Abstract This article builds on the many calls for teaching business acumen and transactional skills in law school with a timely insight: the shift to remote legal education creates opportunities to do so, in particular by incorporating practice problems and mini-simulations in doctrinal courses. Weaving together the literature on emerging best practices in online legal…
RegTech and Predictive Lawmaking: Closing the RegLag between Prospective Regulated Activity and Regulation
Abstract Regulation chronically suffers significant delay starting at the detectable initiation of a “regulable activity” and culminating at effective regulatory response. Regulator reaction is impeded by various impediments: (i) confusion in optimal level, form and choice of regulatory agency, (ii) political resistance to creating new regulatory agencies, (iii) lack of statutory authorization to address particular…
Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales Report on Better Information in the Legal Services Market
A new study commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, has found a number of positive trends in public attitudes towards price transparency in legal services. The report was commissioned by the SRA to look into the impact of the rules, which have now been in place for a year. The rules included a requirement for…
Law Society of British Columbia to Widen Access to Legal Services
On September the 10th the Law Society of British Columbia elected to make changes suggested by a task force on modernisation established this January. The task force cited ongoing changes in the legal market, which have been accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the pace of change in other jurisdictions, as to…
Law Society of Saskatchewan Makes COVID-19 Rule Changes Permanent
The Law Society of Saskatechewan has announced that the Government of Saskatchewan has repealed emergency regulations surrounding remote execution and witnessing of documents electronically and replaced them with permanent rule changes, which will extend beyond the period of public emergency. The rule changes come about in the light of the increased efficiency and lower cost…
Arizona to Allow Non-Lawyer Ownership
The Arizona Supreme Court has approved rule changes allowing for non-lawyer ownership of law firms in the state. The rule change comes in the wake of the two-year sandbox announced in Utah, however, the Arizona courts went one step further, opting to make the changes permanent. The recommendations for the rule change were first proposed…
Law Society of Singapore Releases First Report on Gender Diversity in the Profession
The Law Society of Singapore has announced the release of “Levelling the Playing Field”, its first-ever report into gender diversity and inclusion in the Singapore legal profession. The data for the report has been gathered over the course of the past two years and examines the experience of female practitioners across the profession, The data…
Structuring Techlaw
Abstract Technological breakthroughs challenge core legal assumptions and generate regulatory debates. Practitioners and scholars usually tackle these questions by examining the impacts of a particular technology within conventional legal subjects — say, by considering how drones should be regulated under privacy law, property law, or the law of armed conflict. While individually useful, these siloed analyses mask the repetitive…
Lawyer Regulation in Kiribati
Abstract The Kiribati legal profession developed slowly from 1980 to 1997 and grew rapidly following the establishment of the University of the South Pacific (USP) School of Law. The legal profession in Kiribati may be described as a nascent or proto-profession. While it demonstrates some features of a profession, such as maintaining a monopoly over specialised knowledge and being…
The Place of Non-Advocate Lawyers in Legal Practice in Kenya
Abstract This study observes that Kenya has for a while witnessed an incessant surge in the number of unqualified legal practitioners. The study attributed the same to non-advocate lawyers masquerading as competent advocates. In assessing this, the study determines what legal practice entails and whether rendering legal advice constitutes legal practice. The study then outlines the significance of the jealously monopolistic regulation of the legal profession by…