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2023: Challenges & risks ahead

27 January 2023 / Frank Maher
Issue: 8010 / Categories: Opinion , Risk management , Legal services , Cyber , Fraud
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Cybercrime crackdown & anti-money laundering action: Frank Maher looks to the year ahead & runs through the key risks for law firms to keep in mind

Many of the common challenges for law firms in 2023 remain similar to those seen in previous years, but two key areas of potential risk—cybercrime and money laundering—are becoming increasingly more significant as we look to the months ahead.

Eyes on cyber

No firm is too small to be targeted: the client data we hold is valuable, and there is an increased risk of ransomware attacks since the invasion of Ukraine. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) reported a reduction in client losses from cybercrime at the COLP & COFA conference in November 2022, but that is not a reason for complacency. Numbers of attacks have increased in the business world generally, and Miller Insurance noted in their Review of the 1 October Renewal Season that there has been a number of payment diversion fraud and invoice manipulation losses. Meanwhile Howden Insurance Brokers’

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
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