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05 May 2017 / Chris Chapman
Issue: 7744 / Categories: Features , Technology
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A new technological age

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Chris Chapman reviews the role of technology in shaping legal practice today & tomorrow

With technology developing at such a rapid pace, it is difficult to predict how it might shape the law and the role of practitioners in years to come. On the one hand we are sitting on the brink of an artificial intelligence (AI) and automation revolution that will take us into a new technological age in ways that will have huge implications for society at large, while on the other regulators are placing increased scrutiny on the regulatory and privacy risks caused by advances in technology. How this push and pull will play out is unknown but there is no doubt that technological advancements discussed below are already changing how law is practised and regulated and the nature of wrongdoing itself.

Criminally-efficient algorithms

What sounds like science-fiction is actually becoming science fact; computer programs committing crimes by inadvertently forming so-called digital price-fixing cartels.

Companies working in the travel, retail and hospitality industry have long relied on automated pricing systems to

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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