Bar Council warns barristers against “bending the truth” in online marketing
The Bar Council has warned barristers about “bending the truth” when making claims on a personal or chambers website and said they must be able to support claims that they are one of the best in their field.
ABS hopes to build up consumer brand covering 14 types of claim
A high street law firm has obtained an alternative business structure licence as part of a strategy to build up its Refund You website-based consumer brand, which covers 14 areas of claims, from personal injury and financial mis-selling to timeshares and cavity wall insulation.
Legal market growth forecasts revised downwards as research finds it contracted in 2016
The value of the UK legal services market fell last year and there will only be modest growth over the next two years, with uncertainty over Brexit a contributing factor to researchers downgrading their forecasts, a new report has revealed. Large law firms have continued to see revenue growth, but medium and small firms have been hit.
Firm that made 22m automated marketing calls in PI and other fields fined £270,000
A company that made 22 million nuisance calls has been fined £270,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office, one of the highest penalties it has ever levied for such an offence. It comes amid disappointment that this week’s Budget contained no mention of a ban on cold-calling in personal injury.
AXA teams up with ABS in bid to “disrupt delivery of legal advice” with machine-learning app
AXA Insurance has teamed up with alternative business structure rradar to launch what they call “a world first in legal and risk advice”, powered by IBM Watson technology. ‘Grace’ is described as “a machine learning-driven app which engages businesses directly with a virtual assistant to deliver the knowledge and experience of legal and risk management experts”.
Legal regulators eye piloting new price and service transparency requirements
Plans to force lawyers to be more transparent about their fees and complaints records could first be piloted across areas of work that have different regulators. The Solicitors Regulation Authority could also widen its plan for an online register of solicitors’ regulatory data to encompass all regulated lawyers.
Court of Appeal again rejects summary judgment ruling favouring solicitors’ firm
TThe Court of Appeal has again allowed an appeal against a ruling giving a firm of solicitors summary judgment, this time in relation to a claim for non-payment of fees and a counter-claim of negligence against them.
International firm sets up team of lawyers to cut through AI “hype”
International firm Bryan Cave has set up a team of tech-friendly lawyers from its offices around the world to cut through the “hype” around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in law firms. It said AI has “enormous potential”, but the real value comes from “lawyers being part of the conversation when these tools come out”.
Appeal court sends £4m solicitors’ negligence claim to trial
The Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling that gave a national law firm summary judgment in a case alleging that its negligence had caused a company to lose a £4m intellectual property licensing deal with a global engineering giant.
Law Society attacks SRA’s “limited” indemnity insurance research, including failure to consider cybercrime
Research by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to support its plans to reform indemnity insurance has “clear limitations”, ignoring the recent increase in claims related to cybercrime among other failures, the Law Society has claimed as it geared up for the next round of its battle with the regulator over the reforms.
