Practice Management
OECD urges competition bodies to help open up legal markets to disruptive innovators
Regulation of lawyers across the developed world is under pressure from technological and other disruptions, and national competition authorities should seize the opportunity to guarantee market access for new entrants, the OECD has advised.
Fine for CMC that made 17.5m unsolicited calls in six months
A claims management company that made 17.5m automated calls over just six months, asking people if they had suffered hearing loss at work, has been fined £250,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Free2Convey to relaunch “within weeks”
Free2Convey, the conveyancing portal designed as a free rival to the Law Society’s failed portal Veyo, is to relaunch itself to conveyancers, estate agents and the public “within weeks”, it has emerged. Matt Lancaster, who has led work on the portal, said he hoped it would be used by most conveyancing firms by the end of this year.
ReviewSolicitors to target law firm investors through crowdfunding
A legal rating and review website, set up last autumn by the former chief operating officer of QualitySolicitors, is to launch a crowdfunding bid next month targeting law firms. ReviewSolicitors wants to raise at least £150,000 from 50 law firms.
Major law firm adopts Watson-based AI research tool
ROSS Intelligence, the artificial intelligence legal research technology built on IBM’s Watson cognitive computer, has announced its first commercial partnership with one of the largest law firms in the US.
Smaller law firms feeling vulnerable, with almost all expecting “rough times ahead”
There is a “climate of renewed vulnerability” among smaller law firms, with the vast majority of lawyers believing there are “still rough times ahead”, a report has found. The report also revealed a huge gulf between lawyer and client perceptions of value.
DAS Law launches graduate academy as staff numbers top 200
DAS Law – the alternative business structure set up by the eponymous legal expenses insurer – is launching a pioneering graduate academy for “lawyers of the future”, with the first six recruits starting next month. Staff numbers at the firm have doubled to around 220 since it was created in 2013.
CLC consults on open market indemnity scheme in bid to attract solicitors
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is planning to introduce solicitor-style indemnity insurance arrangements, in a bid to make it easier for law firms to switch regulator. Embracing an open market scheme instead of a master policy would help “make a reality” of the “theoretical” freedom of law firms to change.
One in five law firms targeted by scammers in past year, Law Society research reveals
More than one in five law firms have been targeted by scammers in the past year, Law Society research has revealed. Money was successfully stolen from client account in 8% of these cases. However the society’s annual indemnity survey found that average premiums paid by firms with up to 25 partners were down by 8%.
Riverview launches first ‘virtual assistants’ to start process of reducing need for lawyers
Riverview Law’s ground-breaking development of technology for use by in-house counsel and others in the law this week saw the launch of its first two ‘virtual assistants’. Powered by the alternative business structure’s ‘Kim’ technology platform, they cover instruction and triage, and general case management.
Blog
Our vision for 2026: A shared approach to AML
We want to see law firms start taking AML compliance as seriously as it deserves. This means treating it not as a tick-box exercise or a procedural necessity, but as a serious part of company culture.
Why later-life divorce requires a distinct professional framework
Later-life divorce, often described as ‘silver splitter’ or ‘grey divorce’ cases, is no longer a marginal feature of family law practice. It challenges long-standing assumptions about how divorce work is done.
Listening, learning and leading The Solicitor’s Charity with care
As I prepare to hand over the mantle of chair of The Solicitor’s Charity next month, it doesn’t feel like an end. Instead, it feels like a wonderful journey.
