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Some 220 lawyers and technologists battled each other at a 24-hour hackathon over the weekend, overseen by the likes of the Lord Chief Justice and Professor Richard Susskind, to devise useful software tools that could support the forthcoming online courts. The winner used voice interaction and an online help assistant to assist litigants.

A law firm referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) by the Court of Appeal earlier this year has been shut down by the regulator. Neumans, a City firm specialising in criminal law, had a further office in Manchester, and, according to the Law Society website, employed 20 solicitors before it was shut yesterday.

The former clients of a solicitor whose dishonesty left them in what a High Court judge described as a ‘Kafkaesque’ situation that wrongly led to their bankruptcy, have seemingly reached the end of the road in seeking legal restitution.

A barrister who continued to offer immigration law advice after being disbarred has been jailed and branded a “charlatan” by the sentencing judge for taking advantage of “vulnerable and often desperate people”.

All cross-border civil legal matters started before Brexit should continue to operate under EU law after the UK leaves the union, the European Commission has proposed. However, it has left the question of what should happen to matters that post-date Brexit up for negotiation.

Barristers who are cleared of misconduct by a disciplinary tribunal can still be sanctioned for breaching the BSB Handbook, under new changes to the rules approved by the Legal Services Board. The Bar Standards Board said the changes aimed to fill a “gap” in its disciplinary powers.

Two alternative business structures have moved to extend their reach to corporate finance advisory work with separate joint ventures. Cardiff-based Greenaway Scott Group has launched a boutique as part of a joint venture with Lime Finance, while Needle Partners in Leeds has teamed up with Sheffield-based corporate advice firm Mackenzie Spencer.

Legal regulators have responded cautiously to the Competition and Markets Authority’s recommendations on price transparency, pledging to pilot regulatory requirements and test their effects on the lawyers and firms they regulate. They promised to implement controversial measures to encourage lawyers to publish prices if possible.

A junior associate at Dentons has been arrested for allegedly threatening to send confidential and sensitive information – including financial reports and details of how the firm determined its billing rates – to a legal blog if the firm did not hand over around £160,000 and a piece of artwork from its office.

Andrew Grech has stood down as group chief executive of Slater & Gordon after a recapitalisation deal was agreed with its lenders that will see them take control of the embattled law firm. The deal is intended to provide the firm with “a sustainable level of senior secured debt and a stable platform for its future operation”, it said.