Technology
Ombudsman hints at giving users of online legal services access to redress
Consumers using online legal services should have access to proper redress, the Legal Ombudsman has suggested. Adam Sampson said he was not convinced there is a difference between a legal product and a legal service.
News round-up: firm overturns £100k wasted costs order, record number of law firms, and much more
Our latest round-up of news includes Fisher Meredith winning an appeal against a big wasted costs order, SRA figures on the number of firms and solicitors, the first law firm to ‘pin’ on growing social media service Pinterest, fee income up at the largest law firms, and more.
Google-backed US online legal service to open up UK lawyer panel next month
Rocket Lawyer, the Google-backed US online legal document service, is on track to launch in the UK later this year, with lawyers set to be offered the chance to join its panel from next month, Legal Futures can reveal.
Lawyers embracing LinkedIn, says research as Law Society issues first social media guidance
Almost half of partners and staff at the typical top 50 law firm are now on LinkedIn, nearly double the number in 2010, new research has found. It comes as the Law Society publishes the first formal guidance to solicitors on the use of social media.
Keeping the Information Commissioner off your back
The recent case of a Scottish advocate’s stolen, unencrypted laptop raises some important questions regarding data controller responsibility, portable media (not just laptops) and the options available for securing such media, explains Matt Torrens.
Lawyers warned over security after QC is found to have breached data protection laws
Lawyers have been warned over their duty to protect personal information, after a barrister was found to have breached the Data Protection Act for failing to encrypt a laptop containing sensitive personal data which was later stolen.
LexisNexis enters online legal document market
Legal publishing giant LexisNexis has become the latest entrant to the automated document assembly market with the launch of LexisSmart. It will next month be linked up to the company’s LawyerLocator referral service so that customers can seek a lawyer review of documents.
Law firms warming to social media but retain concerns about the cloud
Lawyers are warming to the use of social media in their practices but have reservations about risks associated with cloud computing, according to a major survey of law firm IT personnel. Three-quarters of the 712 specialists surveyed said they felt positive about social media as a tool to deliver value to their firms.
Record attendance at the 2011 TikitTFB user group meetings
The TikitTFB User Association has had a record-breaking start to the 2011 series of local user group meetings, with 51 delegates attending the London meeting last week and 60 people attending the northern meeting in Leeds on Tuesday.
Top 250 Manchester firm replaces LN Axxia With Pilgrim’s Lawsoft
Linder Myers has signed contracts to implement a 200-user LawSoft 10 system. Headquartered in Manchester city centre, with offices in Shropshire and Lancashire, Linder Myers is a successful, growing, full-service business.
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.
