Surrey Lawyer April 2021

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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SURREY LAW SOCIETY

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SPRING 2021

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SLS LEGAL AWARDS 2021 ■ Spotlight on Stamp Duty ■ The Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid

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PUBLISHER Benham Publishing Aintree Building, Aintree Way, Aintree Business Park, Liverpool L9 5AQ Tel: 0151 236 4141 Fax: 0151 236 0440 Email: admin@benhampublishing.com Web: www.benhampublishing.com ACCOUNTS DIRECTOR Joanne Casey

Contents 14

05 President’s Jottings 08 Training & Events

SALES DIRECTOR Karen Hall STUDIO MANAGER Lee Finney MEDIA No. 1799

10 SLS Legal Awards

PUBLISHED Spring 2021 © The Surrey Law Society Benham Publishing Ltd.

12 Local News

LEGAL NOTICE © Benham Publishing.

None of the editorial or photographs may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. Benham Publishing would like to point out that all editorial comment and articles are the responsibility of the originators and may or may not reflect the opinions of Benham Publishing. No responsibility can be accepted for any inaccuracies that may occur, correct at time of going to press. Benham Publishing cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in web or email links supplied to us.

DISCLAIMER The Surrey Law Society welcomes all persons eligible for membership regardless of sex, race, religion, age or sexual orientation.

All views expressed in this publication are the views of the individual writers and not the society unless specifically stated to be otherwise. All statements as to the law are for discussion between members and should not be relied upon as an accurate statement of the law, are of a general nature and do not constitute advice in any particular case or circumstance.

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14 Reports 17 Landmark Planning: A clearer view of future plans

18 Supporting Surrey 21

21 Spotlight on Stamp Duty

24 The Independent

Review of Criminal Legal Aid

Members of the public should not seek to rely on anything published in this magazine in court but seek qualified Legal Advice.

27 No two the same 28 How Access Legal

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16 June 2021 (Summer 2021) 24 Sept 2021 (Autumn 2021) Advertising Anyone wishing to advertise in Surrey Lawyer please contact Catherine McCarthy before the copy deadline. 0151 236 4141 catherine@benhampublishing.com Editorial Anyone wishing to submit editorial for publication in The Surrey Lawyer please contact Helen Opie before the copy deadline. 0333 577 3830 helen.opie@surreylawsociety.org.uk

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29 Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

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2021

FRKEETES

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INTRODUCTION

President’s Jottings SPRING 2021

Nick Ball, President

A

s we start to ease our way out of the third national lockdown and with the COVID-19 vaccination programme well underway, these are my final jottings as President of SLS in what has been a year or so in lockdown.

When I took office around 17 months ago, I had plans in place for a great term and had some key focus areas for the Society, including: ■ ensuring we support our members with learning and development by providing a top class training and development programme; ■ building on the SLS Legal Awards evening and providing a social programme that enables members to network with colleagues and peers, but also other professionals; and ■ strengthening relationships with sponsors, supporters and Surrey Junior Lawyers Division (formerly Young Surrey Lawyers).

It is fair to say that things got off to a flyer with regard to strengthening relationships with our valued supporters, who became Patrons of the Society for the first time and, on the social front, we were set to have record numbers at the Legal Brain of Surrey Quiz in March 2020. A sell-out in fact, which hasn’t happened for many a year and it is such a shame that it could not take place.

However, the vast majority of my time as President has been spent in national lockdown or a variation thereof and that put an end to any big plans and scuppered any chances of being able to achieve all the goals set.

Being President of this great Society is a demanding job at the best of times, but with a backdrop of a global pandemic and the resulting economic impact and disruption to all of our lives, it has been very challenging to say the least. There hasn’t been a book to read to find out what to do when and looking back to prior years was not always helpful either, because we had entered a world that was very different to the one we knew before. It has been a difficult time for the profession as a whole.

to our members. When I think back to those first few weeks and months of the first national lockdown, chairing (or some may say, trying to chair) webinars from my spare room at home and praying that my son did not burst in for his five minutes of fame on Zoom or my internet connection did not drop out, I do so with pride because not many local law societies were able to do what Surrey did.

There were other positives to come out of the crisis too. The Supporting Surrey initiative, working more closely with Surrey Junior Lawyers Division, to support careers when many faced uncertain times was well received and so too were the online forums, which connected people practising in the same area of law to discuss issues being faced during the pandemic. I hope to see these forums grow in future because they are a very useful addition to the SLS programme and my thanks to all of you who took part in them.

Meeting with other local law societies more frequently online to share ideas and experiences and to feedback to Chancery Lane was also worthwhile. It was good to build on those networks up and down the country and to support one another.

At the end of the day, supporting one another has been how we have got through the last year or so. I have been grateful for your support and that of the SLS Committee and our CEO, Helen Opie. I must also thank Mumtaz Hussain, who stepped in for me when I was unable to chair webinars during the first lockdown and who is now the President of SLS. I am sure that she will do a sterling job and I wish her all the very best as she takes the Society forward. ■ With my very best wishes,

Nick Ball President

We had to start again with our plans and we had to do it quickly. I’m proud that the SLS was able to do so by moving to a virtual world, providing training and development courses and other resources to help you navigate the lockdowns and the pandemic, the vast majority of which were complimentary SURREYLAWYER | 5

OFFICERS

KEY OFFICERS President MUMTAZ HUSSAIN M: 07983 488 351 mumtaz1uk@gmail.com Vice President MADELEINE BERESFORD TWM Solicitors LLP 65 Woodbridge Road, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4RD Tel: 01483 752742 Email: madeleine.gooding@TWMSolicitors.com Hon. Secretary KIERAN BOWE Russell-Cooke Solicitors Bishops Palace House, Kingston Bridge, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 1QN DX 31546 Kingston upon Thames Tel: 020 8541 2041 Fax: 020 8541 2009 Email: kieran.bowe@russell-cooke.co.uk Hon. Treasurer VICTORIA CLARKE Watson Thomas Solicitors 16 Haydon Place, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4LL Tel: 01483 320114 Email: vclarke@watson-thomas.co.uk COMMITTEE MEMBERS NICK BALL (Immediate Past President) TWM Solicitors LLP 65 Woodbridge Road, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4RD Tel: 01483 752700 Email: Nick.Ball@twmsolicitors.com VICTORIA CLARKE Watson Thomas Solicitors 16 Haydon Place, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 4LL Tel: 01483 320114 Email: vclarke@watson-thomas.co.uk

KAREN GRIMM Morrisons Solicitors Prospero, 73 London Road, Redhill RH1 1LQ Tel: 01276 401 689 Email: karen.grimm@morrlaw.com CLAUDENE HOWELL Pearson Hards Solicitors Fountain House, 2 Kingston Road, New Malden, Surrey KT3 3LR Tel: 020 8949 9500 Email: Chowell@pearsonhards.co.uk MARALYN HUTCHINSON Kagan Moss & Co 22 The Causeway, Teddington TW11 0HF Tel: 020 8977 6633 Fax: 020 8977 0183 Email: maralyn.hutchinson@kaganmoss.co.uk GERARD SANDERS Hart Brown Resolution House, Riverview, Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, GU1 4UX DX 2403 Guildford 1 Tel: 01483 887704 Fax: 01483 887758 Email: gts@hartbrown.co.uk JAMES SCOZZI Elite Law Solicitors 1 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1BR DX: 14 London Chancery Lane Tel: 020 3440 5506 Fax: 01923 219416 Email: jscozzi@elitelawsolicitors.co.uk LAW SOCIETY COUNCIL MEMBERS SUSHILA ABRAHAM S Abraham Solicitors 290A Ewell Road, Surbiton KT6 7AQ Tel: 020 8390 0044 Email: office@sabrahamsolicitors.co.uk ALASTAIR LOGAN Pound House, Skiff Lane, Wisborough Green, West Sussex RH14 DAG Email: alastairdwlogan@btinternet.com

Membership details Annual Subscriptions: £98 per person, per year Corporate Subscriptions: £1,850 per year (20+ fee earners) Solicitor: £60 (not in private practice) Solicitor: £35 (not practising) Honorary Membership: Free Associate Membership: Free – no voting rights 6 | SURREYLAWYER

Chief Executive & Magazine Editor HELEN OPIE Surrey Law Society c/o Russell-Cooke Solicitors, Bishop’s Palace House, Kingston Bridge, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT1 1QN Web: www.surreylawsociety.org.uk Tel: 0333 577 3830 Email: helen.opie@surreylawsociety.org.uk SUB-COMMITTEES CONVEYANCING & LAND LAW Maralyn Hutchinson STRATEGIC PLANNING & FINANCE Kieran Bowe Nick Ball Victoria Clarke Madeleine Beresford James Scozzi SOCIAL James Scozzi Gerard Sanders Victoria Clarke Nick Ball SURREY JUNIOR LAWYERS DIVISION Yasmin Curry (Chair) Kate Lewis Adele Edwards Martin Whitehorn Alexandra Milson Sonay Erten Asta Asaka Tilly Greenstreet-Carter Daniel Crate Sapphira Gold Tabitha Lee Victoria Batstone Chantelle de Filippis Beth Duffy Joshua Day Email: surreyjuniorlawyersdivision@gmail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ young-surrey-lawyers Instagram: jld_surrey Twitter: @YSL_Live / @SurreyJLD

To apply for membership please contact: Helen Opie, Chief Executive Surrey Law Society c/o Russell-Cook Solicitors Bishop’s Palace House, Kingston Bridge, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT1 1QN Web: www.surreylawsociety.org.uk Email: helen.opie@surreylawsociety.org.uk Tel: 0333 577 3830

INTRODUCTION

CEO Report APRIL 2021 Helen Opie

S

pring is now upon us and as the weather warms up and lockdown restrictions ease, we are feeling optimistic about what the rest of 2021 has to offer.

Moving away from events, the Society is thrilled to welcome a number of new patrons, who have partnered with us since the last issue. They are:

It has certainly been a more challenging start to the year than we had hoped for, but we have been pleased to continue our online programme of training with a number of excellent webinars, courses, and online forums. We were also delighted to welcome our new president, Mumtaz Hussain, at the recently reconvened AGM, who I am thrilled to be working with moving forward. I would also like to say thank you to Nick for all that he has done in his extended presidential term. The pandemic has thrown all manner of challenges at the organisation and it has been a pleasure to work through these with Nick, who has committed so much time and energy to ensuring that the Society remains of value to members during these difficult times.

■ L andmark Information: a leading supplier of legal products and data to support the UK’s property professionals.

■ Chadwick Nott: a boutique legal recruitment consultancy established in 1992 with offices across the UK. ■ Conscious: a specialist agency providing design, websites, and marketing for law firms.

■ Pro Drive IT: expert providers of cyber security strategies and IT support based in Guildford.

Moving forward, we are continuing with our Training & Events programme for the year, which offers a hybrid schedule of online and in-person content and can be viewed overleaf. The Government roadmap out of lockdown currently states that some events, with limits on capacity, can resume from 17th May, with events of any size being permissible from the 21st June. As such the Society is delighted to confirm that we will be resuming our face-to-face activities from 24th June, commencing with our Past President’s Championship Cup at Daytona, Sandown. This event is a great opportunity to get together with your colleagues for some healthy competition and much needed team building, as well as offering fantastic networking opportunities with your peers. The entire event is held outside, and the venue has excellent COVID-safe procedures in place, so if there is a slight delay in the easing of Government restrictions, we should still be safe to go proceed. You can however book with complete confidence that if it is deemed unsafe to go ahead, your booking will automatically be transferred to a date when it is safe to proceed or refunded in full in the event of total cancellation.

We would be thrilled if you could join us for this fantastic occasion, which will be made all the more the special by the fact it will be the first event we have had held since our conferences in February 2020.

The Society is also resuming its in-person training courses from 30th June as well as progressing plans for our Annual SLS Legal Awards, which are now confirmed to take place on Thursday 16th September 2021. Nominations are open for the Awards and I would like to sincerely encourage as many members as possible to review the 10 categories, which can be viewed later in the magazine. We are extremely keen to showcase the amazing work that you have been doing during these extraordinary times and have the opportunity to celebrate this and the achievement of colleagues and peers in September.

