, sees around a fifth of the world’s oil supply flow [...]
Legal sector hits £60bn as top City lawyers pocket millions

April 16, 2026

Despite a backdrop of global economic uncertainty, the legal profession has solidified its position as a £60bn powerhouse, with top City lawyers bringing home multi-million pound pay packets. Law firms are experiencing their highest growth in more than 15 years, according to a new report by the Law Society. The average earnings for law firms [...]
UK rejoins Erasmus: British students to study across Europe from 2027

April 16, 2026

Six years after Brexit, British students will soon be able to study and work across Europe again, as the UK formally re-joins the Erasmus programme. The legal text, signed in Brussels on Wednesday, is intended to bring the UK back into the programme in 2027 after the UK pulled out of in December 2020 as [...]
PwC consulting overhaul reveals AI reckoning for the Big Four

April 16, 2026

The influx of AI is putting the Big Four’s structures under strain, and cracks are beginning to appear in their consultancy divisions, argues senior reporter Maria Ward-Brennan. The industry is facing a storm of problems, including over-recruitment during the pandemic, low staff attrition rates due to economic issues, and a drop in fees as the [...]
Regulator struggles to tackle harassment and bullying at City law firms

April 16, 2026

It won’t come as a shock to you that City law firms have long struggled with cultures of bullying and harassment, and the regulator is kept out of the loop, argues senior reporter Maria Ward-Brennan. The high-pressure demands placed on lawyers at City law firms have long bred cultures of bullying and harassment. In a [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery as Trump eyes Iran ‘grand bargain’; Reeves to meet Bessent

April 15, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. Hopes of peace talks in the Middle East were back on the table this morning, though markets weren’t holding there breathe after weeks of bait-and-switches. Donald Trump described the war with Iran as “close to over” during an interview with Fox news. “I think it’s [...]

Debenhams owner hails ‘successful transformation’ as loss narrows

2026 World Cup: How England went from misery to magnet for blue chip brands

Old Pulteney releases 50-year-old whisky for 200th anniversary

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

All 1606 Articles