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22 May 2008 / Adam Coomber
Issue: 7322 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Procedure & practice , Profession
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On the move

Increased mobility brings particular security challenges for the legal profession, says Adam Coomber

Mobile working continues to be a growing trend. Analyst firm Gartner Group has predicted that by 2011, 46.6m employees globally will spend at least one day a week working away from the office, and 112m will work from home at least one day a month. In the UK alone, 3.4m people, ie 12% of the working population, regularly or permanently work from home, according to the latest labour force survey from the Office for National Statistics.

For the legal profession, it's vital that a move towards a more mobile (client-facing and flexible) workforce does not end in competitive disadvantage, where legal professionals' billing ratios drop and the ability to service an optimum number of clients diminishes.

On the plus side, mobile working can increase work time, making legal professionals available 24 hours a day, seven days a week wherever they are. For some firms, enabling client-facing employees to work effectively, while on the move, ensures they are available to clients

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NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
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