Latest news
Law firm bids to ‘consumerise’ advice to SMEs with legal and non-legal services
A northern commercial law firm aims to take on ‘big brand’ new entrants to the legal market with its own portal offering businesses legal and non-legal services. Butterworths Solicitors has launched fixed-price products through its Go! brand for SME clients.
“Astonishing” letter from Attorney General hints at government split over legal aid reform
Speculation about the views of the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC, on the government’s proposals to reform legal aid has intensified after he conspicuously failed to express support for them when responding to a letter of protest sent by 145 Treasury counsel.
Interpreters set up free law firm panel to help non-English speakers
An interpreter company is set to appoint a huge panel of hundreds of law firms for a new Community Legal Helpline. Yorkshire-based translation firm Applied eXperts Ltd said it is responding to a rise in legal queries from non-English speaking individuals.
Government: we will toughen up referral fee ban if ABSs are being used to get around it
The government has pledged to revisit the terms of the personal injury referral fee ban if it looks as though alternative business structures (ABSs) and other arrangements are being used to get around it.
PI firm reprimanded for “irresponsible” radio spot as Law Society prepares £300k ad campaign
A personal injury firm has been reprimanded for an “irresponsible” radio ad which encouraged accident victims to claim compensation “irrespective of injury”. The news comes ahead of a £300,000 Law Society national advertising campaign that will promote PI lawyers.
SRA and Legal Services Board tussle over ABS application process
The Legal Services Board has been critical of the length of the time the Solicitors Regulation Authority has taken to approve alternative business structures, it has emerged.
Exclusive: QS launches R&D division, with new campaign and strategy imminent
QualitySolicitors is set to unveil a “new approach to delivering legal services”, Legal Futures can reveal. It comes as the company’s deal with WH Smith winds down and founder Craig Holt becomes president to focus on research and development.
1,300 law firms face emergency hunt for new indemnity insurer
The 1,300 law firms who have their professional indemnity insurance with Balva face the prospect of having four weeks to find new cover if the winding-up process the Latvian company started yesterday becomes an “insolvency event”, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.
AG rejects call to cap government-instructed lawyers’ rates at legal aid levels
The Attorney General has rejected a call to cap the pay of lawyers instructed by the state at legal aid rates, arguing that the work of government is “vastly more varied and complex than that for individuals and corporate”.
SRA will consider “fast-tracking” ABS applications aimed at price competitive tendering
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will consider fast-tracking alternative business structure (ABS) applicants who want to bid for the government’s proposed criminal legal aid contracts, Legal Futures can reveal.
Blog
The best legal AI doesn’t replace rules-based engines – it completes them
There is a belief circulating in legal tech that AI can solve everything – that LLMs are universally superior to what came before. It is not always true, however.
Small steps, big impact: how SME law firms are making legal tech work
For SME law firms, the priority is turning the potential of tech into measurable impact: success is driven not just by the technology, but by how firms approach planning and implementation.
Why housing disrepair claims against councils have leapt by nearly 400%
Housing disrepair claims against councils have surged dramatically in recent years, with some areas reporting increases approaching a staggering 400%.
