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08 March 2018 / Clare Arthurs , Richard Marshall
Issue: 7784 / Categories: Features , Profession
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A practical alphabet

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Clare Arthurs & Richard Marshall share an (almost) A-Z guide to the future of law

 

 

Automation
Using software to perform simple tasks automatically, such as populating a contract using information about the parties etc already entered into a firm’s DMS. Time and effort saving.

Blockchain
An ordered, continuously growing list of time-stamped records (‘blocks’) that update in real time. Extremely secure and hard to edit. The future of how we hold and access information?

Cryptocurrency
Digital money, often protected by Blockchain. Increasingly widely used but still unregulated and somewhat volatile. Some law firms already accept cryptocurrency as payment: will you?

Digitisation
A key part of the government’s £700m reform programme for modernising the court system in the UK. Just nobody mention e-borders. Or Universal Credit. Or the NHS...

E-signatures
High quality e-signatures can help authenticate a signatory, guarantee a document’s integrity, and provide satisfaction as to the origin of the signature.  

Fixed costs
As far as we know, the government is (in its spare time) considering Jackson LJ proposal’s

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Foot Anstey—Jasmine Olomolaiye

Investigations and corporate crime expert joins as partner

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Fieldfisher—Mark Shaw

Veteran funds specialist joins investment funds team

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Taylor Wessing—Stephen Whitfield

Firm enhances competition practice with London partner hire

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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