The Financial Conduct Authority's planned move to an outcomes-based approach to regulation is raising concerns among lawyers that the resulting uncertainty could undermine companies in the sector and weaken the government's push for international competitiveness.

A former partner at Bird & Bird LLP has been banned from the legal profession for five years after he admitted behaving inappropriately toward a junior female colleague and abusing his position in an attempt to pursue a sexual relationship with her.

Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has hiked salaries of newly qualified lawyers in its London office to £88,000 ($114,188) in a move to remain competitive in a market that has seen U.S. firms set the pace on pay rates.

A group of women who suffered "years of pain and suffering" after being given pelvic mesh implants has secured undisclosed payouts from Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific Corp. and Bard in the first successful group claim over the devices in the U.K., Pogust Goodhead said on Monday.

Barratt Developments PLC said Monday that it has decided to go ahead and complete its approximately £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) acquisition of rival homebuilder Redrow PLC this week without waiting for a green light from the U.K.'s competition regulator.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has been referred to a London tribunal over allegations that it failed to implement measures to lower the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said Monday.

Two former directors of the defunct British Home Stores retail chain have been found liable for more than £110 million ($142 million) after they allowed the company to continue trading when there was no prospect of recovery.

Howard Kennedy LLP said on Monday that its dispute resolution and real estate practices contributed to a record revenue of more than £74 million ($96 million), although the figure fell slightly short of the firm's £80 million growth target.

A local English council pushed into effective bankruptcy after a spate of failed investments has sued a businessman for upward of £150 million ($194 million) it claims he siphoned off to buy yachts, private jets and a country estate.

A recruitment consultant who overheard a colleague say they should not bother to contact candidates "with non-English names" has been awarded £12,515 ($16,150) by a tribunal after winning her case of race-related harassment.