Practice Management
Chambers teams up with law school for advocacy module
Barristers from Exchange Chambers have teamed up with Lancaster University Law School to develop and deliver an undergraduate advocacy module for students.
Global investment in legal tech to hit £1bn this year
Global investments in legal technology companies are nearing a record £1bn this year, with the £44m raised by London-based ContractPodAI the largest in the UK, a new analysis has revealed.
Accreditation scheme goes live for lawyer technologists
The Law Society of Scotland has launched a new accreditation for lawyers with specialist technology roles, such as legal process engineer and legal analyst.
Solicitor secures injunction to stop web harassment
A partner at listed law firm Knights has secured a High Court injunction to prevent a former Oxford University student making “false and damaging allegations” against him.
LawCare names mental health champions
LawCare has today launched a new advocacy scheme to mark World Mental Health Day. It has appointed 14 champions from a wide variety of legal backgrounds.
Trade union firm faces trade union-organised strike
Leading trade union law firm Thompsons is facing a strike over pay – and pickets lines at its offices across the country – organised by a trade union. It blames the squeeze in PI for not meeting the demands.
Tribunal rejects claims from ‘partner’ who sued as employee
A former salaried partner, permitted by an employment tribunal earlier this year to sue her law firm as an employee, has lost all but one of her claims.
Women face “sticky floor, not glass ceiling” after children
Women lawyers returning to work after maternity leave face “not so much a glass ceiling as a sticky floor” and should recognise that a perfect work-life balance is impossible, a conference was told last week.
Legal advice privilege “survives” company’s dissolution
Legal advice privilege attaching to communications between a company and its lawyers survives the dissolution of the company, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
HMCTS “must collect user data” to ensure digital courts work
HM Courts & Tribunals Services must collect data on vulnerable users of online courts, on matters such as age, disability, race and sexual orientation, a report by the Legal Education Foundation has said.
New clients put trust factors “way ahead of price”
Reputation and trust remain more important to winning new business than price, despite the push for greater transparency, according to a massive client satisfaction survey.
Bad behaviour by male barristers “still abounds”
Inappropriate behaviour by male barristers in robing rooms and at Bar messes “still abounds”, with many women afraid to speak out, the Association of Women Barristers has said.
SRA could tell law firms to pay for trainees’ SQE skills tests
The SRA could ask law firms to pay for their own research and writing skills tests when hiring trainees, instead of testing them in stage 1 of the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam, it has emerged.
E-mail footer counted as signature for property contract
A solicitor’s automated email sign-off sufficed as a ‘signature’ for the purposes of a contract involving the disposition of an interest in land, the High Court has ruled.
AI legal tech “so powerful it will need regulation”
The use of cutting-edge technology such as AI has become so powerful that legal regulators will have to regulate the tech itself rather than the providers, according to a prominent academic.
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.
