Technology
Solicitors favour LinkedIn over Facebook and Twitter as social media use slowly grows
Fewer than half of solicitors in Scotland use the three main social media platforms for professional purposes, according to new research. The most popular social network tool was LinkedIn, with 24% of the solicitors polled using it on a daily or weekly basis.
Younger consumers attracted by idea of legal services from a supermarket
Nearly seven out of ten people are attracted to the idea of finding legal services on the internet and a similar number of younger adults are likely to go to supermarket providers, according to a survey.
OFT targets legal websites in push to improve standards among price comparison services
The Office of Fair Trading has written to five legal price comparison websites to urge them to ensure they are providing clear information to consumers, after a review suggested that some sites could do more to improve trust amongst the public.
LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer go head to head again – in the courts
America’s two big online legal document brands, both of which are about to launch in the UK, are set to clash in court after LegalZoom launched proceedings against Rocket Lawyer over claims in its marketing that various services are free.
Get advice and service right, and price becomes less important – major survey of client needs
Quality of legal advice and service still trump cost when clients choose a lawyer, although certainty about price and a firm’s use of technology are increasingly important, according to a major survey of client needs being released at today’s Legal Futures conference.
Survey reveals another headache for COLPs that their firms are ignoring: data security
Law firms should ensure that compliance officers for legal practice are closely involved in information security policies, a study has advised after finding that a majority of firms contacted had already suffered data breaches.
Online pay-as-you-go legal advice service bids to crowd-source £1.5m funding
An attempt to ‘crowd fund’ £1.5m for the launch of what is claimed to be the world’s first live online pay-as-you-go legal advice service will begin this week. Quegal will charge users 60p a minute to receive advice from junior solicitors and paralegals.
Council fined £120,000 after solicitor’s wayward e-mails breach data protection law
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been fined £120,000 after an in-house solicitor sent highly sensitive information about a child protection case to the wrong e-mail address, rather than the barrister for whom it was intended.
Smith: put online NHS Direct for law at heart of radically reformed legal aid system
An online NHS Direct for law, supported by 30 law centre-type operations in key areas around the country, should form the basis of a radical new approach to publicly funded legal services, according to a leading legal thinker.
Twitter and Facebook are the new golf course – law firms urged to take online marketing initiative
Law firms will have to adopt a more forceful marketing model if they are to survive in the post-alternative business structure (ABS) marketplace, a specialist in growing online businesses has urged.
Blog
It’s time for law firms to ask tougher questions
For years, many law firms have treated ID verification as a box-ticking exercise. Run a liveness check, match a face to a document and move on. But that is no longer good enough.
Business fatigue to AI will risk job security
Whilst we know professional learning has always been part of career paths, to hire, retain and keep talent, AI needs to be embedded as a core part of this training.
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.
