Mid-Week Legal Roundup – 14th May 2025
This Week in Law: Immigration Debate, LinkedIn Reach Drop, Cyberattack & More
Brought to you by Consortium More Than Marketing - helping legal professionals stay informed and ahead.
You won’t have missed it: The Immigration White Paper
There’s been a lot of noise around the government’s latest Immigration White Paper - and for good reason. It’s a consultation, not legislation (yet), but it points to a major policy shift.
Key proposals include:
- Scrapping the Shortage Occupation List
- Raising the skill threshold to degree-level roles
- Reducing post-study graduate visas from 2 years to 18 months
- Introducing a new 6% levy for universities on their international student enrolments
- A tougher stance on family reunification and deportations
This could affect recruitment in critical sectors like social care and hospitality. It’s also a major concern for universities, many of which are already under serious financial strain and heavily reliant on the tuition fees from international students to stay afloat. For a good explainer article, read this piece from the Times, which goes through each section of the white paper and gives a rating on how successful it believes each reform might be.
The M&S Cyberattack - £500m wiped off value
Unless you’ve been on an extended and remote holiday, you will also have heard about the cyber-attack on M&S - and it appears that it’s still not over…
The cyberattack, reportedly carried out by Scattered Spider, a group known for social engineering and ransomware, accessed personal data (although apparently not usable payment information). M&S has reported a £500 million drop in market value and significant ongoing service disruption, including a suspension of online orders and stock shortages in some stores.
This is a sharp reminder for businesses (including law firms) to review cybersecurity and incident response plans now, not later. If you like a techy article, this one is a good round-up of lessons learnt and advice for businesses.
Climate Change & Conveyancing - a new expectation
The Law Society has updated its guidance to encourage solicitors to factor in climate-related risks when advising on property. Expect more conversations around:
- Flood zones
- Energy efficiency
- Coastal erosion
A great overview of the changes is featured here.
Unemployment up, Interest Rates down - The Big Economic Shift
- UK unemployment is now at 4.5%, the highest since 2021
- Interest rates have been cut to 4.25% (with a suggestion that further decreases will follow)
These figures could affect everything from recruitment, consumer demand, conveyancing activity, to commercial lending conversations.
Also, if your clients are on variable-rate mortgage deals, it could be a good time to look at remortgage deals. Conveyancers may see a surge in refinancing instructions in the coming months.
Inheritance Tax & the rise of lifetime gifting
With pension pots set to be included in estates from April 2027, we’ve seen plenty of articles suggesting that families are shifting focus to lifetime gifts, with more:
- Early help onto the property ladder from parents/grandparent, AKA the Bank of Mum and Dad
- Conversations around strategic gifting to avoid future IHT
- Use of trusts to manage complexity
Have a look at this article for more info.
LinkedIn Company Pages – Reach is way down
According to new research, organic reach for LinkedIn company pages has dropped to just 2.2%. We always knew company pages weren’t the main event, but this is a new low!
So, if you're still relying solely on your firm’s LinkedIn page, now's the time to:
- Empower your team to share updates and insights from their own profiles.
- Consider LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads to amplify individual voices via your company account.
- Explore other platforms
More engagement means more visibility - and ultimately, more leads. There’s more on the LinkedIn algorithm's latest updates here if you want to delve into the details.
Your Website needs to get to the point - and fast!
Recent reports show that visitors expect to get key info from your website in seconds, especially with tools like AI overviews summarising your content.
So, in brief, that means:
- Clear headings
- Immediate answers up top
- Stripped-back copy that shows value right away
There’s more detail here, but your best bet is to speak to us – especially if your website isn’t getting the amount of traffic it used to (it probably won’t be) or your blogs aren’t hitting your audiences like before.
Diary of a CEO tackles AI
Steven Bartlett’s new podcast episode dives deep into the AI debate. Is it the biggest innovation of our time - or the biggest threat?
He brings on a range of experts to discuss:
- Whether AI will replace white-collar jobs
- The power dynamics of big tech
- What businesses should be doing now
It’s an accessible (although quite long) and thought-provoking listen for anyone in professional services. You can listen to the AI special here
And finally..
Mental Health Awareness Week - Don’t just power through
We know burnout is real, especially in law. This week is a good excuse to pause and reflect on your own balance. In a shameless plug, we’re highlighting 2 of our podcasts which are particularly relevant this week…
Have a listen to
Small shifts in mindset or routines can make a big difference, and it starts with conversations.
Need help turning any of this into client-facing content?
We’re here to help you turn legal news into blogs, newsletters or LinkedIn posts that clients actually want to read.
Get in touch with the team at Consortium More Than Marketing.
In the next update:
Copyright & AI: The Supreme Court is set to hear a case on AI-generated content - this could reshape content law.
Flexible Work: Employment lawyers are watching how hybrid work is affecting flexible working disputes.
And More..
