Practice Management

Innovative alternative business structure Radiant Law has created a Microsoft Word-based tool to help in-house counsel check the impact of Brexit on their commercial contracts – and is giving it away for free. Meanwhile, magic circle firm Clifford Chance has struck a deal with artificial intelligence software provider Kira Systems.

Sir Nigel Knowles, the former global co-chairman of DLA Piper, has joined the advisory board of The Link App, the communications application for law firms and their clients created by former The Apprentice candidate Lauren Riley.

The new not-for-profit personal injury marketing collective that is looking to spend £12m in its first year has gone live under two of its three brands. Created by legal digital marketing agency mmadigital, the collective, National Injury Claimline, also says it has built technology that allows it to adjust its marketing on a real-time basis.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal against a decision that cleared two solicitors of “dishonest assistance in a breach of trust”, in this case a mortgage fraud. In its decision, the Court of Appeal had warned that findings of dishonesty, especially against solicitors, should not be made without “the most careful consideration” of what they say in their defence.

A client cannot blame the failure of solicitors to send a land transaction return to the taxman so as to avoid a fine for late filing, a tribunal has ruled. Andrew Oliver appealed against the penalty imposed on him for the failure to submit the return within the 30 days allowed. Instead it was submitted 252 days later.

The Advertising Standards Authority has rejected a complaint over the way a Devon law firm marketed its success in representing drivers. Patterson Law said on its website that 3,314 out of its last 3,436 clients at risk of a driving ban avoided disqualification or got a significantly reduced driving ban

The Law Superstore, which claims that it will be the UK’s first true legal comparison website, has hit 150 ‘partner’ firms as it gears up to launch to consumers on 1 August. It said firms across the country have signed up to the site, including Blacks, Hansells, McMillan Williams, FBC Manby Bowdler, Redkite Law and Express Solicitors.

Leading group action law firm Leigh Day has been found guilty of professional negligence after 6,624 of the claimants it represented in the high-profile Trafigura case were not paid their share of the £30m settlement. Leigh Day said it tried its “damnedest” to ensure everyone received their payments.

E-mail could be employed to harness “a whole volunteer army” of City law firm volunteers to the aid of Hackney Law Centre and other advice centres beyond the capital, according to a report on digital solutions that also suggested a series of apps that could help clients navigate the advice system.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation, after medical records relating to personal injury claims were found in a skip outside a law firm’s former office in St Helens, Merseyside. Separately, evidence has emerged of bodyshops releasing personal data to third-party law firms and CMCs.

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint over an advertisement from a website that claims to help clients recover a “huge amount” of their legal costs, which said that “on average, a solicitor overcharges you by 20%”. The offending advert was headed: “Top 5 ways your solicitor rips you off.”

Fee income at SME law firms is on the up, but profits are not matching the growth, with staff and premises costs among the causes, new research has found. There was a “dramatic growth in income” at London firms in particular, with “high-value project work… back on the desk” as corporate deals gathered pace.

The crisis engulfing the law firm that sent tweets ‘boasting’ about its success in defending local authorities in special educational needs and disability tribunals has escalated further today, with three council clients cutting their ties to the firm.

The Law Society’s failed conveyancing portal Veyo recorded a loss of £11.4m in its last financial year, with rival product Free2Convey the cause of its demise, according to newly published annual accounts. Some £6.8m of the loss was put down to research and development expenditure, with a further £743,000 on 10 staff.

A law firm which offended parents of children with special educational needs and disability through comments on Twitter over the weekend is to face an investigation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Milton Keynes-based Baker Small has apologised and made a contribution to charity over its conduct.