Public plead for free legal advice before deciding whether to go to court
Any person thinking about taking their case to court should be able to see a lawyer without cost at least once, according to an opinion poll conducted as part of work on the public perception of justice. The research by Citizens Advice said that the increased restrictions on legal aid were discouraging people from accessing the courts at all.
Parabis in seven-way break-up but fellow PE-backed firm Knights expands
Private equity-backed alternative business structure Parabis Group has today been broken up into seven pre-pack sales after entering administration, as first predicted this morning by Legal Futures. Meanwhile, another private equity-backed firm, Knights, is set to break into the top 100 with the acquisition of Darbys.
First AI lawyer “closer to commercial release than expected” as law firm pilot expands
Lawyers routinely over-estimate the current state of machine-learning computers but under-estimate their potential future capabilities, according to the chief executive of ROSS Intelligence, the company building an application billed as the world’s first “artificially intelligent attorney”.
Former Blake Lapthorn partner agrees to leave profession over client account withdrawals
A former partner at Blake Lapthorn has agreed with the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he will apply for his name to be removed from the roll after admitting five improper withdrawals of client money totalling almost £222,000. He used client money, without consent, for the benefit of another client – known as ‘teeming and lading’.
Slater & Gordon unveils major strategy shift for ex-Quindell business to improve PI win-rates
Slater & Gordon has changed the strategy of the personal injury business it bought from Quindell and is now generally not accepting low-value road traffic accident accident claims that are more than a year old because they are harder to win, it has emerged.
My “bog standard law firm” has become a “roll-out specialist”, says high street ABS chief
The chief executive of what he terms a “bog standard law firm” has described how it secured private equity investment as a “roll-out specialist”. Colum Smith of McMillan Williams revealed that his firm received eight private equity funding offers.
BSB promises action after report finds “highly variable” standards of youth court advocacy
The Bar Standards Board has accepted in principle all the recommendations of a hard-hitting report which found “highly variable” standards of advocacy in the youth courts. Only 52% of advocates thought they had sufficient knowledge of the youth justice system to do their job properly.
IBM lays out massive potential for Watson in the law
Cognitive computing could be used to suggest which arguments in court might play well or badly with a particular judge at a given time of day, according to a senior member of IBM’s Watson development team, although she outlined a number of more benign uses for the technology.
Gove poised to back call for less overbearing regulatory regime for ABSs
Lord Chancellor Michael Gove indicated yesterday that he would support legislative changes to make it easier to approve and regulate alternative business structures while the scope of the wider review of the Legal Services Act 2007 is worked out.
Council of Europe report: ODR can improve access to justice
A report for the Council of Europe has argued that online dispute resolution and use of IT could improve access to justice by “offering solutions to the problems of judicial inefficiency, the high cost of litigation and geographical barriers”.
