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There are many improvements that can be made both to the law and to court processes to ensure that justice is not simply “the preserve of the rich”, the Labour Party said today as Jeremy Corbyn unveiled its manifesto for next month’s election. It included pledges to widen legal aid eligibility and introduce no-fault divorce.

Appeal judges have rejected the pleas of a claimant who, faced by two law firms with similar names set up by the same solicitor, sued the wrong one. The court heard how Godfrey Morgan Solicitors and Godfrey Morgan Solicitors Limited were run “in parallel, as distinct businesses”.

The technology incubator of London law firm and alternative business structure Mishcon de Reya has chosen six lawtech companies for investment from a shortlist of 19 startups that pitched last month. Two are based in the UK, with the remainder coming from Germany, the US, and India.

In-house lawyers have ranked responsiveness and understanding of their businesses above price as the qualities they most look for when choosing external law firms. One legal counsel at an investment fund said he was “shocked at the poor service we sometimes get” and “often dumbfounded by the poor level of responsiveness”.

A solicitor who “failed to distinguish between the personal and professional” when doing business with a family he knew, meaning that he overlooked signs of possible money laundering, has been sanctioned by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. It said his own description of his work as sloppy was “an understatement”.

Both larger and high street firms are set to “lose out” in the face of competition from specialist practices as well as non-legal businesses in the coming years, new research has shown. A more “artisan/bespoke” approach is set to gain ground, according to the report.

The first not-for-profit criminal law firm – which opened its doors last month – has underlined its intention to generate surpluses like any other business; it will just distribute them differently. The firm is arranged as a co-operative and set up as a community interest company.

A new brand selling direct access barristers to the general public for consumer law matters has gone live, Legal Futures can reveal. Meanwhile, the first, basic iteration of Billy Bot, the ‘robot junior clerk’ being created by Clerksroom, has gone live.

The impending break-up of the company formerly known as Quindell was a factor in the timing of Slater & Gordon’s decision to start legal proceedings over alleged fraudulent misrepresentation in the deal to buy Quindell’s professional services division, the firm has said.

A solicitor has been suspended indefinitely after breaching conduct rules by preferring his bank as a creditor over Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, leaving the Exchequer hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result. John Barrie Wilson had already been also disqualified as a director because of the shortfall.