The nomination process is surprisingly simple and should not take up too much of your time; this year we have prepared nomination forms for each category, so you can download the relevant one and complete everything that’s needed from there.

There is no limit to the number of nominations that you can submit, so please do consider making submissions for yourself, your firm, or your colleagues.

They join our existing partners, HFS Milbourne, Access Legal (formerly DPS Software), Finders International, Moneypenny and LawSure Insurance. We look forward to working with all our partners over the year and thank them for their continued support.

Lastly, I would like to welcome Claudene Howell from Pearson Hards Solicitors, who has recently joined the SLS Committee.

We are always thrilled to welcome new members to the group and look forward to working with Claudene, particularly on our initiatives for Family Lawyers. If you are interested in joining the Surrey Law Society Committee, please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

All that remains, is for me to wish you a very pleasant Easter and I do hope to see you soon at one of our events or courses, it will be lovely to catch up with you all in person at last! ■ Very best wishes,

Helen Opie

Chief Executive & Magazine Editor T. 0333 5773830 E. helen.opie@surreylawsociety.org.uk @SurreyLawSoc @surreylawsociety

Helen Opie (Chief Executive at Surrey Law Society) LinkedIn SLS Group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8731473

SURREYLAWYER | 7

EVENTS

SLS Training & Events Programme 2021 APRIL 2021

JUNE 2021

22/04 | 11am-12pm | Webinar | Property RESIDENTIAL SDLT – AN ESSENTIAL UPDATE Ian Quayle, iq legal training Sponsored by Landmark

10/06 | 12.30-1.30pm | Webinar | People & Comm Skills SUPPORTING SURREY: PEOPLE & COMMUNICATION SKILLS: PUBLIC SPEAKING & PRESENTING SKILLS – TOP TIPS TO CONQUER YOUR NERVES Jayne Constantinis, Trainer, Speaker, Presenter, Voice-over Artist Sponsored by Conscious

27/04 | 11am-12pm | Webinar | PI/ClinNeg THE CIVIL LIABILITY ACT & WHIPLASH REFORMS Rachel Baker and Matthew Withers, 1 Crown Office Row 28/04 | 2-5pm | Course (held online) | PC LARKE V NUGUS REQUESTS & CONTESTED ESTATES – KEEPING YOUR WILL FILE OUT OF COURT Richard Land, Partner, Owen White and Catlin LLP Sponsored by HFS Milbourne MAY 2021 11/05 | 2-5pm | Course | Property RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCING UPDATE 2021 David Keighley, David Keighley Training Sponsored by Landmark 19/05 | 11am-12pm | Webinar | Compliance FOCUS ON PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: THE BIGGEST CYBERSECURITY THREATS TO LAW FIRMS Rob May, ramsac Sponsored by Moneypenny 26/05 | 3-5pm | Online Course | Family INTERVENOR’S CLAIMS IN FINANCIAL REMEDY PROCEEDINGS – AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR FAMILY LAWYERS Greg Williams, Coram Chambers Sponsored by HFS Milbourne

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24/06 | 6pm | Social PAST PRESIDENT’S CHAMPIONSHIP CUP 30/06 | 2-5pm | Course | PC ASSESSING CAPACITY AND UNDUE INFLUENCE IN A DIGITAL WORLD Holly Chantler, Morrisons Solicitors Sponsored by HFS Milbourne JULY 2021 01/07 | 11am-12pm | Webinar | Management FOCUS ON PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: PI INSURANCE RENEWALS – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW? Speaker to be confirmed 07/07 | 2-5pm | Course | Compliance THE ROLE OF THE COMPLIANCE OFFICER FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION (COFA) Peter Warner, Warner Consulting Sponsored by Moneypenny SEPTEMBER 2021 08/09 | 4-5pm | Forum | PC ONLINE FORUM FOR PRIVATE CLIENT PRACTITIONERS

EVENTS

16/09 | 6.30pm | Awards SLS LEGAL AWARDS 2021

NOVEMBER 2021

30/09 | 3-5pm | Online Course | Property LAND REGISTRATION ISSUES FOR RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCERS Ian Quayle, iq training ltd

02/11 | 12.30-1.30pm | Webinar | People & Comm Skills SUPPORTING SURREY: PEOPLE & COMMUNICATION SKILLS: SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP AND DELEGATION SKILLS FOR LAWYERS Speaker TBC

OCTOBER 2021

04/11 | 4-5pm | Forum | Property ONLINE FORUM FOR CONVEYANCERS

06/10 | 2-5pm | Course | PC PROPERTY AND VALUATION ISSUES FOR PRIVATE CLIENT PRACTITIONERS Professor Lesley King Sponsored by Chadwick Nott 13/10 | 2-5pm | Course | Property LEASEHOLD DWELLINGS UPDATE 2021 Richard Snape, Davitt Jones Bould Sponsored by LawSure Insurance

17/11 | 12.30-5pm | Conference | Management MANAGING PARTNERS DAY

20/10 | 11am-12pm | Webinar | Management FOCUS ON PRACTICE MANAGEMENT: AML UPDATE ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE FOR FEE EARNERS David Gilmore, DG Legal Sponsored by Chadwick Nott 21/10 | 6.30pm | Social LEGAL BRAIN OF SURREY QUIZ

10/11 | 2-5pm | Course | PC TAX PLANNING AFTER THE 2021 BUDGET – ANTICIPATING CGT & IHT CHANGES; CONSIDERING THE IMPACT ON WILLS, VARIATIONS OF ESTATES/ TRUSTS, AND LIFETIME GIVING John Bunker, Irwin Mitchell Sponsored by HFS Milbourne

DECEMBER 2021 02/12 | 11am-12pm | Webinar | Management REVIEW OF THE YEAR & CREATING YOUR STRATEGY FOR 2022 Speaker TBC 02/12 | 6.30pm | Social AGM & PRESIDENT’S DINNER

London Legal Support Trust – Why We Walk

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ondon Legal Support Trust (LLST) are organising a series of fundraising walks this summer and autumn in London and the South East, to raise much needed income for specialist free legal advice services that are at breaking point due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

LLST raises funds through events and other activities to support legal advice agencies that provide vital support to vulnerable people in the region. Issues that people face on a daily basis include homelessness, poverty, trafficking, disability discrimination and more. Legal advice centres help support these people and without additional funding, these services cannot exist.

How can Surrey legal professionals get involved?

Register a team to walk at the Guildford Legal Walk! On Wednesday 30 June, the sponsored walk is taking place to raise vital funds to support free legal advice charities in Surrey. This 10km route will take walkers through the beautiful countryside and will be led by judges from Guildford’s County Courts.

South West London Law Centres is one of the agencies supported by the walk, and has been extending its services into Surrey.

They have developed a partnership with Citizens Advice Guildford and Surrey law firms to provide pro bono services as well as the direct services of the Law Centre.

Face to face pro bono has turned virtual during the pandemic, but the agencies intend to restart physical pro bono surgeries as soon as possible.

Patrick Marples, Chief Executive of South West London Law Centres, has stated how important these funds will be, “The funds raised by the walk will be essential as we begin to rebuild free legal advice for those most in need in Surrey.”

Starting at 17.30, walkers will meet at Guildford County Court. It is a 10km ‘circular’ walk mostly through the countryside. What better way to get out in the fresh air, stretch your legs alongside colleagues and peers, and raise such desperately needed funds?

For more details and to register visit https://rebrand.ly/GuildfordLW21 or email the Events Team signups@llst.org.uk. ■ SURREYLAWYER | 9

EVENTS

SLS LEGAL AWARDS 2021

Thursday 16th September 2021, The Mandolay Hotel, Guildford

– Award Categories & Criteria – NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

and member firms and individuals are invited to make submissions in one of the following 10 categories.

The nomination process couldn’t be simpler, visit www.surreylawsociety.org.uk/events/152, click on the category you would like to enter, and download the nomination form to assist you in preparing your submission. Once you’ve completed the entry, use the handy criteria checklist at the end of the document to ensure you’ve covered everything and submit this with any supporting documentation you wish to send to helen.opie@surreylawsociety.org.uk.

1. Private Client Lawyer of the Year The judges will accept nominations based on one outstanding matter worked on during the last year or on the overall performance of the individual during that year. The nominee must be able to demonstrate that he/she has delivered exceptional client outcomes. Please explain the single greatest achievement of the past 12 months in one or more of the following: client service, innovation or exceptional client outcome/s.

2. Property Lawyer of the Year

3. Law Firm of the Year

We will accept entries from both commercial and residential property Lawyers and landlord and tenant specialists. The nominee must be able to demonstrate that he/she has delivered exceptional client outcomes. Please explain the single greatest achievement of the past 12 months in one or more of the following: client service, innovation or exceptional client outcome/s.

The firm must be able to show significant progress and development as a business within the last 12 months. Evidence of this can include details of growth, strategy, financial performance, employee development, training and diversity. The firm must also be able to demonstrate that it has a rounded approach to the delivery of legal services, and that it is working in the best interest of not only its clients but the profession overall.

4. Rising Star of the Year

5. Paralegal of the Year

The nominee needs to show a sizeable level of involvement within the profession and/or the area in which they practice and provide evidence of any significant obstacle/s they have overcome.

Evidence in relation to how and why the nominee has “risen” over the past 12 months is advised.

This award recognises the key role paralegals play in our justice system. The nominee will be an exceptional individual who consistently makes contributions to the legal profession whether in client care, business development, training or otherwise and who acts as an inspiration to other paralegals through their knowledge of the law, perseverance in cases, professional and personal development and superior skill set. The nominee must also demonstrate a commitment to continuing legal education.

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EVENTS

The Society is delighted to launch the 2021 Awards programme, which will culminate in our usual celebrations at The Mandolay Hotel, Guildford on Thursday 16th September 2021.

Nominations are open for the 2021 Awards and we would encourage all members to make submissions in the categories listed here. If you

6. Support Team Member of the Year This year we are welcoming nominations from colleagues or clients for secretaries, cashiers and other support team members who support Surrey Law Society members. Nominees must demonstrate a special contribution to their organisation or to specific clients, showing dedication and commitment that goes ‘the extra mile’.

had submitted a nomination for the 2020 awards, we will automatically transfer your entry to the 2021 programme, however, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like the opportunity to update these.

The deadline for nominations is Friday 23rd April 2021.

7. Lawyer of the Year The nominee must be a Lawyer who goes “above and beyond” in both his/ her colleagues’ eyes as well as those of the clients. This might be demonstrable in a specific case or work done in relation to a particular area of Law. The nominee may also have proposed and put in place a business solution that proved beneficial to the firm overall or to his/her client, or both. The nominee should also be able to show strong management and leadership skills.

8. Family Lawyer of the Year

9. Litigation Lawyer of the Year

The nominee must demonstrate excellence within the field of family law through their practice. The nominee must also show that they have provided an outstanding quality of legal service for their clients and demonstrated teamwork within their firm, with external lawyers and/or other professionals.

The judges will accept nominations based on one outstanding matter worked on during the last year or on the overall performance of the individual during that year from those who practice in any area of litigation on either the Claimant and/or Defendant side. The nominee must be able to demonstrate that he/she has delivered exceptional client outcomes. Please explain the single greatest achievement of the past 12 months in one or more of the following: client service, innovation or exceptional client outcome/s.

10. Commercial / Corporate Lawyer of the Year

Could it be you?

The nominee must be able to demonstrate that he/ she has delivered exceptional client outcomes.

Please explain the single greatest achievement of the past 12 months in one or more of the following: client service, innovation or exceptional client outcome/s. Nominees will be accepted from Lawyers working in corporate finance, private equity, banking, insolvency, Intellectual Property and other commercial disciplines.

Do you have what it takes to be our Lawyer or Law Firm of the Year? Will your firm, one of your colleagues or even you be one of our Award Winners?

