Technology

MPs have urged the government to learn the lessons of previous major IT projects and move cautiously with the development on online courts.

Law students on Manchester University’s first ever legal tech and access to justice course have designed an app to enable clients of its legal advice centre to find help when the centre is closed.

The impersonation of lawyers to commit advance fee frauds has been added to the list of large-scale cyber-attacks from which the National Cyber Security Centre is trying to protect the public.

There will not be another round of court closures for the time being, but this may change as technology takes hold, justice secretary David Gauke said yesterday.

The government-funded Legal Access Challenge has received more than 85 expressions of interests in applying for funding, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said yesterday.

Achieving buy-in for technology regulation from everyone involved in lawtech – from developers to users – is crucial to it working well, according to an analysis looking at the lessons for legal regulators that can be drawn from the medical and financial sectors.

The Courts and Tribunals (Online Procedure) Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons yesterday after the government added further protection for those unable or unwilling to use online processes.

A robot claims handler which can take “subjective decisions” about the reliability of witnesses will not replace its human colleagues, the law firm behind it has said.

Venture capitalists have launched a fund aimed at lawtech start-ups, with an emphasis on businesses that hope to exploit big data for corporate decision making.

An app that offers users the full range of consumer legal advice and support for up to £24 a month is being rolled out after a pilot saw 70% of users renew their subscription.