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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

NLJ Career Profile: Ken Fowlie, Stowe Family Law

NLJ Career Profile: Ken Fowlie, Stowe Family Law

Ken Fowlie, chairman of Stowe Family Law, reflects on more than 30 years in legal services after ‘falling into law’

Gardner Leader—Michelle Morgan & Catherine Morris

Gardner Leader—Michelle Morgan & Catherine Morris

Regional law firm expands employment team with partner and senior associate hires

Freeths—Carly Harwood & Tom Newton

Freeths—Carly Harwood & Tom Newton

Nottinghamtrusts, estates and tax team welcomes two senior associates

NEWS
Children can claim for ‘lost years’ damages in personal injury cases, the Supreme Court has held in a landmark judgment
The cab-rank rule remains a bulwark of the rule of law, yet lawyers are increasingly judged by their clients’ causes. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, warns that conflating representation with endorsement is a ‘clear and present danger’
Holiday lets may promise easy returns, but restrictive covenants can swiftly scupper plans. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Francis of Serle Court recounts how covenants limiting use to a ‘private dwelling house’ or ‘private residence’ have repeatedly defeated short-term letting schemes
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already embedded in the civil courts, but regulation lags behind practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ben Roe of Baker McKenzie charts a landscape where AI assists with transcription, case management and document handling, yet raises acute concerns over evidence, advocacy and even judgment-writing
The Supreme Court has drawn a firm line under branding creativity in regulated markets. In Dairy UK Ltd v Oatly AB, it ruled that Oatly’s ‘post-milk generation’ trade mark unlawfully deployed a protected dairy designation. In NLJ this week, Asima Rana of DWF explains that the court prioritised ‘regulatory clarity over creative branding choices’, holding that ‘designation’ extends beyond product names to marketing slogans
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