Practice Management

Owners of law firms that closed down in the last 20 years have been warned that they face a difficult task in finding insurance to replace the automatic supplementary run-off cover that ends later this year.

Lawyers need to make consumer-facing legal documents more engaging, and regulators and industry should consider measures to ensure they are intelligible, a report has recommended.

An app linking consumers to lawyers who provide free video consultations has been launched this week after three months of testing with 20 law firms – more than 160 firms have now signed up.

A law firm is deploying artificial intelligence software that will become the first point of contact for all new clients, trained to offer initial legal advice and triage cases.

The extent to which losses caused by cyber attacks are covered by law firms’ professional indemnity insurance policies is to be clarified by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

National law firm Irwin Mitchell has been granted summary judgment in a professional negligence claim because the retainer prevented its former client assigning his cause of action.

Digital onboarding platform Thirdfort has secured £1.5m in its latest fundraising, with further backing from Zoopla entrepreneur Alex Chesterman and London law firm Mishcon de Reya.

Listed law firm Ince has launched a product to help estate agents onboard clients in a way that meets the demands of anti-money laundering regulations.

There is a “growing cluster” of lawtech businesses in the Bristol and Bath area, along with hundreds of lawtech and innovation roles, with the chance to build on this significantly, new research has found.

There was no protection for staff under the TUPE after the sole owner of a law firm was made bankrupt and the practice taken over, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled.