Skype-style legal advice is new option for public

The first Skype-style video conferencing kiosk, which allows users to speak with solicitors and receive legal advice remotely, has been introduced at Queensgate shopping centre in Peterborough. As reported in Legal Futures, the pilot scheme run by Instant Law UK will see two new kiosks introduced this month which, if successful, will pave the way for a network of 120 kiosks in shopping centres across the country - with the hope that consumers will accept the shopping centre service in the same way as cash points and photo booths.

This month will also see the service become available for the public to use at home, utilising a simple software download to allow access to the service on a private computer. The service runs from 9:00am to 8:00pm, Monday to Saturday, with a Sunday service also available to home users. For a fixed fee of £29.99 (a percentage of which goes to Instant Law UK), users can speak to a solicitor regarding a range of practice areas, including family law, personal injury, immigration and employment, with calls taking an average of 15-20 minutes. The legal service provider is a large and well known law firm (though it may not be named at present) which users may instruct with further work if required.

Mike Poore, head of IT communications at Instant Law UK, said that the service would provide an alternative option to going to a high street firm, and afford greater accessibility to the law for the public: "This is a unique opportunity for technology and a traditional market to come together, to truly open access and deliver a quality customer experience."