GO TO SURREYLAWSOCIETY.ORG.UK FOR MORE INFORMATION

SURREYLAWYER | 11

LOCAL NEWS

DMH Stallard confirms merger with divorce specialists Brookman Solicitors

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eading South East law firm DMH Stallard has announced its merger with family law firm Brookman Solicitors.

With immense experience and expertise in all aspects of family law, Brookman Solicitors is regarded as one of London’s leading specialists in divorce, advising clients from the UK and internationally.

Richard Pollins, Managing Partner of DMH Stallard, said: “Twelve months ago our plans for growth were temporarily paused while we dealt with the impact of the pandemic and we implemented new ways of working in response to the new normal.

“It is therefore satisfying to announce this important milestone in our broader growth plans at the start of Richard Pollins 2021. I hope this will be the first of a number of mergers in London and the region for the firm over the next few years as we continue our expansion strategy.

“Brookman Solicitors is particularly well known and highly regarded for exemplary work in the area of divorce, and their joining will undoubtedly strengthen our family law practice in London.”

Henry Brookman founded Brookman Solicitors in 2000. He said: “Our merger with DMH Stallard is good news for clients of both our firms. It gives our clients access to a deep pool of expertise across a whole range of legal services, as well as better geographical access.

“It significantly enhances the service that our combined firm will be providing.”

The merger is expected to complete on 1 May 2021.

DMH Stallard’s merger with Brookman Solicitors will be their fourth in recent years. The firm merged with Rawlison Butler in 2017, and both AWB Partnership and Ross & Craig Solicitors in 2015. ■

Gemma Artus

Harriet Donovan

Stowe Family Law new appointments enable firm’s Surrey team to help more clients

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towe Family Law has expanded its legal team in Surrey to support an increase in the number and complexity of new enquiries the firm is seeing due to the pandemic.

Recently appointed Senior Solicitor Gemma Artus joined the firm in February, bringing seven years of family law experience working in London. She is joined by Solicitor Harriet Donovan, whose experience spans seven years - exclusively in family law.

The appointments will further strengthen the Stowe team in Surrey. With offices based in Esher and Guildford, Gemma Artus and Harriet Donovan will work closely with colleagues to support a growing number of clients across the region.

Joining from Burgess Mee Family Law, Gemma Artus supports clients on all types of family law work, including divorce and dissolution of civil partnerships and unmarried couples. She regularly advises on nuptial agreements and has extensive experience in children disputes.

Harriet Donovan joins Stowe from Simpson Millar LLP and has a wealth of experience in a broad range of issues, including divorce, financial settlements and child arrangements. She specialises in supporting clients in challenging cases involving allegations of domestic abuse and safeguarding issues.

Emma Newman, the Managing Partner of Stowe in Esher and Guildford, said: “As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we have seen a sharp rise in enquiries. Recruiting Gemma and Harriet allows us to maintain the highest support levels for our clients throughout the pandemic and beyond.

With their arrival, we are now a six-strong team working across the Surrey area, and I am delighted to welcome them both to the firm. Their combined experience in family law and knowledge will complement our existing offering to clients.”

Emma continues: “As part of the country’s largest specialist family law firm, we can offer people in the Surrey area access to an unrivalled nationwide network of knowledge and experience on their doorstep.” ■

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LOCAL NEWS

Student activities continue and thrive online at the University of Law

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he University of Law at Guildford opened for teaching in the new normal in September 2020. Classes were carefully sized for 1 metre spacing, face coverings were worn and scheduling was strategically organised to keep staff and students safe. Those who needed to shield or to isolate were able to continue their learning through online classrooms with our usual excellent quality tutors. However, we were not going to compromise the full educational experience and so staff had to be inventive about how to continue with the extra curricular events offered to students.

This year the annual Chris Andrews memorial interviewing competition (sponsored by The Surrey Law Society) between The University of Law, Royal Holloway and The University of Surrey, took place on the morning of Saturday 28th November by Zoom. Melanie Williams (pictured) prepared the University of Law team for the competition and acted as one of the judges this year.

Students underwent a series of individual and then joint Zoom interviewing ‘auditions’ before being selected to represent The University of Law (Guildford). The subject matter of the two role plays this year were theft and defamation. This was revealed just five days prior to the competition so competitors had their work cut out. All competitor teams performed well and they should be congratulated not only for their participation but for their patience and willingness to undertake the competition online. In the end the marks were very close but Royal Holloway took 1st and 2nd place. The University of Law team were awarded a welldeserved 3rd place.

In the week commencing 9th November, Max Wilson, Katherine Wagg (pictured) and Helen Carter heard seven virtual moots in the first round of the Guildford Campus mooting competition.

28 students battled to take 12 places in the 2nd round. They argued the appeal of a criminal case involving some rather tricky facts and law. You can imagine that this was very challenging for MA Law and GDL students who have only been studying law for two months. The students were brilliant at dealing with the problem and they managed to make good submissions as well as mastering their use of the collaborate classroom.

The second round was in February and judged by Andrew Austin, Luke Trim and Sarah Moon who are all barristers from Guildford Chambers. The students had to navigate the academically challenging problem of pure economic loss in a

negligence case. We are extremely grateful for the support of practising barristers as the students learn so much from having a different judge and feedback each time. For the final it is hoped that a presiding Judge will attend.

Max Wilson (pictured) supported a GDL team that entered themselves into the prestigious Essex Court Mooting Competition, a national mooting competition run by Essex Court Chambers. We are pleased to announce that our Mooting Team has made it through to the third round of the competition. The first round concerned a defamation problem and the second round consisted of a complex contractual problem. The team has done an impressive job to get this far, especially considering they are GDL students who have only really just started their legal journeys.

At a different end of the learning process, our newest learners in the first year of LLB have been invited to try mooting for the first time. Helen Carter (pictured) who is Programme and Student Lead for Undergraduates at the Guildford campus, gave basic training before the moots. A third year student who hopes to join our BPC next year, kindly stepped forward to mentor the 12 students and give advice. This resulted in some very well presented submissions. We are so proud to have prospective barristers across all academic cohorts who are continuing to successfully train in advocacy in the collaborate classroom.

Our third student activity is negotiating. Heather Greenwood (pictured) ran two separate sessions in March for the GDL and MA students with 20 students taking part altogether. The students really enjoyed learning about the process and structure of a negotiation and learning from one another’s negotiating styles.

The fictious issue to be settled was a litigation matter. There had been a breach of the implied term of a contract for supply of services relating to reasonable care and skill, and reliance on an exemption clause. Proceedings had been issued and the students were tasked with reaching a settlement, because neither client really wanted to go court. All students had sight of the common documents which included the Particulars of Claim, an extract from the Defence and an expert's report, plus their own secret information (revealing fault on their client's part).

In each activity group, the Claimants and Defendants prepared together, then were split into teams of two for the negotiation itself. Nearly everyone settled on surprisingly similar sums, but one group were definitely off to court! ■ SURREYLAWYER | 13

REPORT

The Law Society Report M

any organisations within the legal profession already have commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and recognise the importance of integrating it into their business. The moral case for EDI, alongside the legal requirements of the Equality Act 2010, may be sufficiently compelling for some, but a clear understanding of the value diversity and inclusion can bring is more likely to lead to EDI becoming a strategic priority, embedded into organisational practices and culture.

Over the last few months, The Law Society has produced a number of reports and toolkits to assist our members achieve their ambitions for EDI. Race for inclusion: the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic solicitors – December 2020 During 2020 we undertook research to understand the experiences of Black and ethnic minority solicitors at different points in their careers.

Key findings of the report: ■ Many organisations are doing work around workforce diversity, but change is coming too slowly or not at all in many areas, and more needs to be done ■ Focusing just on overall representation in the profession can be misleading, and a more nuanced perspective is needed looking at the experiences of different ethnic groups, across different parts of the profession. Not all groups are faring equally well ■ There are specific barriers to entry to the profession for some Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups including a lack of role models and connections in the profession ■ The culture of law firms, particularly larger city firms, is not felt to be inclusive ■ Almost all participants in the research had experienced some level of microaggression based on their ethnicity, including comments about their name or about their presumed culture.

It is considered difficult to raise the topic of racism and racial disparities in the workplace ■ Black, Asian and ethnic minority solicitors report lower levels of workplace wellbeing compared to White solicitors. The feeling of having no voice has led many to struggle with their mental health, paying for counselling or taking a break from the profession ■ Retention rates for Black, Asian and ethnic minority solicitors are lower in larger City firms than for their White peers, with many leaving to join smaller firms, or parts of the legal sector that are seen as being more inclusive, such as in-house legal departments ■ Black, Asian and minority ethnic solicitors see slower career development up to and including partner status, again impacting on retention rates, and there is a significant ethnicity pay gap ■ Representation at partner level is poor, particularly in the larger City firms. This has not improved significantly over the years, despite improvements in representation at junior levels While some progress has been achieved in improving racial diversity, there is still a long way to go to build a profession that is truly, and equally, diverse. We have produced toolkit (www. lawsociety.org.uk/topics/hr-and-people-management/ promoting-race-inclusivity-in-the-workplace-a-toolkit-forfirms) to assist our members in getting started in this area.

14 | SURREYLAWYER

Practical toolkit for women in law On International Women’s Day, we published a new toolkit (https://tlsprdsitecore.azureedge.net/-/media/files/topics/ research/practical-toolkit-for-women-in-law-12-march-2021. pdf?rev=2a0e3aa45f0b4f6c9e815798959ce1d4&has =EE0BE55FE384033B9450EB2EBB9563BC) with Bates Wells that shows there's still much further to go to achieve gender equality for women lawyers globally.

The report follows our June 2019 report (www.lawsociety.org. uk/topics/research/international-women-in-law-report) on gender equality, and: ■ reinforces the findings of the 2019 report that there are still considerable challenges for women’s progression in the legal profession ■ suggests a series of activities that can help strengthen the work of organisations to support women in the law The toolkit gives practical advice on how to set up new gender equality initiatives, including: ■ making a modest start ■ drawing from the experiences of other women’s groups or chapters within bar associations ■ using free resources ■ finding champions ■ thinking long term International Women’s Day 2021 – Podcast As part of our programme of events to mark International Women’s Day, Law Society Chief Executive Paul Tennant spoke to our Vice President I. Stephanie Boyce and Managing Director at Thomson Reuters, Lucinda Case, about gender equality in the legal profession.

On the podcast (www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/womenlawyers/international-womens-day-2021) they discuss: ■ whether unconscious bias is still one of the most pervasive barriers to gender equality in the legal profession ■ the positive steps being taken by firms and organisations to tackle this ■ what more needs to be done in order to retain the best female talent at senior levels ■ the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women in the law ■ what other male champions for change can do to remove the barriers to gender equality in the legal profession ■ why those in leadership roles need to be proactive in advocating for change.

The above are just a few examples of the resources we have made available to assist our members in meeting either EDI commitments. If you have not done so already, please sign up for a My LawSociety account where you can register your interest in areas of our work to ensure you receive the latest news, advice, practice notes and jobs relevant to your professional interests. ■

Bhavni Fowler

Key Account Manager The Law Society

REPORT

Council Member’s Report Alastair Logan

F

or Surrey, perhaps the most important event since the last issue has been the decision taken at the AGM, which resulted in the Council Members for the county being reduced from 2 to 1. This despite the fact that there are more solicitors in Surrey than there are in the whole of Wales which carries four seats. Secondly, the AGM decided that there was a limit on the time that members could serve on Council of 12 years which will result in a significant number of existing Council Members having to retire at the end of their terms.

This will inevitably cause a loss of corporate memory with many Council Members having played significant roles in the work of the Society over many years; the Executive cannot be expected to retain corporate memory. It is also worth reminding ourselves that only 6.08 % of the membership voted. On the plus side perhaps the younger members of the profession, whose votes secured these changes, will put themselves forward as Council Members.

Meanwhile the Office holders, the Executive and staff of the Law Society have continued to provide the profession with full and timely guidance and advice in relation to the pandemic and the regulations that have been promulgated and the many changes that this brought. The work that they have achieved, whilst continuing to do the normal work of the Society, is astonishing and we owe them a great debt of gratitude. A great debt of gratitude is also owed to the Committee and Chief Executive Officer of the Surrey Law Society for the work that they have done for and on behalf of Surrey lawyers during this period despite the turmoil to their practices and the difficulties of managing a practice whilst in lockdown.

