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02 June 2016 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7701 / Categories: Opinion
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Roger Smith reports on the ongoing legal digital revolution

Two conferences and a new website in May gave ample evidence of the onward march of digital in the law and the courts.

Our masters’ voices

Two of the big beasts of the court reform world were out at the same conference held by the Westminster Legal Policy Forum. Lord Justice Jackson, for once, had to share top billing but continued to thrill his audience with warnings that “fixed recoverable costs for all remaining fast track cases is unfinished business, which needs to be addressed”. He confirmed also that “his eye was moving on to ‘the lower regions of the multi-track”. Pointedly, he asserted that a small business survey advocating fixed costs for business disputes up to £500,000 should be given “some significance”. He also staked out an interest in fixed costs for employers’ liability disease fast track cases, pointing that these had only escaped because of the 2010 election and the intervention of surgery from which he had to recover: “The omission was due to historical accident.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—David Kennedy

DWF—David Kennedy

DWF appoints new major injury and casualty partner in Dublin

Keystone Law—12 appointments

Keystone Law—12 appointments

Keystone Law reinforces full-service offering with 12 partner appointments

Haynes Boone—Linton Bloomberg

Haynes Boone—Linton Bloomberg

Linton Bloomberg joins Haynes Boone's London office, expanding cross-border restructuring capabilities

NEWS
Sole practitioners and small firms are struggling due to the pressure of recruitment issues and excessive regulation, the Law Society has warned
Pressure is mounting for a dedicated UK AI law, but deciding what it should achieve remains the central challenge
Legal professional privilege has checked the SRA’s investigative powers, exposing difficult questions about tackling suspected abusive litigation
Refusing mediation need not trigger a costs penalty, but litigators must justify their position
Group claims, disputed costs and judicial recruitment dominate the latest courtroom round-up
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