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02 October 2026 / Catherine Cain
Issue: 8179 / Categories: Features , Consumer , Artificial intelligence , Legal services
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Fifty years of righting consumer wrongs

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Catherine Cain, senior solicitor at Which?, on why AI can’t replace the human touch

Fifty years ago, a consumer with a faulty product knew exactly who to go back to: the shopkeeper on the high street, someone they might see again next week anyway. Redress was, more often than not, a face-to-face conversation and a handshake. Today, that same consumer is more likely to have bought the product from a third-party marketplace, shipped from a seller they’ve never heard of, governed by a foreign jurisdiction they weren't aware of, sometimes with only limited recourse under UK law as a result.

Which? Legal was established in 1976 to safeguard consumer interests through specialised, personal support. We recognise that conventional legal representation is frequently prohibitively expensive or daunting for the average person. We often hear that a consumer’s first attempt to get the redress they are legally entitled to was met with a rejection, but once they have then spoken to us, armed with clearer and more detailed knowledge about

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Trowers & Hamlins—Paul Batchelor

Trowers & Hamlins—Paul Batchelor

Trowers Hamlins strengthens Birmingham Office with senior corporate partner hire

Birketts—trainee appointments

Birketts—trainee appointments

Birketts welcomes largest ever Trainee Solicitor cohort for 2026

Sidley—James Sherlock

Sidley—James Sherlock

Sidley Expands Private Equity Practice With James Sherlock in London

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A divorced woman has secured funding to participate in her former husband’s inquest after the Legal Aid Agency reconsidered repeated refusals
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More than 500 former rugby players can pursue brain injury claims despite serious failures to disclose documents ordered by the High Court
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