Technology
DoNotPay targets UK expansion after $12m investment
The ground-breaking DoNotPay chatbot – which describes itself as the world’s first robot lawyer – is to ramp up its UK offering after securing $12m (£9.6m) in backing from Silicon Valley.
Email interception “weakest link” in fight against cybercrime
Security experts have highlighted email interception as the “weakest link” in firms’ defences against cybercrime in the property market.
PE company adds legal tech business to law firm portfolio
A private equity company that last year bought two major volume conveyancing firms has now taken a minority stake in a solicitor-owned legal technology company for £1.5m.
Unregulated providers leading way with consumer legal tech
Unregulated providers are leading the way with developing consumer-facing legal technology, showing that the way solicitors are regulated is “not an obstacle to innovation”.
In-house training institute aims to transform “digital laggards”
A not-for-profit training institute for in-house lawyers is aiming to transform those often portrayed by other staff as “digital laggards” into digital leaders.
McFarlane clears way for more remote family hearings
The president of the Family Division has cleared the way for more remote hearings, including those where parents and children appear as witnesses, by revising the guidance for judges.
More funding for platform that “lets lawyers express themselves visually”
A start-up created by an ex-City lawyer to help lawyers and clients visualise complex legal structures and transactions is in a new funding round having already raised £2m.
Remote hearings “can deal with credibility issues”
People should not presume that remote hearings cannot be used for cases where the credibility of witnesses is at stake, the IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice has said.
Lawtech products “may need direct regulation”
Lawtech products may need to be directly regulated as they become more complex, and it is harder for lawyers to understand how the underlying algorithms work, new research has suggested.
Law firms under constant cyber-attack
Law firms are “performing admirably” in response to daily cybersecurity threats, but are still being successfully compromised, research has found.
Blog
The importance of benchmarking reports – and lessons on profitability
Regional firms reported the largest revenue growth this year (12%), outpacing their City counterparts. Yet many are not converting that growth into profitability.
Fixed recoverable costs: Sacrificing justice for predictability?
The extended fixed recoverable costs regime is failing to achieve its stated objectives. Instead of promoting fairness and efficiency, the rules are creating anomalies that undermine justice.
Expectations keep rising, so prioritise client experience
Law firms are facing growing pressure to place greater focus on client experience or risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive legal market.
