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Law firms handling claims over mis-sold payment protection insurance are charging clients more than both the level the Solicitors Regulation Authority deems reasonable and the cap that will shortly be imposed on them by government, research by the regulator has found. It also criticised the use of standard letters, which will resonate in other process-driven areas of law.

The first element of the Online Court went public today, with a beta test enabling people to issue county court money claims for up to £10,000 more easily. The Ministry of Justice said the civil money claims pilot scheme “begins to deliver the vision… for claims worth up to £25,000 to be solved in an online court”.

Multinational companies with turnovers of over $1bn are spending less than half their external legal budgets on large law firms, a report has indicated. The survey found that specialist firms accounted on average for 28% of their budgets, while freelance contributors and consultants took 18% and online platforms 13%.

The first digital mortgage deed was entered into the Land Register today following collaboration and testing with Coventry Building Society and Enact Conveyancing. Meanwhile, an online property sales platform that uses the blockchain to record property transactions has adopted artificial intelligence in its auction process.

Dame Elizabeth Filkin, a former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, has become one of four lay members appointed to the new Chartered Institute of Legal Executives group board. The move comes as CILEx introduces a group structure with three companies

Indemnity insurance reforms put forward by the Solicitors Regulation Authority last month will damage the small firms the regulator is trying to help, a specialist law firm has warned. Legal Risk LLP attacked SRA plans aimed at reducing the burden of indemnity insurance.

The local authority budget for specialist legal advice and IT connected with the criminal investigation and public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire has been increased to £5m. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea approved the new figure at a raucous council meeting. Most will go to law firm DWF LLP.

A partner has been struck off for transferring over £40,000 to his own bank account while claiming it was used to pay a costs draftsman and a marketing company. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said Mohammed Asif Din “knew the money was being paid to him”.

An associate in a regional law firm’s Court of Protection team has been convicted of the wilful neglect of her own elderly mother, who died in squalor despite the solicitor having power of attorney to act on her behalf.

The depth of despondency among criminal law barristers has been revealed in a survey as direct action by the Criminal Bar Association began on Easter Day. A survey of over 4,000 barristers found that over a third of criminal barristers were dissatisfied with their careers and considering alternatives or planning to leave.