A strike by researchers and senior editors at the publisher of the Legal 500 directory settled on Tuesday, on the eve of the UK edition’s publication.

The strike, supported by Unite, the recognised union at legal publisher Legalease, had entered its third week. Action coincided with what should have been the start of the research programme for the EMEA guide, the largest guide in the series.

Management at the company have agreed to meet staff demands for a flat £2,000 pay increase, an increase in sick leave from five to eight days, and a reduction in days per week demanded in the office to two.

Legal 500

‘We have made progress over the last couple of days and have now resolved the dispute, having offered to meet our striking employees’ request for a £2,000 pay increase,’ said chief executive Tim Wakefield. ‘We do not intend to comment further.’

A union representative said: ‘We are glad to have resolved this dispute and secured a fair pay increase for the research team. We now look forward to returning to work and rebuilding our working relationship with management.’

Before the newly agreed pay deal, It is understood that the starting salary for a Legal 500 researcher was £30,000, while deputy editors earned £37,000.

The Legal 500’s own press release on the UK guide indicates the amount of work involved in producing the closely watched guides. The London guide alone features more than 5,000 firm rankings and over 7,000 individual lawyer rankings.