The Law Society has produced or is drafting submissions in relation to a number of important issues. One was the Spending Review, an opportunity to reverse the trends of recent years and make sure that people in England and Wales are able to count on the highest quality of service from our justice system, while unlocking the power of the legal services sector to drive the recovery from COVID-19. Another responded to the HMCTS investment of £1 billion in its seven-year reform programme to modernise the courts and tribunals system and digitise services. A modernised court service would benefit all users, but this must not come at the expense of justice. The Society is engaging with HMCTS to ensure Members and their

clients’ needs are considered as well as helping Members to understand and adapt to the changes and advocating for resources and changes that promote and ensure best practice for member safety in court and tribunal buildings. The Society is campaigning for legal aid to be reintroduced for early legal advice, particularly in family and housing law and raising awareness of the negative impact caused by reductions in legal aid funding on all areas particularly the provision of advice and representation in criminal law. The Society’s submissions on the current ‘Respect for the rule of law and its principles’ is vital in safeguarding the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession, and in establishing a reliable and credible judicial system. And looking outwards, the Society’s International Rule of Law programmes are designed to respond to the needs of members and requests for assistance by law societies, lawyers, foreign bars and judges.

Consultation responses have been submitted on issues as diverse as The Independent Review of Administrative Law, Tax treatment of AHCs, weddings, the LSB’s Business Plan, the HMLR consultation on digital identity, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s consultation on a new model for shared ownership, the draft RICS guidance on valuation of multi-storey, multi-occupancy residential buildings with cladding, Hate Crime, LeO’s business plan, communications offences, Women and Equalities Committee inquiry on impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s protected characteristics, the National Data Strategy and the proposed Economic Crime Levy for funding new government action to tackle money laundering. These were all in the last 6 months.

As the independent professional body for solicitors, the Law Society is the voice of solicitors, driving excellence in the profession and safeguarding the rule of law. I urge you to maximise your membership by signing up, if you have not already done so, to My LS which gives you access to the latest news, events, books and resources to help you excel and be informed about the issues that are important to you in your practice.

Finally, a reminder that Sushila and I are always willing to help you in any way we can. ■

SURREYLAWYER | 15

REPORT

Surrey Junior Lawyers Division Report

S

tarting out in the legal profession never goes how you expected it to. You picture that you will graduate from your LLB or GDL, then obtain a training contract or pupillage almost immediately. You will readily secure the funds needed for your postgraduate degree and qualify as a lawyer into a practice area that appeals to you.

For most of us this is not always the case. Quite often, when we do finally obtain our first legal role, it isn’t always the right one.

That is why Surrey JLD is so important to me.

Surrey JLD brings together aspiring and junior lawyers in and around Surrey to provide opportunities, build connections and have fun. By organising educational and social events, we aim to make the journey into and through the profession that little bit less rough for our members.

My own experience of trying to enter the law was draining and it wasn’t until I joined the firm I’m at today that I felt hopeful about my future and increasingly certain about progressing through a profession that had seemed firmly closed off to me. Similarly, I have not met a single local JLD committee member who didn’t want to use their experiences to make that path easier for others. The legal profession benefits when the best people access it, regardless of connections or background, and we’re here to help.

On 11 February we and the JLD for Berks, Bucks and Oxon (JLD BB&O) ran a “How to Succeed as a Trainee” panel event with The University of Law. Trainee solicitors Sonay Erten, Adele Edwards, Jonny Farrell and Dinah Liu spoke about their experiences, from the use of non-legal work experience to obtain a training contract to the networking skills they have developed so they can not only be excellent lawyers but also win work.

16 | SURREYLAWYER

I was pleased to organise a lunchtime Surrey JLD on Tour chat with Birmingham Solicitors’ Group to discuss the challenges our groups are facing and what we are doing to overcome them.

Soon afterwards we enjoyed our second mixer with Herts JLD, JLD BB&O and Northants & Bucks JLD, but the highlight of February had to be our Speed Networking event on the 18th, organised by Kate Lewis and Adele Edwards.

While I continue to run my networking #CocoaWithTheCommittee and at the time of writing am looking forward to the 20th Cocoa tomorrow, it was such a joy to see so many of our members together, from both Surrey and beyond. I was delighted to see connections forming that evening and ecstatic when one attendee said Surrey JLD was the most active and welcoming junior lawyers group she had come across.

I should also mention that in January we took part in the JLD 30 Day Challenge, the #SurreyNotSurrey team walking and running a total of 708 miles over those days, helping to raise over £8,600 for Refuge with walkers across England, Wales and overseas.

Like the Junior Lawyers Division, membership with us is free. Our members currently include LPC and BPC students and graduates, paralegals, chartered legal executives, conveyancers, trainee solicitors, solicitor apprentices, solicitors of up to 5 years’ PQE, pupil barristers and junior barristers of up to 5 years’ practice. Still not sure if you’re a member? Just ask; chances are we’d love to have you.

All you have to do to keep up to date with our events is send an email asking to be added to our mailing list to: surreyjuniorlawyersdivision@gmail.com. ■

ARTICLE

Landmark Planning: A clearer view of future plans H

ere at Landmark Information, we have provided planning application insights and data for residential property conveyancing for many years. I recall the now legendary Bird & Bird transaction case, in which the conclusion found that ‘Changes to the surrounding environment, brought about through development are an important factor in protecting a client’s investment pre-acquisition’.

Of course, a preference or indifference to planning proposals in its various forms is very much a personal view. Property Lawyers and Conveyancers may err on the side of caution following guidance, preferring to simply understand the proposed purchase property and to rely on the seller’s information. Homebuyers, however, have a right to understand any impact, positive or negative, that a nearby development may have before they commit to a purchase.

It is important to be aware of any potential changes within the surrounding area that would affect the use, enjoyment or even value of a property from planning and building regulation decisions. But how do you make the extent of a development application clearly understood?

As part of Landmark’s ever-evolving data and technology provision, we have recently merged our Plansearch reports into a newly enhanced Landmark Planning.

Uniquely, the report displays data on the majority of the UK’s large planning applications, such as a new housing estate, as polygons (boundaries). This means both conveyancer and client will benefit from a visually clearer, more realistic view and understanding of the extent or potential impact of larger planning applications, rather than relying on a list, single mapped point, or buffer to work it out.

The report not only delivers details of planning applications from extensions to large developments but also provides information on what future uses of land are being proposed for the surrounding area, alongside the Local Authority policies and constraints. It also includes key neighbourhood information such as: ■ Housing ■ Demographics ■ Schools ■ Local amenities ■ Rights of way To help both property Conveyancer and client, all the data within the report is supported by easy-to-understand guidance and next steps.

Determining what is important to the home buyer with regards to planning can be difficult and can lead to large amounts of time being spent on reviewing data which is not of interest or concern to the home buyer. Large volumes of data can also lead to the homebuyer missing important information about their purchase.

Landmark’s gold standard all-in-one enviro-report RiskView Residential removes this pain for the legal Conveyancer and home buyer by presenting planning applications, including the large sites as polygons and constraints through its advanced, simple to use, dynamic online viewer. The viewer includes a date filter which allows the homebuyer to reduce the amount of data presented and helps to provide focus on what really matters to them. In some cases, reducing hundreds of applications down to just three or four.

The RiskView viewer includes (where possible) a clickable weblink for each recent planning application. The homebuyer can then look further into the application via the authority planning portal. Together, RiskView’s unique time-saving features help the property professional add value to their homebuying client whilst reducing time spent dealing with planning related enquiries.

The Government is still committed to 300,000 new homes per year even during these unprecedented times. The Prime Minister’s 'Build, Build, Build’ speech in July last year was followed by a series of new laws that came into effect on 1 September 2020. The aim is to deliver new homes and revitalise town centres across England alongside a permanent extension to the existing permitted development rights.

In the current climate, who can guess the impact of these laws?

To what extent will they change the places we live, or want to live?

Whatever the future holds, surely the best outcome for Conveyancers and homebuyers is a more transparent transaction, which provides the insights needed for informed decisions.

Selecting the Landmark Planning report or RiskView Residential demonstrates good due diligence in taking all practicable steps to reasonably identify information that the client would want to know. www.landmark.co.uk. ■

Allie Parsons

Customer Success Consultant Landmark Information (Legal)

SURREYLAWYER | 17

ARTICLE

Raising Your Online Profile – Networking & Business Development in a Virtual World

I

n the Winter issue, we reported on our ‘Supporting Surrey: Careers’ initiative, which the Surrey Law Society ran in collaboration with Surrey Junior Lawyers Division.

The project comprised a series of guidance, clinics, and webinars, all designed to support members of both organisations with their career progression. Having reported on the first 2 webinars in the last edition, we are now delighted to share the content from Robert Hanna’s fantastic session on raising your online profile.

Robert is the Founder and CEO of legal recruitment firm KC & Partners. He is also the host of the world leading ‘Legally Speaking’ podcast, which airs in over 1,300 cities and sits in the Top 3% of all podcasts globally.

Robert Hanna Why is it important as an aspiring and current practising legal professional to have a personal brand online?

I get asked this question a lot as legal recruiter and content creator. The simple answer is by being YOU. Everyone has a story to share, and this is good for business.

There is only one of you on this planet, by showing your authenticity gives you a point of difference. You are a complete and total original, you do not need to invent anything new to start sharing your personal brand and there is absolutely no competition to being you.

Why is this important as you move through your legal journey?

Well, imagine you wish to switch legal jobs or decide to launch a law firm or even a legal tech start up one day. You will never start from zero as you can always leverage your personal brand.

A personal brand stays with you throughout your career, it becomes its own entity, so it is best to start sharing your story early on. The key to raising an online profile is to build a loyal community.

Having an online brand helps drive discussions, knowledge sharing, offers thought leadership, encourages networking with likeminded people and in time this will lead to new business opportunities for you.

Like it or loath it, we live in a content fuelled virtual world. This gives an increased importance to the concept of the O-Shaped Lawyer. Future and modern-day legal professionals should choose to embrace this concept which stands for the following:

18 | SURREYLAWYER

■ OPEN ■ OPPORTUNISTIC ■ ORIGINAL ■ OWNERSHIP How does being an O-Shaped Lawyer relate to raising your profile?

Well, the more traditionally recognised T-Shaped Lawyer only has deep legal expertise (represented by the vertical bar of the T) and a solid grounding in another subject (represented by the horizontal bar of the T). However, this concept with “both breadth & depth” has been around for years and misses the "human” aspects, which make for a more rounded individual as well as a good legal mind. Skills like empathy, influencing, networking, communication, and collaboration do not have prominence in that crossbar. O-Shaped Lawyers must be humans first then lawyers after.

‘Acronym to help you raise your online profile’ I would recommend remembering this when raising an online profile: Authentic Brave Consistent (ABC) ■ Authentic – the importance of being you. Sharing your emotions, and all your highs and lows helps demonstrate your authenticity and builds trust within your community. This will help with business development down the line as people tend to do business with those whom they like and trust.

■ Brave – dare to be different to stand out. Embrace getting comfortable being uncomfortable and avoid the naysayers. If you are anxious about posting or sharing something online, then most of the time that is you being your true self so you should share that in some capacity with your community.

■ Consistency – Rome was not built in a day and nor is a brand online. The key is just starting! Through continually pouring value into your online networks, these will grow over time. This will result in you becoming at the top of mind leading for when people require legal services through the strong reputation you have formed.

Social media has been part of our everyday working and professional lives for many years now. So, I would encourage future and current practising legal professionals to take advantage of the many FREE resources available to you.

Platforms such as Clubhouse, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube can help supercharge your personal brand and increase your visibility.

Why is visibility important?

