Lawyer Monthly Magazine -December 2019 Edition

Environmental Law I think we know where I will be starting for this one: the Paris Agreement. Uproar and disappointment hit the headlines when Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the Agreement earlier this year. The impact it has had so far? Well, not much as it the withdrawal will take final effect in November 2020. In the UK, the government introduced a landmark Bill to Parliament in October, to tackle the biggest environmental priorities of our time, signalling a historic change in the way the environment is protected. The transformative Environment Bill will help ensure that the UK maintains and improves their environmental protections as the UK leaves the EU. As stated on Gov.uk: “Environmental principles will be enshrined in law and measures will be introduced to improve air and water quality, tackle plastic pollution and restore habitats so plants and wildlife can thrive. “Legislation will also create, legally-binding environmental improvement targets. A new independent Office for Environmental Protection will be established to scrutinise environmental policy and law, investigate complaints and take enforcement action against public authorities, if necessary, to uphold our environmental standards. “The office’s powers will cover all climate change legislation and hold the government to account on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. By also championing nature-based solutions, the Bill demonstrates our commitment to tackle climate change.” Will it work? Only time will tell. Global Trade Perhaps the juiciest of them all, global trade, had its fair share of discussions this year. From Brexit to the trade war of the year (US vs. China), international businesses remained on their toes, anxious to know if there is anything imperatively impacting around the corner. Speaking to Bernadette M. Bulacan, Lead Evangelist at Icertis, she notes that 2019 marked the year of global trade disruption and that the greatest legal challenge faced by lawyers, especially those who advise complex, multi- national organisations, was the rise of economic and national populism. ‘A “shrinking” globe and protectionist tendencies-- like higher tariffs and quotas on imports-- have posed a substantial threat to supply chains and business growth; legal teams have had to quickly pivot to provide guidance and advice in these uncertain times and in an ever- changing political landscape.’ Parliaments famous Salmon Act of 1986 states that it’s illegal to hold salmon under suspicious circumstances - If you own any chickens in Quitman, Georgia, it is illegal to let them cross the road - Milan in Italy states that it is a legal requirement to smile at all times except at funerals or hospitals - In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter - In Samoa, it is illegal to forget your wife’s birthday Legal Tech ‘In addition to these global economic challenges’, shares Bernadette, ‘another internal threat facing the legal profession was their inability to flex, be agile and join the digital transformation that is disrupting the rest of their respective organisations.’ Expanding on this, we speak to Matthew Harrington, Senior Partner at insurance and commercial law firm BLM, and we discuss how the race to implement tech accelerated in 2019. ‘Every insurance law firm has had to adapt their practices and ways of working over the last 5-10 years and this year we have seen a real acceleration in law firms investing in innovation, technology and analytics’, says Matthew. ‘In our case, we’ve had a real push to encourage a ‘digital- first’ mindset; embracing what’s now possible through digital so that we can respond faster and deliver on the experiences that our clients expect. This year Matthew’s team introduced a suite of analytics tools in conjunction with the London School of Economics. One of those tools uses AI to consider the strength of evidence on either side of a case to predict the fault in a claim; it supports claims handlers in reaching earlier settlements, using explainable AI to simulate human decision making. With legal tech continuing to develop and transform how the legal sphere coincides with laypersons and citizens, it is vital that those involved in the legal industry adopt such developments to transform how the judicial system works. ‘I would say that in 2019, it’s become increasingly clear to our sector that it’s no longer just about great legal advice - that’s a given. It’s now important to be able to support clients in different ways and to continue making crucial investments. For us, this has meant investing in different IT functions and creating a specialist team to support our digital strategy.’ Notwithstanding talks of innovation and adoption of legal tech in small pockets, the profession as a whole remains The Weirdest Laws that Still Exist: