All Features articles
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FeatureSkeleton arguments
With 4,500 attendees from 65 countries, Legal Geek’s annual conference was bigger than ever. But its focus has shifted.
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FeatureOffshore: Island mentality
Offshore jurisdictions are promoting themselves to companies and private clients on service, transparency and regulation – their ‘low/no tax’ regimes are no longer enough. Eduardo Reyes reports.
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FeatureBlack history month: First-class citizens
The Race Relations Act 1965 ducked key issues but stands as a seismic legislative moment, paving the way for the more comprehensive laws that followed. On its diamond anniversary, Eduardo Reyes considers the act’s legacy.
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FeatureEastern promise: GenAI hits Singapore
International firms, AI pioneers and nine UK lawtechs assembled at TechLaw.Fest to hear about the profound changes wrought on the profession.
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FeatureChain reaction
One in three conveyancers has said they plan to quit this troubled practice area. Would new technology and reform of the legal process convince them to stay? Maria Shahid reports
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FeatureFear and posing
Immigration and asylum solicitors are working in their own ‘hostile environment’. Mainstream politicians should know better than to echo dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric.
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FeatureRival lobbies clash on SEND rights
Months of meetings and reports on SEN and disabilities have done little to reassure affected families that children’s rights will not be diluted.
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FeatureLocal heroes
The pressures on local government lawyers are unprecedented. Their response has been to ramp up their building networks and skill sets, and support reorganisation.
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FeatureTaking the moral high ground
Law firm Fletchers Group is seeking to enhance the image of the much-maligned claimant PI sector. The firm highlights the socio-economic impact of its work, saving the government millions while securing access to justice.
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FeatureDisputes and the EU: Patching it up
Lawyers have profited from assisting clients who need Brexit ‘workarounds’, especially when it comes to disputes. But, as Katharine Freeland reports, the professional inconvenience for lawyers is taking its toll.
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FeatureLife of PII
Negligence claims are rising, but most firms are currently enjoying favourable indemnity premiums in what is a notoriously volatile insurance market. Maria Shahid finds out why – and how long such benign conditions are expected to last.
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FeatureOne Bar, bar none?
Barristers are busier than ever, reports Catherine Baksi. But with huge disparities in the rewards on offer and practitioners reporting increasingly divergent experiences, the profession is polarising.
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FeatureFinding the middle way
Although promoting alternative dispute resolution is not a new development in family court hearings, it was given added impetus in April last year.
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FeatureThin blue line
Duty solicitors are a staple of every modern detective drama. But with numbers plummeting, their attendance is becoming less dependable in real‑life police stations. Catherine Baksi reports.
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FeatureAgentic AI: team player
Legal AI has progressed to an essential productivity tool that can take on specific roles within a legal team – should human lawyers be worried?
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FeatureMental health and the law: Coping strategies
Mental health statistics show a deepening crisis in our workplaces, manifested in employment claims. Can existing laws keep up? And what of the legal profession’s own record? Catherine Baksi reports.
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FeatureBest laid plans
The prime minister says the country needs to ‘build, baby, build’ to alleviate the housing crisis. But as planning lawyers tell Maria Shahid, there are daunting obstacles standing in the way of his ambitious targets.
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FeatureLaw firm M&As: Getting together
Mergers and acquisitions are reshaping the legal sector, particularly in the mid-market. Joanna Goodman finds out why – and how best to go about getting into bed with another firm.
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FeatureSEND reform, legal rights and Whitehall's weasel words
The ‘parents of disabled children’ club was one I didn’t want to join, and yet was shattered to leave with the death of my daughter in February. Re-engaging with these issues at this time, I find extremely difficult.
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ProfileSarah Sackman KC MP: 'Access to justice is a form of empowerment'
With Sir Brian Leveson’s review of the Crown courts imminent, justice minister Sarah Sackman proposes a ‘bold modernisation initiative’ to reduce the backlog in cases. And in the civil sphere, she tells Michael Cross that technology can ‘democratise access to justice’.