Practice points

The Land Registry has dropped plans to publish a chart of the top 50 law firms it deals with, ranked by the number of incomplete or erroneous applications they make.

A solicitor has won a claim of sexual harassment against her former firm after one of its partners was found to have tried to kiss her on two separate occasions.

Judges are “embedded” in all the projects that make up the £1bn court modernisation programme and whether hearings are held by video or person will always be a matter of judicial discretion.

Some lawyers have been suffering from “GDPR fever” over the past year and given bad advice based on limited knowledge or too cautious an approach, a leading data protection law specialist has warned.

Lawyers are wrong to think that there are tasks beyond technology that only they can carry out, Professor Richard Susskind has warned. He urged lawyers to help build the machines, not compete with them.

Computers using artificial intelligence could be given separate legal personalities enabling them to own property as the law adapts to technology, a Supreme Court justice has suggested.

A solicitor has failed in his claim for unfair dismissal after he refused to accede to his firm’s request to stop sitting as a deputy district judge because it needed him to focus on the practice.

AI should be developed in conjunction with a wide range of non-technical specialists, while an ‘ethical black box’ showing how a system made particular decisions may also be needed.

The Law Commission has “paused” its project on smart contracts to avoid potential duplication with work being undertaken by the government-backed lawtech delivery panel.

What is defined as harassment in law firms is evolving fast and a telephone call or text that was previously thought innocent might now be considered to be inappropriate, experts have warned.