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A new technological age

05 May 2017 / Chris Chapman
Issue: 7744 / Categories: Features , Technology
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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

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
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After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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