Technology
Start-ups boosted by £1.2m investment and top judge hire
PocketLaw, a start-up aiming to provide a one-stop shop for the legal needs of SMEs, has secured further funding of £1.2m, while an online divorce service has named a top judge as an advisor.
Major study proposes ODR to handle small business debt cases
An online dispute resolution platform would help solve the problem of late payment debt by providing SMEs with a quick and cheap alternative to traditional lawyer-based solutions.
Law Society: Solicitors must not use AI without clients’ consent
Clients should be put at the heart of legal technology by law firms, including being asked for consent before artificial intelligence is deployed, solicitors have been told.
Technology and innovation “step-change” in last year but barriers persist
The past year has seen a “step change” in the adoption of legal technology and innovation, in part as a result of Covid-19, a major piece of new research has found. However, significant barriers remain.
Fears about using judicial data to predict judges’ actions “exaggerated”
Access to judicial data should be made easier to increase public trust, while fears it will be used to create accurate predictions of what judges will do are overblown, a seminar heard last week.
Investment in lawtech companies doubles but firms lag behind
The average annual growth rate for investment in UK lawtech companies over the past three years has hit 101%, a much bigger number than that seen in sectors such as finance or health.
Blockchain network aims to provide “missing link” for conveyancing
A house in Kent is the first being sold using a blockchain network that connects conveyancers with estate agents and mortgage lenders.
Susskind: “Harder than expected” to reduce legal work to lawyer-free process
The extent to which legal work can be reduced purely to administration and process has been overstated and in fact “lawyers are needed for all legal jobs”, Professor Richard Susskind has acknowledged.
City lawyers “need help from their firms” to engage with technology
Lawyers have been reluctant to engage with technology partly because law firm partners haven’t given junior staff enough time to learn how it can help them, according to a government-backed report.
Structured data format a “great step forward” for digital contracts
The Master of the Rolls has hailed the launch of a universal structured data format for the creation of digital contracts as a “great step forward”.
Blog
Service with a smile? Why customer service should be a top priority for law firms
Clients may not be able to assess the quality of your legal work, but they can judge the service they receive and, as is now clear, are increasingly happy to write about it online.
How can law firms adapt to post-pandemic working?
As law firms emerge from the pandemic, they face the challenges of coping with its aftermath while settling on new ways of working in the long-term.
The hot graphic design trends in the legal sector
As we recover from an unprecedented 19 months within our sector, marketing teams and clerks’ rooms are keener than ever to try out something new in the promotion of their businesses.
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