Jul 09, 2019
Written By Tuula Petersen
AllAboutLaw Blog: what's new in the legal sphere this week?
Jul 09, 2019
Written By Tuula Petersen
Welcome to the first ever edition of AllAboutLaw’s weekly blog! This week, we briefly look at Human Rights law in relation to LGBT+ rights, as well as various current affairs related to tenancy and artificial intelligence.
To mark the start of Pride month, we touch on how the rights of the LGBT+ community have evolved since the Stonewall uprising in 1969. Over the past 50 years, we have generally witnessed a move towards greater inclusivity, but there are still obstacles to overcome.
Further stories covered in this blog include the implementation of the Tenant Fees Act and the gradual use of artificial intelligence within law firms.
Finally, the main industry news of the week revolves around the merger of Steel & Shamash and Edwards & Duthie.
Pride and the flux in LGBT+ rights
Pride 2019 marks the 50 years since the uprising at Stonewall, in which members of the LGBT+ community protested against a series of police raids in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of Manhattan. The Stonewall uprising ignited what has become the annual Pride celebrations.
Communities across the world will be celebrating the advances in LGBT+ rights, but the Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin emphasised the continuing challenges to universal acceptance and global equality: “We must pass the Equality Act, defeat the forces of hate in the White House and around the world, and uplift and protect transgender people, LGBTQ youth, queer communities of colour and our community’s most marginalised.”
Donald Trump, perhaps surprisingly, became the first Republican president to recognise the Pride celebrations and “the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made”. But his comment comes a week after his administration revealed a proposal to revoke nondiscrimination protections for transgender people under the Affordable Health Care Act.
In addition, Taiwan recently made headlines by becoming the the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, but it’s yet to grant same-sex couples full adoption rights. Further, in Taiwan—as in many other countries—overcoming social prejudice and stigma remain important hurdles in reaching equality for the LGBT+ community.
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“Bubbles where the like-minded reinforce their prejudices are dangerous for open societies, which depend upon the clash of ideas. We need to provide a forum in which those clashes occur productively to advance human knowledge” - Minouche Shafik, Director of LSE.
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Firm news
Simmons & Simmons strengthens its real estate practice with the arrival of a new partner, Elisa Bocianowska, in order to increase firm visibility in the French real estate market.
Withers has appointed partner Justine Markovitz as its chairperson. She is the second female partner to occupy Withers’ chairperson position.
Steel & Shamash and Edwards & Duthie have merged to create one of the largest high-street firms in London and Essex.
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Tenancy Rights: law changes will ban unnecessary fees
The Tenant Fees Act came into force last weekend, supposedly making the housing market fairer for everyone. As of June 1, tenancy deposits are capped and landlords and agents are banned from charging unnecessary fees. The new act will contribute to helping renters across England save an estimated £240 million a year.
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The increasing use of AI within the legal sphere
Artificial intelligence may no longer be reserved solely for the wealthiest legal firms and departments. Due to the growing use of AI in legal tech platforms, the technology is becoming cheaper to use as a result of cloud computing. Smaller firms use AI to identity the relevant regulations with accuracy, as well as forming a model and a security compliance recommendation for customers.
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Recommended reading
1. A Legal Access Challenge has been launched to encourage innovation and easy access to legal support, as reported by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
2. The International Criminal Court(ICC) has called for prosecution of EU Member States over migrant deaths, as reported by Owen Bowcott in The Guardian.
3. British members of the EU’s court of justice are facing uncertainty about their future in the light of Brexit, Joshua Rozenberg writes in the Law Society Gazette.
4. The Law Society’s LGBT+ Lawyers Division Committee discusses the personal and professional significance of Pride in a special podcast.
5. Finally, in our own Legal Spotlight section, Sophie Nevrkla writes on domestic violence in the UK.
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