Family
Family law market grows more strongly than expected
The family law market grew more strongly than expected last year, taking its total value to almost £2.2bn as firms look to offer more holistic services and embrace AI.
Top family firm chooses employee ownership over private equity
Leading specialist firm Family Law Partners has eschewed approaches from private equity houses to move instead to employee ownership.
Legal market’s strong growth in 2024 set to continue this year
The UK legal services market grew by 10% to £52bn last year and is heading towards a strong 2025 too, according to new research.
Oligarch’s ex-wife drops negligence claim against former solicitors
Top family law firm Payne Hicks Beach has expressed itself “pleased but not surprised” by the decision of a high-profile former client to drop her negligence action against it.
Top family firm “would be prejudiced” by split trial in negligence claim
Top family law firm Payne Hicks Beach would be prejudiced by a split trial in the negligence action brought by the woman who secured the UK’s largest ever divorce award, the High Court has ruled.
High Court reinstates negligence claim against top family law firm
A former client of a leading family law firm should be allowed to sue over its alleged failure to advise about its own negligence, the High Court has ruled.
Solicitor’s joy as miscarriage campaign set to succeed
A solicitor campaigning for statutory leave for those suffering baby loss says she has been “crying my eyes out with tears of happiness” after learning the government is to change the law.
Law firm ordered to pay wasted costs after failing to instruct counsel
A law firm was negligent in failing to prepare for a three-day hearing or instruct counsel for it, a Family Court judge has ruled in making a wasted costs order.
Many divorcees do not understand the law – even if they had a lawyer
“Substantial proportions” of divorcees do not understand the law on how assets are split, even if they used a lawyer, the first research of its kind has found.
Family mediator accreditation: can we simplify the process?
For family mediation week in January, the Family Mediation Council suggested making a pledge. Mine was to the FMC itself: to make the accreditation process more straightforward.
Blog
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
Information isn’t oversight – lessons from the PM Law review
The PM Law review’s real findings perhaps point to a failure mode applying to any organisation sitting on scattered risk information.
AI can do the work but it cannot inherit the lawyer’s duty
What happens when lawyers delegate cognitive work to AI but remain personally responsible for judgements they may no longer have independently reasoned through?
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