February 2018
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
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The seminar considered the priorities for the legal profession and wider stakeholders in responding to upcoming regulatory and technological shifts in the sector - including changes to consumer demand, automated legal processes and the impact of new entrants to the market.
Key areas of discussion on the day included:
- New regulatory approaches to legal advice - looking at the SRA’s reforms for modernising their regulatory approach, the implications of new separate regulatory codes for solicitors and law firms, the expansion of waivers to ‘special bodies’, and proposals to allow solicitors to practice in unregulated firms;
- Consumer choice in the legal sector - challenges for addressing concerns over unmet demand for legal services and transparency of costs along with ensuring that sufficient protection and information exists for consumers using alternative providers;
- New competitors in the legal services market - the potential impact of unregulated firms and other new entrants - such as accountants offering reserved legal services, and ‘special bodies’ such as charities and not-for-profits - on legal businesses, competition and innovation;
- Responding to technological change - including automated processes and artificial intelligence - changing workforce demands, addressing data protection and cyber-security concerns, and ensuring competitiveness; and
- Emerging priorities for regulating the market - the next steps for improving competition and consumer outcomes.
