Practice Management

The government should invest in online dispute resolution for small claims – but not until 2016 so lessons can be learnt from pioneering projects in Holland and Canada, a major report has advised. Meanwhile, Professor Richard Susskind has called for ODR to be explored “urgently”.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has opened up a three-month window for solicitors to own up to income they have not declared, or face tougher penalties if they are caught dodging tax.

Riverview Law is setting up a separate business which will own and exploit the technology built by the alternative business structure over the last three years. The first move has been for Riverview itself to launch a range of software modules targeted at in-house legal teams.

The European Commission has launched today a new online find-a-lawyer search engine, enabling potential clients to find lawyers in 17 countries, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Scotland – but not England and Wales.

The tax benefits for law firms of incorporating have been reduced thanks to surprise changes announced by the Chancellor in this week’s Autumn Statement. Law firms have been incorporating in large numbers, with tax advantages in both the initial transition and the ongoing practice.

Forget the John Lewis Christmas advert – lawyers have stepped up efforts to target the over-50s and the victims of medical accidents in the latest high-profile marketing pushes by QualitySolicitors and First4Lawyers respectively.

The Bar Standards Board has doubled its prediction of how many entities it expects to be overseeing by the end of 2015 after receiving Legal Services Board approval to regulate businesses.

Four law firms have recently lost £2m from their client accounts after falling victim to scammers who tricked them into disclosing bank security information over the telephone, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.

Solicitor entrepreneur Lauren Riley has described how she has met venture capitalists and tech companies interested in her legal app after appearing in the BBC1 show The Apprentice.

Client, consumer or customer – no single label can describe the relationship that now exists between people and their legal services providers, Professor Stephen Mayson has argued – having previously thought that it was a distinction without a difference.