associate news

Grant Thornton has recently been ordered to pay £13.4 million in damages to the Manchester Building Society after seven Supreme Court justices found that the scope of Grant Thornton’s duty to its client should cover the losses suffered following its negligent advice.

Further to success in Australia, PracticeEvolve launched operations within the UK in 2018. We speak with David Boland, Global CEO of PracticeEvolve Group, about their recent acquisitions, cloud software and how legal tech providers need to take responsibility for the success of law firms.

Zeus Technology and VirtualSignature announce strategic partnership to deliver integration between VirtualSignature’s unique and advanced onboarding and document signing platform and Proclaim (Access Group). VirtualSignature enables legal and conveyance firms, estate agents, local authorities and accountants to onboard new clients more quickly and efficiently with its advanced eSignature, identification verification and dynamic SmartForms capability.

New subscription suite for law firms looking to grow their business in today’s challenging market. Lawyer 365 is continuing to line up strategic partners, as it targets 1 July 2021 for the official UK launch of its subscription plans, according to Lawtech 365’s CEO, Rudi Kesic. The Warwickshire-based company has already secured several large national law brands on the platform, all with a significant share of the English legal market, and many smaller law firms have come on board in recent weeks.

CILEx Regulation was advised by the Legal Services Board (LSB) on 16 June 2021 that the application to introduce its new education standards has been approved. The new standards create an integrated set of education requirements and a single application process, to allow applicants to become authorised as Chartered Legal Executives with the right to practise independently in their specialist area, without duplicating application and assessment requirements. Qualifying employment requirements are now aligned at three years. On qualification, a Chartered Legal Executive will be authorised as a Commissioner for Oaths and a practice right if they specialise in one of the reserved or regulated activities. More information on the new standards can be found here.

Eleven years later, in her role as Practice Manager, Partner and Accounts Manager for Galloway Hughes, comprising 23 lawyers and 2 offices, Johdi has full appreciation of the financial and compliance-related demands on law firms, and how technology can help. We caught up with Johdi to quiz her on legal tech so other law firm managers can make the right investments in software and hardware in order to excel…

Landmark Information’s new series of reports offers insightful round-up of property, environmental and land-based intelligence. Data from the first in a new series of Data Insights Reports from Landmark Information has shown the broad extent to which flooding poses an ongoing threat across England and Wales.

Jonathan Rees has been appointed Chair of CILEx Regulation (CRL), the independent regulator of CILEX members, firms and specialist lawyers authorised for independent practice.

Archers Law are a Teesside based firm that have been running since 1860 and provide a variety of services to both private and business clients. The firm is made up of 75 staff and has experienced substantial growth in recent years. Services include corporate law, litigation, employment, commercial property, wills & probate, conveyancing, matrimonial, family and more. We spoke to IT Manager, David Pounds, who provides the IT infrastructure and software for the firm and sits on the operations board.

Legal 500 law firm Wilkin Chapman has been a member of The National Will Register since 2015. The firm has built-in Certainty Will Search to their internal processes and advise that one should be conducted on every probate matter. The firm recognises that it not only provides additional protection for the executors of the estate but it also provides peace of mind that there is no later Will. Joanne Binks, Solicitor at Wilkin Chapman explains why the firm incorporates Certainty Will Search into their internal processes using a recent case as an example.