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30 September 2016 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7716 / Categories: Opinion , Legal services , Profession
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Take note

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The MoJ could learn some lessons from Canada & the US when considering the future of legal services, says Roger Smith

WiredJustice was the title of a conference held in September just north of Toronto by Legal Aid Ontario for the Canadian Association of Legal Aid Plans. Transforming our Justice System is the title of a paper recently issued by our Ministry of Justice. Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States covers what you would expect and is a product of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on the Future of Legal Services published in August. Together, these three publications indicate a step up in the pace of change in relation to technology and the law around the world.

WiredJustice

The WiredJustice conference had two particularly interesting features. The first was its form. It is the first conference at which I have spoken where virtual contributors outnumbered those physically present. Since the venue was a particularly pleasant resort hotel on a lake, this was a bit of a shame for

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NEWS
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
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