Practice Management

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has voiced “serious doubts” over whether a solicitor, aged 79 and “with almost 50 years of exemplary service”, should have been referred to it for prosecution. Reginald Hemmings told the tribunal he found the experience “extremely distressing”.

The High Court has found a Newcastle law firm’s conduct an abuse of process after it repeatedly failed to pay the proper court fees when it issued claims. As a result, some of the professional negligence cases it was pursuing against another firm were time-barred.

A Midlands law firm making a claim for fees against former husband-and-wife clients has successfully applied for their £2.6m negligence counterclaim to be struck out. The court emphasised that a breach of fiduciary duty by a solicitor does not necessarily mean their entitlement to be paid is forfeited.

A counsellor and a tech entrepreneur are launching an app to help couples going through separation or divorce, and cut down on the need for lawyers and the amount spent on them. The first version of the ‘amicable app’ will go live at the end of March.

Automation by computers is unlikely to replace much of the work currently done by lawyers any time soon and the negative employment effects of technology have been overstated, according to a study.

Legal Beagles, a consumer rights forum, has launched a comparison website using its own research on fixed fees to decide which law firms are listed. Kate Briscoe, chief executive of Legal Beagles, said only around 500 firms published fixed fees on their websites.

The managing director of a law firm involved in testing Veyo has described how the Law Society realised too late that it had “built something nobody wanted”. David Bridge said what was left of Veyo should be converted into a secure portal for conveyancers.

One in ten legal advice agencies warn that they are likely to close next year, a report for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has revealed. More than half had been forced to make major changes as a result of LASPO.

The first online dispute resolution (ODR) system for divorcing and separating couples in the UK is to be launched by Relate next spring. Relate has received no government funding for the project, and instead relied on a number of sources, including Google.

The Law Society “must be held to account” for the collapse of conveyancing portal Veyo, the founder of the Bold Legal Group has said. Rob Hailstone accused the society of “hiding the truth about its mismanagement”.

A law firm has become a minority investor in a legal tech company, in what is understood to be the first move of its kind. Taylor Vinters said it wanted to develop new technology through collaboration with other businesses,

A Canadian law firm which runs offices inside Walmart supermarkets is planning to almost double in size next year, it has emerged. Mark Morris, co-founder of Axess Law, said the firm could potentially expand into the USA and the UK.

Personal injury, commercial and family work will all fuel negligence claims against lawyers, insurance specialist BLM has warned in a white paper. It also predicted that a new source of claims could come from the “rapid pace of reform” in legal services, testing new systems and processes “to their limit”.

Riverview Law has unveiled the technology which will power a range of legal ‘virtual assistants’ it is preparing to launch next year. Riverview said ‘Kim’ was already being used outside the legal world.

The demise of the Law Society and Mastek’s online conveyancing portal Veyo gives the “green light” to rival system Free2Convey, the chair of the Legal Software Suppliers Association has said. Matt Lancaster said Free2Convey could now become the “central conveyancing portal”.