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We round up news stories from the week we haven’t had room to cover, including more sanctions for solicitors caught up in dodgy investment schemes, a new chair for the Legal Services Consumer Panel, a barrister being disbarred over payments to himself, advice on price transparency, and much more.

A leading north-west injury practice has received public money to back a link-up with academics that aims to develop ground-breaking artificial intelligence technology to support decision-making within the firm. It has formed a knowledge transfer partnership with Liverpool University.

Small businesses need a “beefed up” legal system that prevents disputes in the first place and resolves those that occur more, their representative body said today. This includes integrating the online court “seamlessly” with other courts, and a specialist commercial track in the small claims court.

E-mail hacks of conveyancing transactions are the most common cybercrime in the legal sector, with £7m of client losses reported in the last year, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It said that three-quarters of cybercrimes reported to the SRA in the 12 months are some form of ‘Friday afternoon’ fraud.

The combination of an oversupply of law graduates shut out of the profession due to fewer training contracts or pupillages and the growing number of litigants in person offers an opportunity to enhance access to justice while helping students into practice, the Master of the Rolls has said. He also highlighted work being done to promote before-the-event insurance.

A solicitor who did not report his conviction for assault to the Solicitors Regulation Authority has agreed to remove himself from the profession for three years. According to a regulatory settlement agreement published by the SRA, he also pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle while unfit.

The chairman of the Conveyancing Association has called on the government to create a new portal to help fill the void left by the collapse of Veyo. Eddie Goldsmith said conveyancing consumers suffered from a “lack of knowledge” about the process and he would like to see a “government initiative” to create an information portal.

AIM-listed law firm Gateley is keen to explore acquisitions of further non-legal businesses, it said yesterday as it announced that the revenue in the six months to the end of October was up by almost 19% on the same period last year. It has also poured millions of shares into an incentive scheme for partners.

The Legal Services Board is to reduce its cost to the profession to the lowest level since the oversight regulator was established in 2009. Its draft business plan for 2017/18, published yesterday for consultation, anticipated a £150,000 reduction on the current year’s budget to £3.85m.

A Hull solicitor has become the latest to be struck off after borrowing millions from the controversial Axiom Legal Financing Fund which have not been paid back. He drew down £3.15m of a £20m facility to prop up the firm, which accountants Baker Tilly had declared to be insolvent.