On 31 July, the UK Ministry of Justice published an AI Action Plan for Justice – a landmark strategy to integrate artificial intelligence across the justice system in England and Wales. The plan is designed to deliver “faster, fairer and more accessible justice” while maintaining public trust, protecting human rights, and preserving judicial independence. The…
More legal services offered remotely, but prices continuing to increase in England and Wales
Consumers in England and Wales are increasingly able to access legal services remotely, but prices continue to rise, according to a new report by the Legal Services Board (LSB), published on 17 June 2025. Based on input from over 1,500 providers, the study covers commonly used legal services such as conveyancing, divorce, probate, estate administration,…
Royal stamp of approval for ‘CILEX chartered lawyers’
On 12 May 2025, Law Society Gazette journalist Michael Cross reported that the Privy Council has approved an amendment to the Royal Charter of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), enabling legal professionals to adopt the title “CILEX Chartered Paralegal”. According to CILEX, the change marks the first formal recognition of paralegals as a…
American Bar Association release new survey on legal tech trends
On 3 March 2025, the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center released its 2024 Legal Technology Survey Report, providing a comprehensive analysis of how attorneys in private practice are leveraging technology. Now in its 20th year, the survey remains a leading resource on tech adoption in the legal sector, capturing responses across five categories: online…
Australia and United Kingdom develop legal services regulatory dialogue
A development has been reported by the Law Council of Australia in its statement dated 11 April 2025, welcoming the continued progress of the Australia–United Kingdom Legal Services Regulatory Dialogue, established under the Australia–UK Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA). In its commentary, the Law Council highlighted the importance of this Dialogue in advancing cooperation on legal…
Big Four accounting company gets Arizona approval to operate firm, plans to use AI to transform legal services
The ABA Journal has published an article titled “Big Four accounting company gets Arizona approval to operate firm, plans to use AI to transform legal services” by Debra Cassens Weiss, highlighting a significant development in the U.S. legal industry. KPMG has become the first of the Big Four accounting firms to own a law firm…
IBA study suggests global economic impact of the legal profession at $1.6 trillion
The International Bar Association (IBA) has recently published work that it commissioned from the professional services consultancy McKinsey, which seeks to quantify the social and economic value of the legal profession. This is quantified at $1.6 trillion, or 1.7% of global GDP. The calculation was arrived at by taking into account both direct economic contributions…
Flattening the World of Legal Services? The Ethical and Liability Minefields of Offshoring Legal and Law-Related Services
This article examines offshore outsourcing of legal and law related services as the newest twist in the international market for legal services. We consider the impact of offshore outsourcing on the profession generally and analyse the ethical issues raised by offshore outsourcing, both as it exists today and as the practice may develop in the…
The Scottish Government has released the results of its public consultation process into the outcomes of the 2017 Roberton Review
In 2017, the Scottish Government commissioned an independent Review of the regulation of legal services in Scotland (known as the Robertson Review). The primary recommendation from this was: “There should be a single regulator for all providers of legal services in Scotland. It should be independent of both government and those it regulates. It should…
The Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation has released a supplementary report on consumer harm and legal services
The catalyst for the Review was the market study carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority in 2016. The CMA concluded that the legal sector was not serving the consumer well. This supplementary report fills in some of the gaps left by the final report. Chiefly, the final report assumes the nature of consumer…