Practice Management
Number of cyber breaches at law firms up by 36% in a year
The number of reported cyber breaches at UK law firms jumped by 36% in 2022/23 as hackers increasingly target the profession, new figures show.
Solicitor constructively dismissed over return to work after giving birth
An associate solicitor has won her claim for unfair dismissal over the way her then law firm employer handled her return to work after maternity leave.
Firms billing more often to combat slow-paying clients
Many law firms plan to bill and collect more frequently to combat clients taking longer to pay as they try to reduce lock-up, a report has found.
“Unstuffy” ABS hits £7m turnover in less than five years
A Yorkshire alternative business structure founded in 2019 by a solicitor and non-lawyer has grown its turnover from £500,000 in year one to £7m as it expands its range of services.
Firms “asking staff to spend more days in the office”
More than a fifth of legal professionals across the UK have been asked by their employers to spend more time in the office, but few want to return to it full-time.
Law firm extends opening hours after staff move to four-day week
A Scottish law firm has extended its opening hours after most of its staff moved to working a four-day week, the latest to experiment with this new way of working.
New ICO certification for lawyers gives “certainty” on data processing
The Information Commissioner’s Office has approved a certification scheme which it says will provide law firms, chambers and others with “certainty” when processing personal data.
KPMG Law chief: GenAI will reshape conversations about billing
Generative AI will move lawyers further away from hourly billing and into discussions with clients about the need for a commercial return on their investment in the technology.
First law firm B Corp calls in B Corp ALSP
Bates Wells, the first UK law firm to become a B Corp, has started working with alternative legal services provider Obelisk Support, while Freeths has become the largest legal B Corp.
Lawyers’ use of generative AI “accelerating quickly”
Lawyers’ use of generative AI is accelerating quickly but there is a major mismatch between in-house and private practice expectations of the impact on billing, new research has found.
Blog
AI risk: What law firms must now demand from vendors
AI systems ingest, transform, infer and generate. Treating them as equivalent to document storage or workflow tools is a category error.
Why mid-sized firms are the most interesting story in UK legal right now
Mid-sized law firms are facing a set of decisions about structure, technology and growth that will define where they sit in the market for the next decade.
Don’t be fooled by the civil court statistics
The latest civil justice figures look deceptively upbeat, with faster claims. But these numbers mask a deeper truth: people are still waiting more than a year for justice.
Reports
Associates
