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11 August 2017
Issue: 7758 / Categories: Legal News
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Time for a new legal personality?

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It could be time for a new legal category of ‘electronic person’ to help the law get to grips with new technology—just as the ‘corporate person’ was created in days gone by. ‘At first glance, it seems far-fetched (as perhaps did 'corporate persons' 400 years ago),’ concede David Kidman, partner at DWF, and Stephen Turner, legal director at DAC Beachcroft, in this week’s NLJ.

However, smart technology, the ‘internet of things’ where devices communicate with each other, and the use of artificial intelligence makes liability difficult to establish. An 'electronic person' would be a simple focal point to sue.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Anthony Collins—William Hallett & Lorna Scully

Anthony Collins—William Hallett & Lorna Scully

Anthony Collins hires two talented legal directors

Switalskis—five appointments

Switalskis—five appointments

Firm expands national abuse compensation team

Mathys & Squire—nine promotions

Mathys & Squire—nine promotions

IP firm announces new partners and senior promotions across UK offices

NEWS
A High Court ruling has sent a jolt through the legal profession after a newly qualified solicitor used an internal AI tool to produce court correspondence containing a fabricated legal citation
A significant data privacy ruling has clarified what counts as valid consent under UK data protection law
Executors may be overlooking billions of pounds in estate assets hidden in forgotten investments and misplaced share certificates
Britain’s booming non-surgical cosmetics market is operating in what some critics describe as a regulatory ‘Wild West’
Family contact disputes are becoming an increasingly prominent feature of Court of Protection litigation
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