A UK view of LegalTech from Andrew Haslam

Each year, Andrew Haslam of Allvision writes a comprehensive report of LegalTech through the eyes of UK visitors. I say “visitors” in the plural because Andrew solicits contributions and views from others and splices them together.

This year, it seems, contributions and views were not the only thing he picked up from LegalTech – he returned with a debilitating infection which is only now fading away. That may have affected the timing of this report, but has done nothing to lessen its quality. It can be found here.

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Professor Dominic Regan on why the Jackson Reforms mean the biggest-ever upheaval for UK litigation

I interviewed Professor Dominic Regan last week about pending developments in UK litigation. Dominic Regan is speaking at IQPC’s Information Governance and eDisclosure Summit, which takes place in London between 14 and 16 May, where I will introduce and moderate the session. In this interview, Dominic Regan foreshadows the major changes which he will talk about at the Summit.

Chris Dale: Hello, I’m Chris Dale of the UK-based eDisclosure Information Project, which carries information about electronic disclosure – electronic discovery as every other jurisdiction calls it – between judges and lawyers and clients and suppliers. I have with me Dominic Regan who is a solicitor, writer, broadcaster, and an adviser to Lord Justice Jackson on cost management, and on the Costs Management pilot. He is also a professor at City University, London. He provides litigation training to a number of Government departments and to many law firms throughout the UK, and hosts webinars, writes, and generally spreads the word about case management and other aspects of litigation. Professor Regan is due to speak at IQPC’s annual Information Governance and eDisclosure Summit, which takes place in London between 14th and 16th May. His subject there is 2012 – The Most Significant Year in the History of eDisclosure? Like Richard Susskind’s book title, The End of Lawyers?, this has a question mark at the end of it. From where I sit I think that 2012 will indeed be the year of disclosure.

We have just seen a significant judicial opinion in the US by Judge Peck in the Da Silva Moore case, which gives judicial blessing to the use of advanced technology known as predictive coding. The UK Courts have just penalised a party in costs for its disclosure failures, which will help focus minds on the risks of inadequate disclosure. The Richard Susskind line – that law firms will see their traditional practices whittled away by what he calls disintermediation, as others offer the components of litigation tasks at lower and more certain costs – is something else that solicitors have to look out for. And we have the Cost Management pilot coming out of Birmingham, and other aspects of Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals, which are now heading into law.

Dominic, let’s start with a very broad question about Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms. How important are they?