Technology

Technology to support remote working, open justice, communication with clients and online will signing are among businesses to received government funding supporting Covid-related innovation.

Video manipulation software, including ‘deepfake’ technology, poses problems for remote courts in verifying evidence and that litigants or witnesses are who they say they are, a report has warned.

Solicitors are generally bullish about the future, despite nearly one in four believing Covid-19 will harm their clients’ prospects and many predicting lower demand for legal services.

The last strict requirement to print and sign a paper document in a property transaction was removed today as HM Land Registry began accepting ‘witnessed electronic signatures’.

Law firms need to have the courage to employ diverse and even abrasive characters who help disrupt the legal sector and ensure it does not fall behind other industries.

Hugely acquisitive IT company the Access Group has blown into the legal market by adding DPS Software to its purchase last month of Eclipse Legal Systems, with more deals to come.

The demands of working under Covid-19 has led to an accelerated culture change at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, with lawyers much more willing to adopt tech solutions rapidly.

Online will-writer Farewill has raised £20m as it targets a major expansion in revenue, staff numbers and new services, including powers of attorney.

An online service that helps divorcing couples draft their own documents and not use lawyers has received a new round of funding to increase the number of people it can help.

Automation in the legal profession will most probably be “a decades-long process” but artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining what it means to be a ‘great’ lawyer.

The ground-breaking DoNotPay chatbot – which describes itself as the world’s first robot lawyer – is to ramp up its UK offering after securing $12m (£9.6m) in backing from Silicon Valley.

Security experts have highlighted email interception as the “weakest link” in firms’ defences against cybercrime in the property market.

A private equity company that last year bought two major volume conveyancing firms has now taken a minority stake in a solicitor-owned legal technology company for £1.5m.

Unregulated providers are leading the way with developing consumer-facing legal technology, showing that the way solicitors are regulated is “not an obstacle to innovation”.

A not-for-profit training institute for in-house lawyers is aiming to transform those often portrayed by other staff as “digital laggards” into digital leaders.