Technology

Fewer than half of solicitors in Scotland use the three main social media platforms for professional purposes, according to new research. The most popular social network tool was LinkedIn, with 24% of the solicitors polled using it on a daily or weekly basis.

Nearly seven out of ten people are attracted to the idea of finding legal services on the internet and a similar number of younger adults are likely to go to supermarket providers, according to a survey.

The Office of Fair Trading has written to five legal price comparison websites to urge them to ensure they are providing clear information to consumers, after a review suggested that some sites could do more to improve trust amongst the public.

America’s two big online legal document brands, both of which are about to launch in the UK, are set to clash in court after LegalZoom launched proceedings against Rocket Lawyer over claims in its marketing that various services are free.

Quality of legal advice and service still trump cost when clients choose a lawyer, although certainty about price and a firm’s use of technology are increasingly important, according to a major survey of client needs being released at today’s Legal Futures conference.

Law firms should ensure that compliance officers for legal practice are closely involved in information security policies, a study has advised after finding that a majority of firms contacted had already suffered data breaches.

An attempt to ‘crowd fund’ £1.5m for the launch of what is claimed to be the world’s first live online pay-as-you-go legal advice service will begin this week. Quegal will charge users 60p a minute to receive advice from junior solicitors and paralegals.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been fined £120,000 after an in-house solicitor sent highly sensitive information about a child protection case to the wrong e-mail address, rather than the barrister for whom it was intended.

An online NHS Direct for law, supported by 30 law centre-type operations in key areas around the country, should form the basis of a radical new approach to publicly funded legal services, according to a leading legal thinker.

Law firms will have to adopt a more forceful marketing model if they are to survive in the post-alternative business structure (ABS) marketplace, a specialist in growing online businesses has urged.

Consumers are open to using online legal services, so long as they are coupled with professional support, according to new research. A survey of 503 consumers found that over two-thirds were attracted by the idea of performing legal tasks on the Internet.

Rocket Lawyer, the Google-Ventures backed online legal document service, has today launched its On Call programme into the UK, the first step towards the much-anticipated website going live to the public at the end of the year, Legal Futures can report.

What is possibly the first ever automated brief to counsel has been claimed by unique online legal service Road Traffic Representation. Claire Burtwistle, a barrister at Old Bailey Chambers in London, was briefed by the client through the site.

Law firms’ social media policies need to extend to issues such as who owns contacts and content developed by staff members through the use of networks like LinkedIn, while they should also be cautious about searching the social media activity of potential recruits, new guidance has advised.

Many law firms have failed to ensure their websites can be read by mobile devices, while others have produced “horrendous” applications (apps) for smartphones in their rush to be seen at the cutting edge of technology, a report has claimed.