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Who reviews the reviewers?

31 March 2021 / John Gould
Issue: 7927 / Categories: Features , Profession , Legal services , Regulatory
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Comparing the market: John Gould considers the hidden perils of online review sites for the legal profession
  • Despite research suggesting that consumers have little belief in the usefulness and credibility of reviews posted online, seven web platforms have nonetheless been selected for a pilot of review sites, with solicitors encouraged to engage with them.

When it comes to the legal services market, the work of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over the last few years feels like a solution in search of a problem. In 2016, the CMA prodded legal regulators into price transparency rules. This was based on the fanciful notion that consumers would benefit from reading thousands of words on a number of solicitors’ websites describing hypothetical prices, rather than make a few phone calls to get actual quotes.

Although the CMA’s recent review of progress maintains a cheerful tone, the only progress seems to be that the regulators have managed, to some extent, to do what the CMA wanted. The result is that price comparison information

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Birketts—trainee cohort

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Keoghs—four appointments

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Brabners—Ben Lamb

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NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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