Legal Services Act
Time to consider regulating lawtech firms, report says
The time has come for the Ministry of Justice to consider whether lawtech companies, along with other unregulated legal services providers, should be regulated, ACSO has said.
LeO found to have discriminated against ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman has paid compensation to one of its ombudsmen after being found guilty of indirect sex discrimination, Legal Futures can reveal.
Brexit deal has made world “much more clunky” for lawyers
The Brexit agreement, greeted by lawyers with “sighs of relief”, had led to a “much more clunky world” for legal services, with important issues like privilege unresolved, the Law Society president has said.
Whiplash progress at last as protocol is all but approved
There is finally movement on the rule changes required to make the whiplash reforms happen, with the new pre-action protocol all but approved last month, it has emerged.
LSB to press ahead with continuing competence regime
The Legal Services Board is pushing ahead with plans to introduce continuing competence checks for lawyers. This could include feedback from consumers, judges and peers, assurance visits or revalidation.
Consultancy firm aimed at high street work targets national growth
A consultants-led law firm based in Yorkshire has unveiled plans for national expansion after seeing its caseload double in 2020 with the post-lockdown conveyancing boom.
Virtual chambers brings in first QC as it outlines global ambition
A virtual set of tax and revenue-specialist barristers has multiplied from its two founders to 11 members since it launched last summer, with several based overseas as it looks to build a global practice.
First4Lawyers sets up law firm to handle road traffic claims
Legal marketing business First4Lawyers is to create an alternative business structure to handle road traffic accident claims after the whiplash reforms are introduced in May.
Profession claims victory in fight against extended court hours
The legal profession claimed victory last night in the fight against extended operating hours in the criminal courts – although the Ministry of Justice has not yet confirmed it.
LeO “setting itself up to fail” with budget plans
The Legal Ombudsman is “setting itself up to fail” by proposing to give itself more work than it can cope with and asking for an “extraordinary high” budget increase of 19%.
Most firms made a profit last year despite Covid, survey finds
The vast majority of law firms have made a profit since March, showing that predictions the pandemic would wreak havoc in the profession have not come to pass, according to new research.
New practising fee rules will allow “more meaningful debate”
The Legal Services Board has introduced new rules to ensure legal regulators explain more clearly how they spend the money they raise through the compulsory levies on lawyers.
Coca-Cola to penalise outside firms for insufficiently diverse teams
Drinks giant Coca-Cola is to start penalising its panel law firms with reduced fees if they fail to deliver on diversity commitments, in a shift starting in the US and then expanding globally.
Solicitor boss of listed law firm cashes in £61m worth of shares
The boss of listed law firm Knights, David Beech, has cashed in £61m worth of shares, the company announced today, just under half of his stake in the business.
ABS offers “litigation concession” inside law firms
A joint venture alternative business structure specialising in dispute resolution for SMEs is launching a new service for law firms which it compares to “a concession in a department store”.
Blog
From AI ambition to operational reality
AI is no longer an emerging technology on the horizon. It has become the connective tissue binding law, regulation, risk and commercial decision-making.
From text to world: The legal significance of multimodal AI
The next phase of AI, already underway, will integrate text with vision, sound, motion and even touch. This will produce systems that no longer ‘read about’ the world but perceive it.
The new leaders of law
Where once many law firm owners remained technology sceptics, a growing number are now shaped by leaders who are digitally fluent and commercially oriented.
