header-logo header-logo

19 June 2015 / Mark Surguy , Rob Jones , Tracey Stretton
Issue: 7657 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

Looking ahead

nlj_7657_strettonjpg

2015 and beyond: are lawyers impervious to change? Mark Surguy & Rob Jones share their thoughts with Tracey Stretton

A lawyer speaking recently on the future of law at Harvard with leading business and legal thinkers observed that the legal profession has proved uniquely impervious to change (“At Harvard Law, Talk of Disruptive Innovation”). Will that change? If your whole life is recorded, as is looking increasingly likely, perhaps all you will ever need to resolve a legal dispute is a search tool capable of working across multiple media formats, a screen for looking at the results, and someone with experience helping with your analysis.

Perhaps we are already there. The Irish High Court in the first ruling of its kind in Europe has approved the use of predictive coding (a form of artificial intelligence) in the document disclosure process ( Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Ltd & ors v Quinn & ors [2015] IEHC 175). The judge stated that in the disclosure of large data sets, technology assisted review

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Sidley—Jeremy Trinder

Sidley—Jeremy Trinder

Global finance group strengthened by returning partner in London

Joelson—Jennifer Mansoor

Joelson—Jennifer Mansoor

West End firm strengthens employment and immigration team with partner hire

NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
back-to-top-scroll