Lawyer Monthly Magazine -December 2019 Edition

largely resistant to the winds (and therefore the benefits) of change. As Bernadette expands, ‘My hope is that 2020 sees more of the profession leaning into change, taking a critical look at archaic processes (like manual, paper-based contracting) and adopting technology to facilitate collaboration and speed. ‘I think that this change of mind-set will not only transform the legal practice, but also break common stereotypes of lawyers who are perceived as not being creative, data-driven or business-minded.’ Insurance Alistair Kinley, Director of Policy & Government Affairs at insurance and commercial law firm BLM, discusses how changes to the discount rate, announced in July, have impacted insurers and the law firms advising them. One of the most significant changes for insurers in the personal injury sphere was the new discount rate set under the Civil Liability Act 2018. The intention of the Act was to bring in more real- world and evidence-based approach to valuing significant future loss claims. ‘The Lord Chancellor announced a new discount rate of -0.25% in July’, explains Alistair. ‘This was something of a disappointment to us and our insurance clients, as in the earlier part of the year we’d been resolving claims at around +0.5% and above so there was a degree of expectation that the new statutory rate would be at that sort of level. The -0.25% rate meant that a number of insurers who had planned on zero % or a modestly positive rate had to strengthen reserves.’ All that said, the setting of the new rate did remove uncertainties in resolving cases and should help to bring claims to a close more quickly. The rate should remain stable until the next review in five years’ time. GDPR You thought we left any mention of GDPR back in 2017, didn’t you? But, even though your inbox may be feeling a little less attacked from all of the GDPR emails your favourite subscribed websites were throwing your way, 2019 was really truly the year of GDPR. Google started the year off with a bang. In January, Alphabet’s leading subsidiary was fined a whopping £44 million by CNIL for a breach of the EU’s data protection rules. It was reported that the regulator said Google had not obtained clear consent to process data because "essential information" was "disseminated across several documents". According to PreciseSecurity analysis , the top ten biggest GDPR fines combined amount to $443.7 million, and the biggest, was awarded earlier this year to British Airways. They were fined £183m over breaching customers’ personal data, including their financial details and sensitive personal information when hackers obtained the data over a two- week period. After Google, British Airways and Marriott International – who comes second place in highest GDPR fine of the year - collectively bring the sum of GDPR’s 2019 fines to (approximately) £ 309 million (USD 400 Million). It is safe to say that the EU is not messing around. Such hefty fines given to influential, international companies further exhibits the importance of businesses taking their Elena Manukyan, Partner at Graham Coffey & Co. Solicitors. “Whilst Brexit has dominated the headlines this year there have been several interesting changes to the law this year: - There’s finally some legislation for drone flying (possibly as a result of airport closures due to drones) from November 2019 it is illegal to fly a drone weighing more than 250g without registering it with the Civil Aviation Authority and passing a safety test. - More police officers can now authorise stop and search probes, likely to be as a direct result of the worrying knife crime rates, an extra 3000 police officers are now able to authorise the use of stop and search powers. - Despite concerns it would lead to the closure of bookies, the Government in October 2019 implemented a maximum stake of £2, reduced from £100. This controversial change has been praised by many including ex- gambling addicts, their families and local MPs.” customers’ personal data -and their trust- very seriously. What’s to Come? But where there have been changes, there are still lots to be done that perhaps 2020 will see. We speak to Sarah Colley who is a senior supervising solicitor at Wilson Solicitors and Children’s Panel member, on what didn't change and what 2020 should really address. “There have been little changes to family and children law in 2019. Expected changes, such as the introduction of ‘no-fault’ divorce and amendments to the law surrounding domestic abuse, have not come to fruition due to the upcoming general election. Unfortunately, although these bills were going through parliament, they have now lapsed and require re- introduction in a Queen’s Speech with the process starting again from scratch." She explains how both bills are vital to the development of family law, the avoidance or reduction of conflict, and the protection of the most vulnerable people in our society. The Domestic Abuse Bill will bring about a prohibition of the cross-examination of domestic abuse victims by their abuser, and the proposed ‘no fault’ divorce bill will avoid the blame game currently in place in our divorce system and assist in focusing the parties on other more important issues such as the children. "It is therefore disappointing to note that despite how important both bills are, although the three major parties (Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrats) have all stated in their manifestos that they will re-introduce the Domestic Abuse Bill, only two (Labour and Liberal Democrats) have committed to re-introducing the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill.” *All references can be found at www.lawyer-monthly.com