Well, visibility begets visibility. This is a key factor to success when it comes to business development and networking and will benefit your legal career right from the start. There is a simple formula to remember:

SOFTWARE

■ Visibility = Leads (e.g., prospect clients) ■ Leads = Conversations ■ Conversations = Revenue ■ Consistent Visibility = Long Term Relationships & Trust (e.g., loyal community) You should update your profiles to ensure you are continually selling yourself and the solutions you offer. Having outdated profiles is like sending a draft contract with the wrong names and dates on and we all know this leaves a bad first impression.

There is a simple formula for profile headlines on social media profiles which is: I help X to solve Y through doing Z. The more you embrace and contribute to platforms, the larger your network grows and in turn your brand will grow globally!

The best way to do this is by sharing valuable content. Some simple ways to get started are by sharing weekly newsletters & insights, starting a blog, storytelling and producing podcasts.

You can also engage with other people’s content and posts online through showing your expertise. This will help you get noticed and bring other people’s followers and supporters into your community.

Whilst building your community you must remember to keep in line with your “Topic of Influence”. A Topic of Influence is the 1 2 words that people will be searching for online as they have a particular “pain” and wish to head to a “solution”.

For example, my Topic of Influence is “Legal Careers”. Hence, I am writing this article as many of the readers will at some point have a “pain” related to this topic. By offering value to my community, increasing my visibility I will (hopefully) be top of mind for when people search for a “solution” related to their Legal Career.

As the great expression goes, if you want to go fast go alone if you want to go far go together. So, another great way to raise your profile online is through collaboration. Collaborating with key people who have loyal followings within your target markets will help your brand grow. Some initial ways to do this could be featuring on relevant podcasts, writing a featured article, offering mentoring services, joining societies, co-hosting online events.

Remember to always keep in mind that the activities you do online always link back to your Topic of Influence.

In summary be YOU. Having a brand is no longer a luxury but an essential – especially due to the role social media plays in our daily lives. Your network is your networth. Bring people into your community and continuously develop it over time. Be the human not just the lawyer. If people cannot see or hear about or get to know you, regardless of whether you are the best (future) legal professional in the world, this will not help you get more clients or build up your brand. The best community builders engage and add value to their followers. GOOD LUCK! #BuildYourCommunity. ■

Robert Hanna

Founder and CEO KC & Partners

LEAP strengthen business intelligence and CRM capabilities

L

EAP, the leading practice management software provider, is delighted to announce a new partnership with business solution specialist Red Rain, creator of the RedView suite of products.

Seamlessly integrated with LEAP, RedView provides law firms with a range of capabilities that enhance and supplement their day-to-day operations, assisting them to grow their business while allowing them to make informed and strategic decisions across the practice.

There are three elements to the RedView integration that will benefit LEAP clients: Powerful CRM RedView CRM centralises and automates new business enquiries, seamlessly integrating with a law firm’s website to pull enquiries directly into the system for optimising follow up.

Also, integrating with Outlook, RedView helps to easily capture email enquiries into the system, while a mobile app allows new opportunities to be immediately logged when out of the office.

The ability to capture and manage all enquiries in one place ensures efficiencies, oversight and helps grow the business.

Advanced mailing list functionality further enhances this, providing the ability to use LEAP card and matter data as the basis for targeted marketing campaigns.

Business Intelligence The RedView Acuity dashboard can be tailored to suit firm needs, displaying relevant LEAP data in an actionable, insightful, and intuitive manner. RedView Acuity takes LEAP data and presents performance metrics in easy to comprehend graphs (there are over 150 different reporting options available) providing clarity and focus on how a firm is performing.

Designed to work seamlessly with LEAP, RedView Acuity affords an unparalleled understanding of the business intelligence required to run a successful legal practice.

Custom Reporting RedView Custom Reporting offers a specialised and custombuilt report development service, making it possible to utilise and analyse all the LEAP data you need in the way that you need it.

Craig Taylor, Director of relationship development at LEAP comments “We are delighted to introduce the powerful analysis and new business prospecting capabilities of RedView to LEAP clients. This partnership will enhance the visibility a law firm has over its performance and prospects, and will help drive business forwards.”

Stephen Butler, CEO of Red Rain comments read “We have worked closely with LEAP internationally for many years and are delighted to bring this partnership to the UK. LEAP’s rich API technology allows third party providers such as ourselves to become a part of an ecosystem of integrated solutions that helps clients. LEAP’s approach means that the sum is much greater than the parts!”. ■

SURREYLAWYER | 19

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Stamp Duty Land Tax Holiday Extended...

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FEATURE

Spotlight on Stamp Duty T

he SDLT holiday generated by the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Temporary Relief) Act 2020 has been a double-edged sword. No doubt it has boosted the property market when the economy generally has been in COVID hibernation. At the same time, it has created an artificial time limit which has increased the pressure on residential Conveyancers when pressure already existed with working from home, problems with search suppliers being able to meet the demand, and the almost constant drumbeat of pressure and criticism from estate agents.

Research reveals that there were approximately 100,000 transactions which were at risk of not completing within the allotted time due to the bottleneck in the conveyancing market.

It is estimated that the temporary nil rate band has cost the Treasury £3.2 billion.

The original deadline of the 31st March 2021 has of course been extended to the 30th June 2021 courtesy of the Budget 3rd March 2021.

Whilst in some quarters the extension is welcome there are a number of criticisms that have been levelled at the Chancellor of the Exchequer including – ■ Replacing one deadline with another whilst appreciating that until or if COVID restrictions are lifted the current bottleneck might continue.

■ A failure to engage with some radical reform of the SDLT regime or even more radically replacing it with a totally new scheme.

Ideas include a permanent reduction in SDLT, an exemption for downsizers to stimulate the retirement market and at the same time releasing housing stock into the marketplace.

■ The current SDLT regime does little to stimulate the first-time buyer market as first time buyer relief has historically been ineffective in increasing first time buyer numbers entering the market (see HMRC Evaluating the Impact of SDLT First Time Buyers Relief, HMRC Working Paper 13 (November 2011).

■ The SDLT holiday has distorted property values.

■ More radically SDLT has been criticised as a transaction tax when one of the basic tenets of taxation economics is that transaction taxes should be avoided and that SDLT discourages mutually beneficial transactions. The counter to this is the use of a sales transaction tax shifting the burden from the buyer to the seller as the latter is usually in a better position to pay the tax.

The Current Regime Introduced in 2014 stamp duty has become a progressive tax with rate increases applied between specific stamp duty thresholds instead of being applied to the final purchase price of a property.

Changes were made to the new stamp duty system in November 2017 when the government introduced first time buyer relief and of course a number of surcharges have been introduced including higher rate surcharges relevant to second properties, and for non-UK residents. Do not forget the availability for multiple dwelling relief if buying 6 or more properties with a buyer able to choose non-residential rates of SDLT (not the higher rates) or higher rates using multiple dwellings relief.

Continued on next page

SURREYLAWYER | 21

FEATURE

Continued from previous page The freehold residential stamp duty rates in England and Northern Ireland are shown in the tables below.

The SDLT rates until 30th June 2021 are – Normal Rate

Additional Property

less than £500k

Tax Band

0%

3%*

£500k to £925k

5%

8%

£925k to £1.5m

10%

13%

rest over £1.5m

12%

15%

*An additional property purchased for less than £40k will attract 0% tax. For purchases from £40k to £500k the SDLT rate will be 3% on full purchase price.

The SDLT rates from 1st July to 30th September 2021 – Normal Rate

Additional Property

less than £250k

Tax Band

0%

3%*

£250k to £925k

5%

8%

£925k to £1.5m

10%

13%

rest over £1.5m

12%

15%

*An additional property purchased for less than £40k will attract 0% tax. For purchases from £40k to £250k the SDLT rate will be 3% on full purchase price.

SDLT rates from 1st October 2021 where thresholds reflect rates before the stamp duty holiday.

Tax Band

Normal Rate

Additional Property

less than £125k

0%

3%*

£125k to £250k

2%

5%

£250k to £925k

5%

8%

£925k to £1.5m

10%

13%

rest over £1.5m

12%

15%

*Where an additional property is purchased for less than £40k it will attract 0% tax. For purchases from £40k to £125k the SDLT rate will be 3% on full purchase price.

The SDLT holiday means the zero-rate threshold for standard purchases remains £500,000 meaning the majority of transactions will not attract any SDLT as long as completion is before 1st July 2021.

Advising Clients 1. Set realistic expectations so clients are aware of the problems currently being encountered due to COVID and the risk that completion cannot be guaranteed to take place before the 30th June 2021 or any other cut off dates.

2. Be cautious when dealing with transactions which involve an apportionment taking a property value below the £500,000 threshold. Is there independent evidence to confirm the value apportioned?

3. The client needs to be made aware of the seriousness of not transmitting all relevant information to HMRC when the SDLT Return is submitted.

22 | SURREYLAWYER

4. The client needs to be made aware of the need for submission of the Return and the payment of SDLT within time to avoid interest and penalties.

5. Ensure when submitting SDLT Returns that the client understands the significance of information provided in the Return and the dangers in circumstances where the information is incorrect.

6. Be careful about advice that is given. The Conveyancing Quality Standards were published in February 2019 taking effect on 1 May 2019. The very first section is devoted to risk management and, after requiring some basic risk management tools, the first specific requirement relates to SDLT, even before AML procedures. The point is that SDLT compliance has become critical.

7. Ensure that you have confirmation in writing to confirm the client is a first-time buyer, is not an international buyer and that any apportionment is appropriate and justifiable.

The CQS provides: a. How to audit trail the SDLT calculation and advice; b. How and when to make checks between the consideration stated in the sale contract and transfer deed and SDLT Return and the payments on the solicitors’ client account ledger for the transaction; c. A procedure for verifying the amount of SDLT payable, where applicable.

The CQS General Guidance Notes provides: a. Practices must ensure they have a policy on how to audit trail the SDLT information given by the client, the calculation of the SDLT due and the advice to the client; b. Practices must ensure there is a verification procedure for the amount of SDLT payable. Where possible, this should include another experienced individual, other than the fee earner, and the verification should be recorded on the file; c. Where the calculation is outsourced Requirement 1.2.c. might not be applicable. Sole practitioners and smaller practices should consider what procedure they could put in place if no other experienced individual is available, this could simply involve checking the SDLT payment again at a later date; d. A number of firms ensure the SDLT computation checked by a ‘second pair of eyes’ within the firm.

8. The Government has recognised that as a result of the restrictions placed on the housing market, some people have been unable to sell a previous main residence within the three-year window allowed in order to qualify for a refund of the three per cent higher rates of SDLT. In most cases, the existing three-year window provides sufficient time for a previous residence to be sold and the three-year window for most taxpayers will not be changing.

An extension to the three-year window can now be granted

by HMRC once a property is sold if an affected taxpayer was not able to make a sale within the three-year window due to exceptional circumstances outside their control. Affected taxpayers must make a sale as soon as practicable once the exceptional impediment to sale ceases to apply, and this amendment only applies to those whose refund window ended on or after 1st January 2020.

Taxpayers or their advisors can write to HMRC setting out their individual circumstances concerning the sale of the relevant property and HMRC will make decisions to grant an extension on a case-by-case basis. HMRC will also closely monitor the number and type of applications for an extension, as a protection against cases of fraud and abuse.

FEATURE

Schedule 4ZA FA 2003 makes provisions to charge the higher rates of SDLT. The 3-year time limit is at paragraph 3(7)(b) of Schedule 4ZA. By virtue of paragraph 8 of Schedule 4ZA, a purchaser can claim a repayment of the higher rates for additional dwellings provided they sell their previous main residence within 3 years of buying their new main residence.

Legislation introduced in the Finance Bill 2020 allows a repayment of higher rates for additional dwellings where HMRC is satisfied that: ■ There were exceptional circumstances that prevented the person from selling the previous main residence within the 3-year period, and ■ The person sold the residence as soon as practically possible and has made an application within 12 months of the disposal of the previous main residence.

This measure came into effect in 2020 and will apply to SDLT paid on purchases with an effective date on or after 1st January 2017. The disposal of the previous main residence must have taken place on or after 1 January 2020. This measure will only apply to individuals with properties situated in England and Northern Ireland as SDLT is devolved to Wales and Scotland.

