Practice Management
Solicitor launches AI-backed platform to engage with clients
An artificial intelligence-backed platform designed to elicit key information from new law firm clients and put them at their ease has launched in the UK, initially targeted at family law practices.
Law firm pays £20,000 compensation for unfair dismissal
A law firm accounts clerk who faced false allegations of sexually harassing a fellow employee has accepted damages of £20,000 after winning his claim of unfair constructive dismissal.
Susskind: Machines will replace lawyers if they deliver better outcomes
Clients value lawyers for the outcomes they deliver and will switch to technology based alternatives if they produce the better or cheaper results, Professor Richard Susskind has claimed.
County court to test video hearings in year-long pilot
A year-long pilot to hear applications to set aside county court default judgments by an internet-enabled video link will begin at the end of this month.
High Court judge: ethical and legal framework for AI “imperative”
An ethical and legal framework is “imperative” for artificial intelligence and the financial world had shown what happened without one, a High Court judge has warned.
Eversheds rolls out app to capture internal innovation ideas
A global law firm has designed and implemented a crowdsourcing web app to harness innovative ideas from its thousands of employees worldwide.
No point in conveyancers trying to “export” Dreamvar fraud risk
Conveyancers acting for buyers should “think” rather than “automatically try to export the risk of identity fraud onto the seller’s conveyancer”, a specialist barrister has warned.
City firm did not unfairly dismiss employee, tribunal rules
City firm DAC Beachcroft acted with “conspicuous good faith” when dealing with a pregnant employee facing redundancy, a tribunal has ruled.
SQE “will increase inequality and deter working class students”
The idea that the Solicitors Qualifying Examination will improve diversity is false and instead it will have “devastating effects” on many individuals, two academics have claimed.
High Court orders partner to sell his share of law firm
The High Court has ruled that a partner in a law firm who paid himself £16,500 after he had left the firm and was “effectively competing with it” breached his director’s duties.
SQE to be introduced in autumn 2021
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination – the new way that solicitors will qualify – will be launched in autumn 2021, with the candidate fee likely to range between £3,000 and £4,500.
Gauke urges profession to push further on diversity
The legal profession has “a real opportunity to blaze a trail” on diversity, the Lord Chancellor said today. David Gauke said women at the very top of the profession should be the norm.
Mystery shoppers: Law firms good face-to-face but not on phone
Law firms are still underperforming when dealing with potential clients on the telephone rather than face-to-face, a mystery shopping survey has found.
Robot judges less likely than AI-assisted judges, QC predicts
Artificial intelligence is likely to be used to lower the cost and increase the speed of judicial decisions, a QC specialising in IT and algorithms has predicted.
Biggest client’s “IT disaster” tipped firm into administration
A “disastrous IT failure” suffered by a law firm’s biggest client tipped it over the edge into administration and a pre-pack sale to fast-growing national firm Taylor Rose TTKW.












