The £1,000-an-hour corporate partner has arrived in the UK, according to research by Legal Week, which finds clients this year facing substantial increases to their legal bills.

More than two-thirds (68%) of respondents to The Verdict, this month’s poll of senior in-house lawyers, said rates had increased by between 6% and 10% in the past year, with the majority putting top-end charge-out rates for partners at £500-£700 an hour.