HMRC has also published an explanatory note on the new clause which discusses the circumstances in which this extension would be granted: In the vast majority of cases 3 years is ample time, taking account of the sorts of events that ordinarily might delay matters, in which to complete the sale of the previous main residence and receive a refund. As the COVID situation reveals there will be circumstances (not limited to COVID) in which individuals are prevented by some exceptional impediment to completing the sale of the previous main residence within the 3-year deadline.

If this situation applies, HMRC will be able to grant a refund if the previous residence is sold as soon as is reasonably practical when the exceptional circumstances ceased to apply and where they are satisfied that the exceptional circumstance was the reason that prevented the sale.

Exceptional circumstances would include prevention of the sale as a result of a restriction imposed by a public authority (e.g., the government restrictions placed on the housing market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic).

A word of caution In 2012 the Finance Act included a long schedule 38: Tax agents – dishonest conduct. An agent is somebody who, in the course of business, assists others (“clients”) with their tax affairs.

This will include completing a land transaction return or calculating SDLT. Even if those tasks are outsourced it does not exempt the Conveyancer from responsibility, for: ■ Assistance with a client’s tax affairs also includes assistance with any document that is likely to be relied on by HMRC to determine a client’s tax position.

■ Assistance given for non-tax purposes counts as assistance with a client’s tax affairs if it is given in the knowledge that it will be, or is likely to be, used by a client in connection with the client’s tax affairs.

SDLT is a tax on land transactions and Conveyancers have the role of documenting the land transaction. As tax agents, Conveyancers could face a personal penalty (of between £5,000 and £50,000) that is not likely to be covered by a PI policy if, in the course of acting as a tax agent, we “do something dishonest with a view to bringing about a loss of tax revenue” whether or not a loss is brought about and whether or not we are acting on the client’s instructions.

For these purposes “Doing something dishonest” includes: a. Dishonestly omitting to do something; b. Advising or assisting the client to do something we know to be dishonest; c. The compliance handbook at CH181140 describes dishonesty as “not honest, trustworthy or sincere” by reference to the standards of reasonable people or “reasonable practitioners”.

A cautionary example is worth exploring where a client or tax adviser asked us to restructure a transaction in order to save SDLT and that involved a decision the Conveyancer would not normally take without really understanding why. That might be seen as dishonest conduct.

The considered view seems to be that HMRC will penalise tax agents rarely, but the warning is that there might be a financial penalty, and being reported to the SRA.

Exceptional circumstances do not include, for example: ■ Fluctuations in the housing market which deter owners from selling within the 3-year time limit at market values applying at that time, or ■ The ordinary and ‘everyday’ events that occur in the buying and selling of property, such as prospective purchasers changing their mind and dropping out of the transaction.

The new Clause 24 allows a refund of the additional 3% higher rate of stamp duty where exceptional circumstances prevented the sale of the previous main residence in the three-year window within which a sale must ordinarily take place. The new clause applies to those whose refund window ended on or after 1st January 2020. It is to ensure that responsible actions taken by people do not lead to negative tax implications and that those who would otherwise have received a stamp duty land tax refund are still able to receive it, despite the COVID pandemic.

Ian Quayle

About the author Ian Quayle qualified as a solicitor and worked in private practice undertaking a variety of conveyancing work for many years before delivering training courses for the main UK training providers. He is now the Chief Executive of IQ Legal Training a training company delivering bespoke learning opportunities, courses, and webinars to the legal profession.

Ian is presenting a free webinar for SLS Members on ‘Residential SDLT: An Essential Update’ at 11am on 22nd April 2021. To book your place, please visit www.surreylawsociety.org.uk/courses. ■

SURREYLAWYER | 23

ARTICLE

The Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid A

lastair Logan OBE, LL.B. examines the Government’s review of the criminal legal aid system, and asks if you have experience that could assist with their findings.

The Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid (IR) was set up by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and launched in December 2018 in response to stakeholder concerns about the long-term sustainability of Criminal Legal Aid. The IR is a comprehensive review into the Criminal Legal Aid fee schemes and the market of Criminal Legal Aid providers (barristers, solicitors and legal executives).1 It has two main objectives: 1) To reform the Criminal Legal Aid fee schemes so that, firstly, they: ■ fairly reflect, and pay for, work done; ■ support the sustainability of the market, including recruitment, retention, and career progression within the professions and a diverse workforce; ■ support just, efficient, and effective case progression; limit perverse incentives, and ensure value for money for the taxpayer; ■ are consistent with and, where appropriate, enable wider reforms; ■ are simple and place proportionate administrative burdens on providers, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), and other government departments and agencies; and ■ ensure cases are dealt with by practitioners with the right skills and experience.

2) To reform the wider Criminal Legal Aid market to ensure that the provider market: ■ responds flexibly to changes in the wider system, pursues working practices and structures that drive efficient and effective case progression, and delivers value for money for the taxpayer; ■ operates to ensure that Legal Aid services are delivered by practitioners with the right skills and experience; and ■ operates to ensure the right level of Legal Aid provision and to encourage a diverse workforce.

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The IR is chaired by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC. As a Barrister, he specialised in European, competition and regulatory law.

In 1992 he was appointed as a judge to (what is now) the General Court of the European Union, where he served for 7 years. At the end of 1999, he returned to the UK to set up (what is now) the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), of which he was President until 2007, when he became a senior consultant with Linklaters LLP. He stepped down from Linklaters at the end of October 2020, and re-joined Monckton Chambers.

Sir Christopher focusses on appointments as a mediator or arbitrator in disputes including but not limited to competition and regulatory matters, arising anywhere in the world.

He leads a dedicated review team within Government and will have close oversight of the work to ensure it meets these terms of reference and delivers robust, evidence-based recommendations.

He is also supported by an Expert and Advisory Panel who will support the review by testing and challenging the Review’s emerging findings and recommendations. The panel is composed of individuals from a range of backgrounds, skills and experience and includes amongst its experts Richard Atkinson, Co-Chair of the Criminal Law Committee of The Law Society, The Right Honourable Baroness Hallett DBE and Professor Dame Hazel Genn DBE, QC (Hon), FBA, LLD. It also includes Professor Mayson who produced the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation, and concluded that the legislative framework under the Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) is outdated and not sustainable in the long-term and proposes wholesale reform in the future.

Central to Mayson’s framework is a move away from the current title-based regulation towards risk-based regulation of all legal practise areas, whether reserved or non-reserved. The view of the profession was that that in the current climate, legal services firms need more support, not a wholesale review of the regulatory framework, and that policy makers need to make better use of the current framework. Instead of contemplating a major reform the immediate focus should be on aiding the recovery of the legal sector post-COVID-19, proper investment in the legal aid and justice system, and greater public legal education to help people recognise the legal issues and know when to seek help.

ARTICLE

The IR will look at the criminal legal aid system in its entirety and will seek to ensure it provides high quality legal advice and representation, that: ■ is provided through a diverse set of practitioners ■ is appropriately funded ■ is responsive to user needs both now and in the future ■ contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System ■ is transparent ■ is resilient ■ is delivered in a way that provides value for money to the taxpayer The IR forms part of wider work to ensure criminal defence remains an attractive career for practitioners now and into the future. New spending plans unveiled by the Treasury to boost the justice system by just over £500 million are good news in a time of crisis, but after decades of cuts much more still needs to be done. Former Law Society President David Greene said: “We welcome the pledge of cash for the justice system.

As part of our Reset, Resilience and Recovery campaign2 we called for extra funds to make the justice system sustainable.

We are pleased the Chancellor has listened and adopted our recommendations. Justice in this country was in a dire situation already before the pandemic, and is under pressure now like never before, so the £275 million pledged to reduce persistent Crown Court backlogs has come not a moment too soon.”

1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946615/ terms-of-reference.pdf 2. w ww.lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/reset-resilience-andrecovery 3. w ww.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/press-office/ press-releases/urgent-cash-injection-needed-to-haltdemise-of-criminal-legal-aid-firms 4. www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/criminal-legal-aid-reviewissues-call-for-evidence/5107991.article

Alastair Logan OBE, LL.B.

£43 million has also been secured to ensure that courts and prisons remain COVID-safe – a key concern of legal practitioners and a consistent theme of the Law Society’s representations to the government.

While the second part of the IR is now under way and will hopefully provide the structural increase in resources needed for the long-term sustainability of the sector, any benefits from it are some way off. The Government has failed to recognise the damage done to firms and to the provision of legal advice and representation in Criminal law by the consistent failure to increase payments for over 20 years. An immediate increase is a necessity to provide criminal defence solicitors with the additional funds they so desperately need. The government must demonstrate it is committed to ensuring the position does not deteriorate further while they work out how to address the crisis.

As of 1 February 2021, there were 1,109 firms holding a criminal legal aid contract. This is 752 fewer firms than the 1,861 in 2011 and 162 fewer than the 1,271 firms in February 2019, meaning about 75 firms have left the market each year for the past decade.3 As a result of the pandemic, work for criminal legal aid firms has fallen through the floor – leaving many hanging on for survival and without urgent intervention, there is danger that many more duty solicitor schemes will face imminent collapse. Legal aid practitioners must be paid properly, and their businesses must be economically viable, otherwise the system will collapse.

If you have experience that would assist the IR, you are urged to offer the Review whatever support you can provide to enable them to understand in detail the challenges defence solicitors and firms are facing. This can be done by contacting the IR Chair via iclar@justice.gov.uk. ■

SURREYLAWYER | 25

EDUCATION

Record-breaking exam results for Greenfield School

I

n what has been a turbulent year, Greenfield School in Woking embraced adversity and worked hard to overcome the challenges of lockdown, resulting in a record-breaking year of Senior School results.

During the school closure, staff at the co-educational independent school worked tirelessly to deliver a full virtual curriculum and ensure all pupils were able to progress with their education. The timetable was adapted for the impacts of online learning and the teachers quickly mastered delivering lessons via video call. Greenfield staff aimed to include as many elements of normal school life as possible, such as learning enrichment, peripatetic music lessons and PE lessons, in order for children to continue to thrive during their screen-heavy learning. It was unchartered territory for children, teachers and parents, but everyone involved pulled together, resulting in positive outcomes under very challenging circumstances.

The school are confident that the pupils’ education was impacted as little as possible due to the efforts of the teachers and parents. The evidence of this was confirmed in March as Year 6 pupils celebrated a record-breaking year of Senior School results.

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6 6 O F F ERS A ND 2 1 S C H O LA RSH I PS AT 27 TO P I ND E PE ND ENT S E N IO R S C HO O LS

A SCHOOL THAT PRIORITISES A MODERN, RELEVANT EDUCATION GREENFIELD SCHOOL, 3 TO 11 YEARS gre en f i eld . s u r re y. s ch.uk @ GFS Wo k i n g

@G reenf iel d S chool Woking

As a non-selective school, each cohort of children is different and so every year Greenfield pupils apply to a wide range of schools and achieve scholarships from a variety of disciplines.

This year, the 14 boys and 12 girls received an outstanding total of 66 offers from 27 top Independent Senior Schools; an average of 2.5 offers per child and the highest number of offers ever achieved by a single cohort of children at Greenfield. On top of this, they achieved 21 scholarships and 5 exhibitions between them for Academics, Drama, Music and Art. With sports scholarships being awarded later in the summer, this figure is likely to continue to rise.

Headmistress, Mrs Botting, says: “We are delighted by the results of our Year 6 pupils and they should feel very proud. The children have shown resilience, performed incredibly well and achieved outstanding results. There is no doubt that the way in which Greenfield organised the educational provision for the children during this year has paid dividends and I am so grateful to our incredible staff.”

The school believe these results prove that every child has the opportunity to achieve great things at Greenfield and they are proud of both the variety of scholarships awarded and range of schools that offer places to their pupils.

2021 holds exciting prospects for Greenfield pupils as the school propels forward. Along with their 50 week a year nursery provision which opened in January to children from 6 months of age, Greenfield continues to develop and grow with a main building extension due to commence in May of this year.

