The Legal Brief - 8th February 2023

On Wednesday 1st February, the “biggest university strike series ever” officially began, with 70,000 academic staff from 150 universities participating in strike action. The University and College Union (UCU) have called for these strikes, which will span for a total of 18-days over February and March, as a result of disputes over pay, working conditions and pension cuts. 

Prior to this strike action, the UCU met with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) to demand a “meaningful pay rise” after rejecting the offer previously presented of a 4-5% pay rise. Furthermore, UCU is demanding the current pension cuts, which will see an average member of the UCU lose 35% of their retirement income, to be revoked. 

The UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, has declared that “the university sector in the UK has over £40bn sitting in reserves, but instead of using that vast wealth to deliver a cost of living pay rise and reverse devastating pension cuts, university vice-chancellors would rather force staff to take strike action and see campuses shut down”. 

So, what does this mean for students? In total, when combining the 3-day strike action which took place in November with the upcoming strikes, students will have experienced 21 days of academic disruption. In 2020, The Telegraph found that 1 week of university costs a student just under £300, meaning that this year students are set to lose out on roughly £900 worth of education. Thus, it is understandable that there have been petitions put in place for universities to offer refunds to students which have accumulated over 10,000 signatures. 

Furthermore, students are being put in an uncomfortable position, with a University of Exeter student reporting to The Tab that students are “tired of feeling like they have to choose between their morals and emotions” and that “supporting the strikes and being upset or worried are not mutually exclusive”. Indeed, it is evident that despite students being supportive of strikes and understanding that academic staff are at their “breaking point”, they are worried about the disruption to their education, with a student from Cardiff declaring that they “just wish our learning wasn’t being disrupted”. Therefore, for both the sake of students and academic staff, hopefully a deal can be achieved to avoid further disruption.

Written by Imogen Ellis

It was reported that BP has seen its profit double as a result of the energy prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine. Similarly, it has been reported that companies in the similar field such as Shell also recorded a profitable earnings since last year. 

The transition of investing into green energy but also upkeep with the soaring prices of energy bills have led for energy firms to pay more tax. The scaled back plans to cut carbon emissions by reducing oil and gas output has been challenging but many oil and gas giants have announced their ambition to cut emissions to net zero by 2050. 

Amongst many protesters, climate change group, Greenpeace, have illustrated their great pressure to strongly apply pressure to these giant oil/gas investors and governmental strategies that may prevent or create financial barriers. The figures presented to explain the oil prices since 2019 to now, have been challenging to keep up. The prices of petrol had soared, but then fallen back to not being worth much, although the same has occurred with gas prices where it spiked but have now come down from their highs. 

This has somewhat been profitable for energy companies, especially with the windfall tax and corporation tax through their profits. Striking the right balance for these oil and gas giants has not been straightforward, especially given recent events of supplying energy to the rest of the nation the stigma to encourage re-investment of the sector's profits back into the economy from these giants, especially when their lower carbon projects and new investments in fossil fuels will extend existing financial and environmental projects. 

Written by Isadora Carvalho

A shift in consumer spending habits, and a drastic increase in the cost of getting products to market, is affecting US meat processing companies in a way none of them saw coming.

Tyson Foods, who are the USA's biggest meat processor, and responsible for 20% of America's Beef, Pork, and Chicken, have just announced its biggest fall in quarterly profits for over a decade - which is pretty huge news.

There are a number of things to blame for this fall in profits. Firstly, consumer spending is changing. In the US, like in the UK at the moment, grocery bills are rising at unprecedented rates. Prices were 11.8% higher in December than they were in November. With meat-containing products being some of the more expensive products in a weekly shop, you can easily imagine why people are scaling back on the quantity they buy on a regular basis.

The make matters worse, Tyson (along with other similar companies) are seeing their costs for things like transport, labour and production soar too. Their beef business, which accounts for about 40% of their annual sales, is now proving to be hugely challenging as supply has also been getting shorter. As with anything, less supply is meaning rising prices also.

