Practice Management
Crime barristers threaten unilateral action over working hours
Criminal law barristers cannot go on without “sensible parameters” for sitting hours and overnight working and will take action if the judiciary does not, the head of their representative body said yesterday.
From law student to partner in less than 12 months
A trainee chartered legal executive has spoken about how she is due to become a partner in a law firm less than 12 months after finishing her law degree.
Ex-partner loses jurisdiction challenge over City firm’s refund demand
A former partner at City firm Watson Farley & Williams has lost his High Court challenge to an arbitrator’s ruling that he must repay almost $68,000 (£52,000) to the firm.
Solicitors gear up for leasehold negligence claims
National firm Simpson Millar has set up a team within its professional negligence department to handle potential actions against solicitors who failed to warn leasehold clients of damaging clauses.
University creates ABS to fuse law degree with work experience
Sheffield Hallam University has set up a standalone law firm so it can offer a law degree that incorporates mandatory work experience into every year of the course.
“Time for quotas” to boost ranks of women partners
It is time to impose quotas on law firms for the number of women at both equity partner and management level as “years of talking” about diversity have failed to drive sufficient change.
Government pumps £6m into legal AI and analytics projects
The government has awarded grants totalling over £6.4m to 18 legal artificial intelligence and data analytics projects. The projects span the whole range of legal services, from City firms to a CAB.
Robot mediator settles first ever court case
A ‘robot mediator’ has been used to settle a dispute in the court system, for what is believed to be the first time. The online tool uses artificial intelligence algorithms in place of a human mediator.
Burnett calls for action on social diversity at top of profession
Addressing the “lack of social diversity at the top of the legal profession” is an important part of improving judicial diversity, the Lord Chief Justice declared yesterday.
Revised post-Dreamvar completion code splits conveyancers
The Law Society’s toughened up code for completion, which comes into force on 1 May and reflects last year’s Dreamvar ruling, has divided opinion among conveyancers.
Blog
On good authority? GenAI and the reputational risks to law firms
As GenAI’s influence grows, so do the risks which are already playing out in courtrooms across England and Wales, where some early adopters are setting precedents they would rather not.
Why this is the year for law firms to embrace generative AI
After more than a year of pilots, proofs of value and early experimentation, firms are increasingly embedding AI into day-to-day workflows.
Client account interest is not spare change
The proposed Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts scheme is being framed as a sensible, international, “tried and tested” way for the profession to help fund a justice system under strain.