The children will benefit from new classrooms as well as a 3-court sports hall, performance space, individual tuition rooms, dining room, multimedia suite and courtyard garden for quiet reflection and outdoor teaching. Outside, the children will also be able to enjoy new sports facilities, including tennis/netball courts and a full-size multi-use games area (MUGA), which will improve the all-weather surfaces available for teaching PE, hosting matches and tournaments and enable the school to offer use of facilities to the wider community. Teamed with their relevant and forward-thinking curriculum, wealth of extracurricular activities and strong pastoral care, this project will help to launch Greenfield School into the future.

At this important time in history, Greenfield staff, parents and children have worked hard to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to show strength of character.

Reflecting upon the Senior School entrance examination results achieved, it is clear that Greenfield pupils have not missed out on any of their learning or preparation and they continue to gain momentum with an exciting year ahead of them.

The school encourages families who are interested in learning more about Greenfield School to call 01483 772525 or email admissions@greenfield.surrey.sch.uk. ■

adm i s s i on s @ green f iel d .surre y.sch.uk

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18/03/2021 09:15

ARTICLE

No two the same Louise Levene

W

ith a rise in multi-family households, more complex family structures and an increase in assets held overseas as people increasingly live, work and invest outside of our borders, new complexities for private client practitioners have developed.

However, we haven’t got much better at making Wills. Statistics1 indicate that two thirds of British people still don’t have a valid Will, and that nearly 60% of parents don’t have a valid, up-todate Will in place. Private Client practitioners are required to have a very broad skill set, and it can be comforting to know that, where needed, professional probate genealogists can step in.

No instructions On learning of the death, practitioners may have a problem right at the start: you have no instructions to act, no access to funds, and little or no information about possible next of kin entitled to take the estate on intestacy. Probate genealogists can help get the administration process moving.

Due diligence The subject of Wills can be thorny. The family is convinced that a Will was written naming them; or that a more recent Will exists than the one in the probate practitioner’s possession.

A thorough Will search, backed up by missing Will indemnity insurance, can help put the uncertainty to rest and allow the administration process to move on.

The beneficiaries The probate genealogist’s work of tracing missing beneficiaries utilises many research tools. It’s the training, credentials and research methodology that set a professional probate genealogist apart from ‘bedroom’ sleuths: ensuring that all parts of the family tree have been efficiently and carefully researched.

Furthermore, estate practitioners may be presented with misinformation from the family. While the family can’t always know about additional heirs, genealogists do find some beneficiaries are economical with the truth. Taking the word of the ‘sole heir’ at face value is a potentially costly risk but can be avoided by engaging a professional probate genealogist to independently verify the family tree.

Case study: “No, there’s no one else…”

Finders International was recently involved in the estate of a man with a £400,000 intestate estate. The man’s sister asserted she was the sole beneficiary. Finders verified the tree at the precautionary request of the legal practitioners administering the estate. Her nephew was located and was entitled to half the estate. She had, it appeared, neglected to mention him because she disapproved of his behaviour. The nephew received his rightful share of the inheritance, and the practitioners saved a great deal of trouble and expense from a potential later claim.

– how specialist services can help you clear estate administration hurdles Finding assets It’s remarkably easy for a person to acquire assets overseas and can help us feel that we live in a truly globalized world.

It’s often when the person who owns these assets dies, that we tend to find out the world is not so globalized after all. A virtual security gate crashes down, and the estate representatives and legal practitioners advising them must deal with a string of unfamiliar requirements from a foreign-based asset-holding institution, that may create legal, financial or administrative complications. Outsourcing this work to an experienced professional firm of probate genealogists can take the speculation out of these unfamiliar processes and help with what can be lengthy and time-consuming work.

Case study: made in the USA A lady died leaving what was once a straightforward, London-listed UK share portfolio. In recent years and with failing health, she stopped actively managing her portfolio.

After her death, her Executors found she had ‘accidentally’ acquired several high value shareholdings listed in the USA, through corporate acquisition and stock spin-offs. The legal practitioners advising the estate had little experience with this kind of work and brought Finders International in to complete the necessary steps. US estate tax clearance was procured due to the high value of the assets, and the shares transferred out of the Deceased lady’s name, using Medallion Guarantee stamps to satisfy the requirements of the transfer agents, and subsequently sold.

Outsourcing options There are many steps to the estate administration process and estates vary widely in their levels of complexity. While not every estate requires help, when there is step in the process that proves time-consuming or troublesome, it’s useful to know you can call on the wide-ranging resources of probate genealogists.

For further advice, contact Finders International on +44 (0)20 7490 4935, email contact@findersinternational.co.uk, or visit our website to view our services (www.findersinternational. co.uk/our-services). ■

Louise Levene

International Asset Services Manager Finders International 1. w ww.royallondon.com/media/press-releases/2018/ december/perplexed-by-wills/

SURREYLAWYER | 27

ARTICLE

How Access Legal plans to unlock the true benefits of technology for law firms Doug Sawers

“We’ve quickly recognised how hard it is for law firms to access the insights and data they so critically need. That's thanks to a multitude of overlapping but disconnected systems.

From speaking with our customers, we know they are crying out for a more holistic and joined up approach to tech. This is key to help them unlock the true benefits of technology, which will, in turn, enable their business to operate more profitably.”

Better serving the legal sector For Access, there’s been an appetite to better serve the legal sector for some time, as Doug Sawers, Managing Director at Access Legal shares: “Our ambition is to transform the legal sector’s efficiency and experience of technology. This, whilst of course respecting law firms' individual needs. There are some strong legal pointsolutions available. But to benefit these practices, these tools often need to work with many other systems.”

Access has served many legal clients for some time with its HR and finance solutions and was able to bring its legal tech solutions and clients together with the creation of the Access Legal division. The division comes from the acquisitions of Riliance, Socrates, Eclipse and DPS Software. The Access Legal division now offers best-in-class case and practice management software; compliance and risk management services; and an online legal learning platform.

But that’s not all. In time, Access plans to unlock even greater efficiencies for law firms. Helping to tackle their frustrations with disjointed systems by delivering one single solution. And this one solution doesn't stop at helping fee earners manage cases, compliance and legal learning. It touches on every aspect of a law firm’s operations. From managing people, payroll and employee engagement and recognition, right through to finance and accounting, payments as well as CRM. Doug Sawers stresses the importance of how these systems are served up and accessed by law firms as being critical to unlocking the value. This will all be possible through Access’ single sign on platform Access Workspace for Legal. This will house all the products and modules a firm may ever need across their practice.

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“Access Workspace for Legal will offer firms the ability to not only access and process core legal matters but action HR and compliance tasks, see financial data or new training all in one place.”

Access Workspace for Legal will help users to access the information and tasks they need in their specific role quickly and easily. But it will also provide a far superior level of business intelligence to managing partners. By connecting multiple products via Access Workspace, management will have a complete view of your firm on one screen. With legal, HR, finance, learning or compliance software, the possibilities are endless. For example, you can look at new business compared against your financials or productivity and opportunity pipeline.

Not all firms will be in a position to take it all. But the attractiveness of Access Workspace is that as a firm grows, Access Workspace grows with it. The firm can turn on the solutions or modules that are relevant for them, at the right time.

Access Legal is not only excited about bringing much-needed innovation to the sector. The business is clear on its vision and strategy, as Doug highlights: “For Access Legal we’re clear on our purpose – to help firms to reach their unlimited potential and enable them to free up their time to focus on delivering a better client service, achieve better client outcomes and look after their people.” ■

Doug Sawers

Managing Director Access Legal

ARTICLE

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail: why law firms in the region must prepare now for post-lockdown demand Bernadette Bennett

A

s the end of the third national lockdown approaches, leading outsourced communications provider, Moneypenny, is encouraging Surrey law firms to prepare for a dramatic and sustained spike in new enquiry volumes.

Latest figures from the tech company – which handles more than 2 million legal calls and live chats each year for more than 1,000 legal firms in the UK – show that during the first lockdown (26 March – 1 June 2020), telephone enquiries fell by 36% compared with pre lockdown figures.

However, in the weeks that followed, there was sustained demand higher than the yearly average. In the seven weeks after the first lockdown, telephone enquiry levels were 27% up on pre lockdown levels – a 35% increase on the same period in 2019.

Bernadette Bennett, Head of Legal Sector at Moneypenny commented: “While it’s not surprising that lockdown created pent up demand – particularly when you consider that the housing market was frozen during the first lockdown – it’s extremely encouraging to see that appetite for legal services continued for a sustained period.

“During the first lockdown, we also found that 65% of legal live chats generated leads for new client instructions, a 30% rise on the typical average – confirmation that consumers were seeking more support and guidance and were happy to use digital communications channels to do so, often outside traditional office hours.”

Interestingly, during the second lockdown (4 November to 2 December), there was no change in telephone demand compared with the week before lockdown, which suggests both legal professionals and consumers were adapting to the new normal and it was ‘business as usual’ for the sector.

Bernadette continued: “Over the last 12 months, the pressure has been on law firms and their marketing teams to ensure that experience is the same, whether the team is in the office or working remotely. By now, clients expect service levels to be back to, if not better than, normal and firms are recognising the importance of living up to this – particularly if service was neglected last year under the stress of simply remaining operational.

“Now that the Prime Minister’s Roadmap has been published, the end of lockdown three is in sight and an extension of the stamp duty holiday is confirmed, lawyers are likely to be busy over the coming months. Being able to meet predicted demand and answer a significantly increased volume of telephone calls is critical to the sector’s ongoing success.

“With the government continuing to advise that people work from home, face-to-face meetings remain off the agenda, so the phone and live chat will remain the first port of call for clients and prospects. Firm should use the coming weeks to prepare and make sure they have the necessary resource and support in place to meet demand.”

This is particularly sage advice as earlier this year, Moneypenny reported that 85% of people think UK businesses are using COVID as an excuse for long call and live chat wait times – rather than putting adequate client service support in place.

Bernadette concluded: “There’s just no excuse for this, particularly not almost a year into the pandemic. Consumers expect businesses across all sectors to have adapted by now.

Long call and live chat waiting times are essentially saying to clients they are not important, which will lead them to take their cases elsewhere. Meeting projected demand and ensuring a positive, timely, professional and efficient client journey is imperative for legal firms looking to grow their pipeline during 2021.”

For more information about how your firm could benefit from Moneypenny’s telephone answering, live chat or outbound calling services, visit www.moneypenny.com/uk/legalanswering-services/. ■

Bernadette Bennett

Commercial Manager – Legal Moneypenny

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ARTICLE

Simple Contract Law: Stripping English Law of Complexity I

n his new book, Watson-Gandy has bravely done a complete about-turn on traditional dusty textbooks, writing an illustrated guide to English contract law that is fun to read, entertaining and succinct.

Synopsis of ‘Simple Contract Law: A brief introduction to English Contract Law’: This book provides an essential introduction to English contract law. Written by practising barrister and law professor, Mark WatsonGandy, whose infectious enthusiasm for the subject permeates the text, the book simply explains all the core concepts and leading cases and what the most common terms and conditions actually do. Whether you are a law student, businessman or an international lawyer, you will find “Simple Contract Law” to be an easy-to-read, concise, and informative first guide into the subject. Enlivened by the colourful back stories to the case law and with witty illustrations

by Gordon Collett, this book is a welcome antidote to stale traditional contract law textbooks.

“People don’t realise quite how important English contract law is for us all. English contract law has long been the preferred

choice of law for international contracts – often even where the parties or transaction has no connection to the UK. The UK legal services industry is worth £60 billion to the UK economy; the UK legal services market is the largest in Europe and second only globally to the USA. Three quarters of those using London’s commercial courts during litigation come from outside of the UK” explains the author. “I wanted to write something which would cut through the complexity, to give an accessible overview of the law. A quick and easy-to-read guide like this is long overdue.”

‘Simple Contract Law: A brief introduction to English Contract Law’ is available now for £9.95 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3kbb6Q4. ■ Professor Mark Watson-Gandy K.S.G is a practising barrister at Three Stone Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn and has appeared in high-profile cases in the UK and abroad. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster and at the University of Lorraine in France. He was made a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great in recognition of his work as a barrister and law professor in 2007. In 2020, he was appointed as one of the UK Ministry of Justice’s “Legal Services are Great Champions” to promote English legal services internationally.