This may not be terminal for a company such as Tyson, who are large enough and with big enough reserves to weather the storm, but for for smaller processors this could cause sever damage, and may leave them open to easy acquisition by bigger companies, like Tyson, who could snap them up (and at relatively good prices, as they're struggling) in the not too distant future. Much as big companies having a monopoly on an industry can be seen by many as a bad thing, it feels almost inevitable here if something doesn't change soon.

Written by Duncan Balcon

This week from Legally Speaking Podcast host, Robert Hanna ...

⚖ LAWYERS! Want to know HOW to have a LAW firm that makes you HAPPY? 😁

Or what about learning some SECRETS on how to POSITION yourself to get the BEST clients coming to YOU? 🤔

Curious...?

YOU should be!

As let's face it we know that not EVERY legal professional or law firm is built the same.

Some of them can tailor their solutions to stand out in a competitive marketplace but others are still struggling to implement strategies. 😭

Not only does this week's guest wear an AWESOME Hawaiian shirt 👕 they also help lawyers to STAND OUT and make more 💵 in less ⏰ & to live a better life!

💡 Introducing Jordan Ostroff, Esq., a successful creative who serves as the President of LegalEase Marketing, Managing Partner of Jordan Law FI,. Board Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida and Host of the highly popular Exhibit A(ttorneys) podcast!

Even though he had no idea what becoming a lawyer entailed, he had known from a young age that he wanted to be involved in the legal industry.

🏆 He started participating in national trial competitions while still in college, where he won awards as an attorney for fictitious cases. After graduating from law school, he began working for the Office of the State Attorney as a prosecutor. 

⭐️ HOWEVER, Jordan's journey to success was a challenging one. He started as the first lawyer in his family and had no marketing experience. Because he didn't know about marketing, he was frequently taken advantage of by marketing firms.

💻 But with hard work and determination, he learned how to run a successful business and now works 2-3 days per week helping others do the same through his marketing firm. LegalEase Marketing specialises in search engine optimisation (SEO), law firm management, Facebook ads, video production, executive coaching, marketing consulting and more!

Jordan and I chatted about:

👉 What's the definition of marketing in the legal profession?

👉 How many employees should a law firm bring on board to provide them with the best chance to market their services?

👉How much does it cost lawyers to market their law firm?

👉 The importance of consistency in your case management.

👉 How can lawyers work less but more efficiently?

👉 Practical steps in social media to stand out from the crowd.

🎧 The FULL Legally Speaking Podcast ™️ powered by Clio - Cloud-Based Legal Technology episode is TODAY wherever you get your podcasts!

#Marketing #Happiness #LegallySpeakingPodcast #Lawyers #WorkLifeBalance

Banking Lawyers - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 0 - 7 PQE (London, Manchester, Leeds )

Capital Markets Associate - Top US Law Firm - 2 - 4  PQE (London)

Commercial Life Sciences Associate - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 3 - 7 PQE (London)

Competition Associate - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 2+ PQE (London)

Crypto Lawyers - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 2+ PQE (London )

Disputes Associate - Top US Law Firm - 4 - 5 PQE (London )

Finance Associate - Top US Law Firm - 3 - 4 PQE (London)

Financial Regulatory Associate - Top US Law Firm - 3 - 5 PQE (London)

ICE Dispute Associate - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 3 - 7 PQE (London )

IP Litigation Associate - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 2+ PQE (London)

IP/IT/Commercial and Data Protection Associate - Top US Law Firm - 4 - 5 PQE (London)

M&A Associate - Top US Law Firm - 2 - 4 PQE (London)

Powers/Networks Associate / Senior Associate - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 5+ PQE (London )

Real Estate Associate - Top 10 UK International Law Firm - 0-2 PQE (London )

For further information, or to get your questions answered, please send a message to Robert Hanna.

If you cannot see a job suitable for you, but are interested to hear about more jobs at KC Partners, please send your CV to info@kcpartners.co.uk to be considered.

At KC Partners we are committed to promoting diversity and equality of opportunities across organisations and we welcome applications from suitable candidates regardless of race or racial group, religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity.