Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement this week and controversially scrapped plans to cut £4.4bn of tax credits. His hand was forced after the House of Lords, much to the Conservatives’ dismay, voted against the plans. Despite the U-turn there was still much to talk about during his speech.

Walker Morris explains what changes the Chancellor has made during his joint Autumn Statement and Spending Review. The review had a large focus on the education sector with £23bn set aside for the building of new schools. Plans to build an extra 400,000 affordable homes by the end of the decade have also been announced with £4bn to be paid directly to developers. Click here for more information.

Shoosmiths reports that the number of defamation cases in the UK fell by 27 per cent last year. The drop is a result of the Defamation Act 2013, which has since caused the number of cases to fall to its lowest level since 2008/2009. Despite the drop the number defamation cases involving social media rose. This is due to the ease at which comments can be spread online and found through search engines such as Google. Click here for more information.

Aderant examines the top five IT trends that can affect a law firm’s profit figure. The first of these trends involves alternative fee arrangements. As more clients insist on complex billing structures instead of hourly fees, firms need to make sure they are using the right contract management systems to ensure they are remaining profitable. The other trends include improving data security when employees use their own devices and the ability to integrate IT systems during a merger. Click here for more information.

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