Practice Management

Artificial intelligence has “huge potential” to make a positive impact in the legal services sector, the Lord Chancellor said today as he announced further financial backing for lawtech.

A secure private client platform which stores financial and other details needed by executors has been launched by West Country law firm Ashfords, which said it was the first product of its kind.

Technology can make a positive difference but it must be carefully evaluated before adoption and be seen as supplementary to, not a replacement for, human-led legal services, a campaigner has warned.

The High Court has rejected an appeal by a couple jailed for harassing the family judge who heard their “contentious litigation” over an adoption. They made it clear they had personal information about her.

The High Court has found national law firm Gateley negligent in its advice to the owner of land in Nottingham that led to him missing out on some of the profits from its redevelopment.

A wills and probate business in Plymouth has made headlines by becoming one of the first to embrace the embryonic trend of switching staff to a four-day week.

Recruiting and retaining talent is the top priority among mid-sized law firms, ahead of efficiency and financial performance, according to a benchmark survey of preoccupations as they devise strategy.

Regulators need to monitor the development of legal technology and issue guidance to help maximise the opportunities it presents while delivering the necessary protection for consumers.

A law firm sacked its administrator by sending him a brief WhatsApp message – and then backdated his P45 to support an argument that he was actually fired earlier, an employment tribunal has found.

Criminal and civil lawyers have separately spelt out to MPs on the justice select committee a catalogue of ways in which court modernisation is undermining access to justice.

Deloitte Legal in the UK is looking to ramp up its technology strategy as it bids to exploit its perceived advantage in providing multi-disciplinary services across the world.

A City firm has launched an off-the-shelf smart contract for insurers which triggers an automatic payment to a solar power company if it is cloudy, while a legal tech company has attracted £1.2m in investment.

A future Lord Chancellor could impose “quite radical changes” on the court system unless changes are made to the Courts and Tribunals (Online Procedure) Bill, peers have warned.

British lawyers are more likely to be bullied in the workplace than their colleagues elsewhere in the world, the largest ever global study of bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession has found.

Sole practitioners have overtaken small firms with two to four partners in terms of profit per equity partner, a survey has found. Sole practitioners also led the way in fee income growth compared to larger firms.