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12 September 2025
Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Artificial intelligence
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NLJ this week: AI’s digital associates reshape legal practice

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James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector

With 79% of legal professionals using AI in 2024, firms must embed technology strategically, viewing AI as a ‘digital associate’—trained, monitored, and developed to enhance productivity. Grice explains how regional and boutique firms gain agility by adopting innovative tools, but must anchor each technology in a clear business case and track performance using both quantitative and qualitative metrics. AI’s impact on billing models is profound, with outcome-based fees replacing the traditional billable hour. Grice emphasises the importance of collaboration between lawyers and AI, prioritising tools that automate routine tasks and speed up research.

Issue: 8130 / Categories: Legal News , Artificial intelligence
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NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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