Practice Management
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.
Partner fails to strike out bank’s claim under guarantee
A former partner of a London firm that went into liquidation has lost his bid to strike out Barclays Bank’s claim to enforce a guarantee he provided to cover a loan and overdraft.
CA refuses to widen solicitor’s retainer for negligence claim
Solicitors do not have to carry out investigative tasks in areas they have not been asked to deal with, however beneficial to the client it might have turned out to be.
Technology “can help conveyancers meet consumer demands”
Only a tiny number of conveyancing firms are committed to innovation, while consumers are pressing for technology that gives them access to information, a survey said.
Blog
Judging proportionate risk requires confidence. Do law firms have it?
As of 30 June 2026, the money laundering regulations have been updated again, this time to make the regime more proportionate and addressing unnecessary over-compliance.
Is clients’ use of AI destroying legal privilege?
Much has been written about the risks of lawyers misusing AI. However, in my view, the greater challenge lies elsewhere: the routine use of AI by clients themselves.
Does the Lloyd review mark the end of the Legal Services Act?
The Legal Services Board often generates eye-rolls and irritation from the leaders of the frontline regulators it oversees and of the representative bodies attached to them.
