In the opening session of Legal Geek’s Uncertain Decade Summit, Mark Cohen, CEO of Legal Mosaic, discussed applying Amazon’s customer experience model to law and reminded us that Amazon’s marketplace is key to its differentiated offering. Tech, artificial intelligence and data are enablers of Amazon’s end-to-end experience, but they are not a substitute for its sharp focus on getting its customers the products they want, when they want and at the right price, he said. He raised the possibility of Amazon or another big tech platform launching a curated marketplace for legal services in the same way that Thomson Reuters and others are offering curated legal tech marketplaces. Richard Susskind highlighted the distinction between automation and innovation: while automation is about applying technology to existing processes, innovation is about developing new services and service delivery methodologies, some of which are made possible by technology.
Jonathan Goldsmith
In among the recent coronavirus deaths in India was that of
Soli Sorabjee, who was twice India’s Attorney General. I knew him when he was involved in the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He participated as counsel in vital constitutional litigation in India over his long career, and held a string of international human rights positions: special rapporteur on human rights in Nigeria, a member of the United Nations Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which he chaired from 1998 to 2004, and a member of the United Nations Sub Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
The SDT ordered that the allegations against the respondent should be dismissed.
The respondent was a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong and was admitted as a solicitor in Singapore. At the material time the respondent was in professional legal practice in Hong Kong. In addition to his professional practice, the respondent was an active participant in Hong Kong politics.
The allegations related to a public meeting held on 17 September 2017 and material made public by the respondent via Facebook between 17 and 19 September 2017. It was alleged that the respondent had made remarks supporting the incitement of violence against political opponents which supported and reinforced comments made by another person, and which breached principle 6 of the SRA Principles 2011.
Lawyers know best: Is it time law firms left the LLP behind?
Recent legislative changes have paved the way for new, alternative structures in law firms, a sector that was previously dominated by traditional partnerships and LLPs – limited liability partnerships.
Alternative business structures (ABSs) – which allow non-lawyers to have a financial stake in a firm – have grown in popularity throughout the 2010s, and for good reason: ABSs can promote entrepreneurship, give lawyers greater control over their working lives, and provide law firms access to more capital, should they need it.
The Legal Services Act 2007 paved the way for ABSs, and from 2012 onwards, they came under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) regulatory remit, further legitimising the model.