NAHL reports expected profits dip as it prepares for PI reforms
NAHL plc, the marketing and services business that owns National Accident Helpline, has announced a small dip in revenue and profits for the first half of 2017. The company warned investors last year that work to reshape its personal injury offering, in light of the upcoming government reforms, would lead to a temporary dampening of cash generation and profits.
Central storage of electronic bundles in family cases “will begin in early 2018”
HM Courts and Tribunals Service is to start hosting digital family court bundles centrally next year as part of its project to digitise the courts, it has emerged in a briefing sent to family judges. Moving from manual paper bundles to digital bundles in the family courts is widely seen as the best way to eliminate errors and reduce costs.
Law firm faces £68,000 VAT bill after tribunal rules electronic property search fees are not disbursements
A leading north-west law firm has been ordered to pay £68,000 in VAT for electronic local authority property searches it procured from an agency, after a tribunal ruled that they should not have been treated as disbursements. The case, in which the Law Society unsuccessfully intervened, could have significant repercussions for many conveyancing firms.
Law firm-incubated business launches AI contract review tech “60 times faster than paralegals”
A contract review technology company incubated by Cambridge-based law firm Taylor Vinters today launched an artificial intelligent product that it claims is on average 60 times faster and 30% cheaper than traditional paralegals.
Comparison website ramps up offering in time with Law Superstore deal
A legal comparison website has gone live with its bespoke platform with the demand for such services in flux. The relaunch of MyLegalAdviser comes in the wake of The Law Superstore being sold last month. It is the brainchild of Alex Boothman, a one-time private client solicitor.
Controversial law firm suffers final blow and enters administration
London and Manchester firm Neumans – which was shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority following a referral by the Court of Appeal – has gone into administration. It comes just a few weeks after the firm lost its bid to overturn the intervention.
Job description for new main board chair gives first sight of Law Society governance reform
The first sign of action to implement governance reform has emerged from the Law Society, which is recruiting a non-executive chair for its new main board. The reforms process has largely been carried out behind closed doors for over a year, but some details have crept out in the job description for the new role, which will pay £42,800 a year for two days a week.
SRA chair’s term extended as regulator seeks new board members
Enid Rowlands has been reappointed as chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s board for one more year as it begins recruiting three new members. Ms Rowlands, who became the regulator’s first lay chair in 2015, will now continue until December 2018. Her reappointment was confirmed by an independent panel.
Government rejects peer pressure to ban cold-calling by claims companies
The government yesterday rejected attempts by peers to ban cold-calling by claims management companies, and also bring medical reporting organisations and credit hire companies within the regulatory scope of the Financial Conduct Authority.
AI will reshape the business model of large law firms, Herbert Smith predicts
Law firms embracing artificial intelligence are expected to create new business models to pass on the benefits to clients, research by City giant Herbert Smith Freehills has suggested. The way trainees learn about the law will also change and may reshape in the traditional pyramid shape of the large firms, it said.
