​I have been under some attack in the comment section of the online version of the Law Society Gazette. By all means read the exchanges in full, especially to those to whom I have responded, and no doubt it will have advanced since I made this post, but this second post by myself sums up my views. "Paul (Bennett), you say "online works only within limited parameters. " Doesn't everything in the law? Currently the most limiting of all parameters, so far as access by the publ

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd , the Lord Chief Justice, gave a speech this week to the Justice Committee at the House of Commons in which he argued for primary legislation to enable the creation of an Online Court in which settlement assistance would be readily available as part of the process and litigants would not be at any disadvantage by not being represented by lawyers. His speech echoes the proposals made last year by myself and my colleagues in the ODR Advisory Group to the

Continuing from my previous post on how increasingly interest is being shown in the potential for ODR in specific types of claims, last week I travelled to Salamanca University in Spain to talk on the role of ODR within collective redress (i.e. group/class actions) claims. Salamanca is a beautiful historic old Roman town with UNESCO World Heritage status some 120 miles west of Madrid. A team of partners led by Professor Lorenzo Bujosa Vadell of Salamanca University are respo

One example of how interest in ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) is beginning to mature is the growing interest in the application of ODR to specific categories of claims. For example, last month, I was asked to give a talk at a conference organised by Action Against Medical Accidents (AVMA - which originally stood for Action for Victims of Medical Accidents but no doubt was changed to remove the negative victim culture reference) on the role of ODR within clinical negligence c

Last week saw the publication of a Report to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
 of the Council of Europe on the question of whether ODR and the increasing use of technology and communications over the Internet for the resolution of disputes may conflict with the public's right to access to justice as enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe is the body responsible for enforcement of the ECHR through the European Co

The 1st October 2015 was quite a momentous day for ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) and ODR (Online Dispute Resolution). Its just a pity very few businesses in the UK knew about it. Very few knew that, when they walked into their offices or opened virtually for their online business, they were now the unpaid marketing agents for Online Dispute Resolution. It was from that day that large numbers of businesses were required to comply with The Alternative Dispute Resoluti

If we listened only to the naysayers of this world, we would still be living without:- The aeroplane - "no chance of it ever becoming a commercial means of transport "- Engineer Magazine The telephone- "it has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication."- Western Union The car - "but this is only a novelty – a fad” -President of Michigan Savings Bank The TV - "People will soon get tired of staring at it"- Darryl Zanuck The light bulb - "When

On the 14th October 2015, Westminster Legal Policy Forum held a seminar on the future of the courts, the second part to which focused on access to justice and the role of technology. Below are some short notes of the proceedings. I have not included all speakers but just some of the comments that I found of particular interest and relevance to the role of technology in a modernised justice system. Professor Richard Susskind, IT Advisor to the Lord Chief Justice and Chair of