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03 January 2019 / Michael Burne
Issue: 7822 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession
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118 118 for legal?

Directories & NextGen Law: Michael Burne believes big data & AI are close to producing a segmented client selection tool

It’s all changing in the legal sector at the moment and there is a discernible increase in the pace of evolution. It’s driven by new entrants, new tech, changing working patterns and the rise of the individual—whether that be a client, a lawyer or anyone involved in the delivery of legal services. Information is everywhere and nowhere. So, how do clients choose their lawyers? Until recently, the legal services market has offered little help to the buyer. Essentially the options were:

  • directories like Chambers & Partners or Legal 500; or
  • word of mouth recommendations.

Legal services tends to follow other service sectors, so in recent times we have seen attempts to create comparison sites or ratings websites. Some firms have begun to adopt the paid for services of TrustPilot or Feefo to gather client feedback and produce star ratings or scores. None of these is comprehensive or covers the whole of the market.

Some

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NEWS
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament

An Italian financier has lost his bid to block his Australian wife from filing divorce papers in England on the basis it was no longer her domicile of choice

Reforms to the disclosure regime in the business and property courts have not achieved their objectives, lawyers have warned
The Law Society has urged ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the justice system as a whole
Ministers have proposed bringing inquest work under a single fee scheme for legal help and advocacy legal aid work
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