Practice Management

Law firms are using the pandemic as “an excuse” for failing to do things and this could lead to questions from their regulator, an accountant specialising in Solicitors Accounts Rules audits has warned.

More than eight in every 10 reviews on Trustpilot award law firms five stars, making them increasingly a “hygiene factor” rather than a differentiator, new research has indicated.

The boss of a Cheshire law firm has said the “constant theme” of recent appraisals is that “people want to come back to the office”, with another saying his firm has reversed plans to downsize its office.

An app for SMEs to diagnose and get guidance on their legal problems has now launched a consumer version that helps users find and book a lawyer, and is integrated with government services.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is set to become the first regulator to introduce a ‘polluter pays’ element to how it recovers the cost of the Legal Ombudsman from those it regulates.

Small law firms increasingly see online legal services providers as their biggest commercial threat, and are becoming more worried about DIY providers too, new research has shown.

An employment lawyer who appeared at tribunals during a time he said he was “pretty constantly bed bound” due to a back injury has had his disability discrimination claim rejected.

A solicitor who sold his stake in the law firm he co-founded to focus on a HR software company set up at the same time has now sold the IT business.

A West Midlands law firm is being sued by a client who claims it failed to tell of a “ridiculous” ground rent that doubles every five years – meaning she will be paying £1m a year in 50 years.

A lawtech start-up has far exceeded its target to raise funding of £120,000 for software that links lawyers who know each other so they can collaborate remotely and compete with large firms.

Almost half of in-house lawyers say their companies are missing automatic contract renewals, with some resorting to Post-it notes or writing on their hands to remind themselves.

Two-thirds of law firms say the increase in digital learning as a result of the pandemic will continue, but a quarter of firms told a survey their lawyers have “no time” for training during the working day.

A former equity partner at Freeths has won a disability discrimination claim over the way the leading midlands law firm treated him after he was diagnosed with mental health problems.

Online legal services provider Rocket Lawyer has received a £161m funding boost to meet growing demand and scale up its cloud-based case management system.

There is a long way to go to unlock the potential of technology to transform legal services and regulators have an important role in this, the chief executive of the Legal Services Board has said.