Technology

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.

The UK has launched the first step in its bid to make English law the bedrock of a future where digital smart contracts and distributed ledger technology are the norm in the global trading of goods.

A pilot enabling domestic abuse victims to take part in hearings by video link from a computer in their solicitor’s office has begun running in Manchester – the fourth started in recent weeks.

Creating an incubator for lawtech start-ups has led to deeper and more rewarding relationships than expected, the law firm that pioneered the format said this week.

The experience of using video-link technology to hold immigration bail hearings shows how far it has to go to be as effective as face-to-face hearings, a researcher has warned.

English law is poised to capitalise on vast numbers of smart legal contracts expected to be created every year, according to Sir Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court.

Government money aimed at accelerating the use of technology to widen access to justice will only go to ideas that directly aid consumers, rather than simply help lawyers do their jobs better, it has emerged.

The biggest civil service trade union has criticised senior judges for becoming too closely involved in the government’s £1bn court modernisation programme.

Bias and inaccuracy render artificial intelligence algorithmic criminal justice tools unsuitable for assessing risk when making decisions on whether to imprison people or release them, according to a report.

A London law firm yesterday launched a programme giving non-law tech start-ups already making money free legal advice for six months, and the prospect of investment funds.

A trial of blockchain involving digital transfer of property ownership has been completed by the Land Registry, but the agency has no plans to adopt the emerging technology itself any time soon.

Artificial intelligence software poses risks to society including tracking and identifying individuals, ‘scoring’ people without their knowledge, and powering lethal autonomous weapons systems.

The courts offer a “Rolls Royce system for the very few, while everyone else is left to walk”, Professor Richard Susskind has said in advocating for online courts.