The following items have been selected from Delia Venables’ “New” page.

LEAP wins two awards at the British Legal Technology Awards 2018

Leap, a leading provider of legal practice management software for lawyers, has won awards for “Innovation in Legal Services” and “Supplier of the Year” (Small & Medium Enterprise) in the British Legal Technology Awards 2018.

The “Innovation in Legal Services” award recognises how solution providers are driving the future of technology in legal services, and “Supplier of the Year – Small & Medium Enterprise” relates to excellence in legal technology and client-focused services within the SME marketplace.

The annual British Legal Technology Awards acknowledge and reward excellence in Legal Technology and IT Security within the UK and European Legal Sectors. Hosted by Netlaw Media, the 2018 Awards recognise leadership, innovation, and technology as well as the individuals, teams and suppliers transforming the future of legal services. The awards are open to law firms, barristers’ chambers, in-house legal departments and suppliers.

New website on Irish Law, written for non-lawyers.

Irish Legal Guide is a growing encyclopaedia of Irish law created by Paul McMahon of Irish law firm McMahon Legal. The Guide seeks to simplify the law and make it available to the public at large, presenting a concise but comprehensive overview of all areas of Irish law. It is not intended as a substitute for legal advice but it should help users to purchase legal services in a rational and informed way. Irish Legal Guide is a subscription website. Any user can register automatically for a one-week trial, without any credit card or obligation.

Paul McMahon also provides several other (free) websites:

• McMahon Legal Blog, with many articles on Irish legal topics
• Brexit Legal, Brexit, from an Irish point of view, and
• Brexit Legal Issues with more UK specific content (with many legal areas covered).

New professional benchmark for software vendors

Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) has introduced an enhanced code of conduct which all member companies have agreed to adhere to. This code of conduct is a commitment to law firms from LSSA member companies of the high standard of professional excellence they can expect to receive. The code is backed by the Association’s disciplinary procedure. This new benchmark will give law firms confidence that LSSA members will operate to high professional and ethical standards. LSSA Chair Julian Bryan comments: “The LSSA code of conduct ensures that LSSA members treat their customers ethically and with the utmost professionalism.” A key provision is that LSSA members must recognise the right of customers to move between software systems and facilitate such moves with provision of customers’ data in a reasonable timescale and at reasonable cost. The LSSA has been established for 22 years and has now formalised its legal status into a company limited by guarantee.

Important blog on cyberlaw topics

TechnoLlama is a very powerful blog from Dr Andrés Guadamuz, Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Sussex and the editor in chief of the Journal of World Intellectual Property. The blog covers several Cyberlaw topics, with emphasis on open licensing, digital rights, software protection, virtual worlds, and llamas. He says “While the blog tackles these issues in a light-hearted and nonchalant manner, some serious points filter through from time to time”. He also reassures us that “No llamas were harmed during the creation of this blog”.

A new portal for young people wishing to be lawyers

The Lawyers Portal is a newly launched site which provides free guides and events for aspiring lawyers, created by industry professionals in collaboration with leading law firms. The content is written by professional lawyers and education experts, with input from major law firms as well as professional bodies including The Bar Council, The Law Society and The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. The site has information on different routes into the legal profession, different areas of law, and various courses suitable for young people at different stages of their education. The site also describes other sources of online information which can help a young person understand what it is that they are really interested in.

Delia Venables is joint editor of the Newsletter.