Reach new clients with Clio + Google My Business

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hen looking for legal services, 57% of consumers search on their own, relying heavily on online search. This happens even more during recurring national lockdowns. Since Google owns more than 90% of the global search market share, having a Google My Business profile ensures you show up where today’s potential clients are looking – online. Meeting clients where they are searching is essential for lawyers to efficiently and effectively grow their business.

Google My Business brings a professional presence to channels that your clients are already familiar with. Although having a Google My Business profile doesn’t mean you’re going to get a tsunami of leads overnight, it will help establish your reputation as a trusted business in your local community when you may not be able to meet clients face-to-face. As a leading provider of cloud-based legal case management software, Clio knows that having a reliable stream of clients coming through the door (even if it’s virtual) is essential for any firm to succeed.

With Clio’s Google My Business integration, you can create and manage a free Google Business Profile for your firm from directly in Clio. This allows you to reach an untapped client pool.

Having a Google My Business profile also gives search engines another “vote of confidence,” indicating that you are who you say you are. This makes search engines more likely to reward your website with better results in their search queries, making it easier for potential new clients to find you.

Finally, since reviews still reign supreme when hiring a lawyer, with over half of prospective clients saying they use internet searches and review sites to help make a decision, you need to make it easy for prospective clients by having reviews appear next to your Google Business profile. You can also increase those Google ratings by sending clients a review request link that’s specific to your firm. Be proactive by asking for a review from every happy client, so that if a negative review comes along, it’s far outweighed by the good ones.

To learn more about how Clio can help you grow your law firm, visit www.clio.com/uk. ■ SURREYLAWYER | 31

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In Too Deep?

Report Details Report ID: 123456FAP Date: 01/01/2020

FCI Flood Appraisal Residential

Report Details

Report ID: 123456FAP Date: 01/01/2020

Grid Reference: E: 123456 | N: 123456

FCI Flood Appraisal Commercial

Grid Reference: E: 123456 | N: 123456

Report Reference: Sample Ref

Report Reference: Sample Ref

Requested by: Sample Client

Requested by: Sample Client

Current Use: Residential

Current Use: Commercial

Proposed Use: Residential

Proposed Use: Commercial

Report on:

Sample Site, Street, Town, County, UK

Report on:

Sample Site, Street, Town, County, UK Working in collaboration with

Author:

Aaron Jones, BSc Ashfield Flood Risk Director

Peer Review:

Working in collaboration with

Penny Andrews, BSc MEng MRICS CEnv FCI Operations & Compliance Director

Author:

Aaron Jones, BSc Ashfield Flood Risk Director

Professional Opinion Summary

Flood

Peer Review: Penny Andrews, BSc

MEng MRICS CEnv FCI Operations & Compliance Director

Professional Opinion Summary

PASS

Flood

PASS

Based upon the review of detailed information within this FCI Flood Appraisal, this professional opinion concludes that the Further Action identified within the initial FCI Premium Residential search (Ref: Based report upon the review of further detailed information within this FCI Flood Appraisal, this professional 1234) has been sufficiently investigated and the subject Property can now be considered to beconcludes at an opinion that the Further Action identified within the initial FCI Commercial search report (Ref: acceptably low level of risk.

1234) has been sufficiently investigated and the subject Property can now be considered to be at an

acceptably low level of risk.

This summary should be read in conjunction with the full assessment in the following pages of this report, along with any recommendations made.

This summary should be read in conjunction with the full assessment in the following pages of this report, along with any recommendations made.

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CONVEYANCING

FCI CON29M. Creating a new standard A

vailable to order from 22nd March 2021, Future Climate Info (FCI) are delighted to announce a new range of Official CON29M search reports to the conveyancing market. Complete with AA- rated Triple-Tier insurance protection, a robust manually assessed Mine Entry Interpretive Report and a specially tailored report layout are designed to offer all transactional stakeholders the context and guidance to make the very best use of the search.

Alongside the regular Law Society licensed Official CON29M questions, the new range comes with many unique features, including an impressive Triple Tier Insurance cover which offers unbeatable protection for homebuyers, vendors and lenders as standard, and peace of mind for conveyancers.

The new CON29M module is available as two report options; an Official CON29M and a variation of FCI’s best-selling Premium report, the FCI Premium Plus CON29M which combines the CON29M with an assessment of the core Environmental risks including Contaminated Land and Radon, Flood, Ground Stability and Energy & Infrastructure, all in one clear and concise report.

As standard, both searches include an integrated and dynamic Mine Entry Interpretive Report (MEIR) avoiding the need for additional costly searches, a section dedicated to Development Considerations and clear commentary and next steps designed to create transparency and ensure the context of the Law Society’s questions are understood by all, reducing the number of purchaser queries the conveyancer or solicitor has to respond to.

Triple Tier Insurance Protection Underwritten by CLS Property Insight and backed by Great Lakes SE, a subsidiary of Munich RE, the complimentary insurances are dynamically appended to the search reports where required. They include: Market-leading Coal Search Insurance, which along with the expected protection that £100,000 Coal Search Insurance provides, uniquely includes cover for loss-of-value caused by historic coal mining features which were not recorded in the Coal Authority data at the time of reporting but are later recorded and revealed in any subsequent CON29M search.

This is crucial because new coal-mining features are constantly being added to the Coal Authority records, and a homebuyer when they later come to sell has no control over the choice of searches obtained by prospective purchasers.

FCI are also the only search provider to introduce a unique NonCoal Minerals Search Insurance. This offers consumer protection in relation to thousands of non-coal mining features recorded in the Coal Authority data which, were they to be the cause of subsidence damage to a property, may not qualify for assistance under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 (CMSA1991).

The FCI CON29M searches also come with a Cheshire Brine Screen to identify where a property falls within the overlap between the Cheshire Brine Compensation District and the coalfield. Where this is the case, an Integrated Insurance is provided automatically to support the property owner should they not obtain a salt search and after suffering subsidence later discover that the Cheshire Brine Compensation Board (CBCB) will not compensate on the basis that a previous owner of the Property had already received payment but had failed to complete the necessary remedial works, or where the CBCB

refuses a subsequent claim on the grounds that future claims were commuted.

Coal Mining Heritage FCI have a heritage founded in coal mining, with FCI’s Chairman, Geoff Offen a qualified coal mining surveyor, the architect of the very first CON29M search report and co-founder of the standard coal mining search scheme.

Geoff said of the new product range: “With a deep understanding of the key elements of coal mining risk interpretation, FCI’s team of Chartered property and environmental risk experts, data and modelling specialists have taken care to engineer a new breed of CON29M searches. We have stayed true to the technical guidance issued by the Law Society and the Coal Authority, whilst maintaining a unique focus on enhancing the benefits from the perspective of the conveyancing solicitor and their client.”

Tim Champney, Managing Director FCI said of the new CON29M reports: “The FCI team is driven by a desire to deliver genuinely useful products and services. We aim to fulfil a real need, and always with an open and transparent approach. From surveying the Coal Searches market we identified an opportunity to create a new suite of products which delivered greater insight, and value. We set out to meet the fundamental expectations of what a CON29M should be but enhanced with new innovations and ideas. Not least, our inclusion of non-coal minerals insurance cover for homeowners where the statutory subsidence safety net of the CMSA1991 cannot necessarily be relied upon is a real advantage, and at no additional cost to the consumer. This is just one example of where we’ve looked to provide transparent advice and where necessary support the outcome with a novel solution.”

FCI is the only search provider regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). They are also Executive Members of CoPSO, regulated under the Search Code by the Property Code Compliance Board (PCCB) and The Property Ombudsman. As such, they seek to protect the best interests of the homebuyer, therefore helping the conveyancer to protect their clients. The inclusion of a triple tier insurance cover for homebuyers is a key part of this commitment.

To learn more about the new CON29M range, visit www. futureclimateinfo.com. Alternatively, you can register to attend the informative webinar ‘CON29M. Creating a New Standard.’ which takes place on 25th March at 11am: https://futureclimateinfo. com/events/webinar-con29m-new-standard/. ■ SURREYLAWYER | 33

TECHNOLOGY

Digital TA6 transformed by InfoTrack & Perfect Portal to sell a property faster

J

ust announced: An England and Wales first beta project, from legal technology providers InfoTrack and Perfect Portal.

Discover how digital data can be utilised more effectively between sellers, agents, buyers and conveyancers to market a UK property.

eCOS, we have created data-driven TA Protocol forms and a dynamic set of onboarding features such as verification of identity, verification of funds, client care signatures and more to facilitate collaboration and enhance the journey for all parties involved in the matter.”

Scott Bozinis, Chief Executive Officer at InfoTrack explains, “The Law Society TA6 form is the industry standard for property information, which is part of the sale contract. InfoTrack are the only UK supplier of fully digitised and licenced TA Protocol forms, delivered through our onboarding solution, eCOS. Collecting the key TA6 data when the property is marketed, before an offer is made, will empower estate agents to source suitably informed buyers and bring conveyancers closer to the sellers.”

Yvonne Hirons, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Perfect Portal adds, “Our software integrates with the estate agents CRM system, Reapit. This allows the agents to offer the TA6 Part 1 questions to the sellers when they are adding their property details into Reapit. The seller will be able to access the questions within their law firm’s mobile app to complete at a pre-instruction stage. This will not only help the seller market their property, but it will also help the law firm’s build stronger instructions from the outset. This is revolutionary; it will help reduce the drop off rate as all parties involved will now have access to the important property information in advance.”

The Law Society’s, Commercial Proposition Manager, Andrew Moroney says, “The TA6 as a digital form contains crucial information needed at the marketing stage, but until now, as a paper or digital form, collating the data from multiple parties was only possible post offer, after a solicitor was instructed. Working with InfoTrack and Perfect Portal, the key early marketing questions have been identified and made available in what will be known as the TA6 Part 1. In this beta project, Part 1 can be completed by the seller upfront and fed into the full TA6, solving a challenge the market has been facing for many years.”

The essential information needed to market a property such as compliance with building and planning applications, the supply of services, flooding, common parts shared with neighbours etc. will be included within the TA6 Part 1 questionnaire. All the information a buyer should be made aware of before an offer is made.

Jane Pritchard, Chief Product Innovation Officer at InfoTrack explains “This beta project has ambitious goals. The digital early data solution will speed up the market to sale timeline and collate the property information into a fully completed TA6 through the power of a seamless workflow. Within

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Mike Leeman, Managing Partner at Bell Lamb & Joynson Solicitors comments “Connecting estate agents with the TA6 Part 1 is the holy grail. It captures data very early in the property transaction process to bring together estate agents, solicitors, buyers and sellers in a fully automated digital journey, eliminating our need for paper, completely.”

Paul Lyons, Managing Partner at Lyons Bowe Solicitors adds, “The ability to connect all parties within a digital TA6 is ground-breaking for law firms.

By making it possible to reach potential new clients at the marketing stage, transaction processes speed up and instructions arrive earlier.”

The Law Society, InfoTrack and Perfect Portal have made it possible to provide early data when the property is being sold without introducing a new process or statutory changes. “They were excellently placed to facilitate digitisation”, explains Andrew Moroney. “. InfoTrack solutions are at the cutting edge of the digital evolution of conveyancing, providing a single source of truth across the transaction and aligning data to achieve many common industry goals.” ■

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Paper-based conveyancing is extinct.

It’s time for conveyancing to evolve.

The era of paper-based conveyancing is extinct, and the new age is digital. Onboard clients electronically with eCOS, integrate LMS for automation of priority searches and AP1 registration, digitally sign HMLR deeds, and ac celerate and automate creation of your report on titles with Property Report. InfoTrack is the only platform that enables a completely digital conveyancing process, end-to-end. Give us a call or email us. But, please, don’t write a letter.

InfoTrack; the home of digital conveyancing.

Join the digital conveyancing movement with InfoTrack. Call us on 0207 186 8090 or visit www.infotrack.co.uk/nopaper

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