Surrey Lawyer April 2022

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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SURREY LAW SOCIETY

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SPRING 2022

Understanding Money Laundering and the Enablers ■ H ow to Leave the Office on Time Every Night ■ The Case for Diversity & Inclusion ■ The What’s and Why’s of Becoming a Property Tribunal Judge

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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 13

07 CEO Report

SALES DIRECTOR Karen Hall STUDIO MANAGER Lee Finney

08 News

MEDIA No. 1909

09 Events

PUBLISHED Spring 2022 © The Surrey Law Society Benham Publishing Ltd. 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.

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Copy Deadlines 17th JUN 2022 (For JUL 2022) 23rd SEP 2022 (For OCT 2022) 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

& Inclusion

22 Understanding

money laundering and the enablers

28 The What’s and

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.

COVER INFORMATION Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay.

13 Equality, Diversity 16 Reports

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

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

05 President’s Jottings

Why’s of becoming a Property Tribunal Judge

31 Solicitors’ PII: A 28 38

“claims made” policy – what does that mean?

38 How to leave the

office on time every night – The answer is in the gap

41 Training & Events Programme 2022

Follow us on social media @SurreyLawSoc @surreylawsociety https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8731473 SURREYLAWYER | 3

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INTRODUCTION

President’s Jottings SPRING 2022

Mumtaz Hussain

T

hursday 24th February 2022 saw the end of all Coronavirus restrictions in the United Kingdom.

This was a month shy of the 2nd anniversary of the first lockdown imposed on 23rd March 2020.

Since the restrictions were all lifted, we have returned to our offices, albeit many businesses have adopted a hybrid working approach. In addition to my day job, in my role as President of Surrey Law Society (SLS), I have been happy to be able to attend some events face to face.

In February, I joined a selection of judges to listen to students from University of Law (Guildford), the University of Surrey and Royal Holloway, in their annual “Client Interviewing Competition”. As ever, it was very well attended, and the quality and calibre of the entrants was exceptional this year. The judges’ decision was not an easy one. I would like to extend my congratulations to the University of Law’s Izabela Toma and Khola Shah on winning the competition.

My thanks also to Samantha Borek and Alice Green of University of Law (Guildford) and Sarah Hart of Cowans Solicitors, for putting on this excellent event. Listening skills are often forgotten and can be classed as “soft skills”, however the ability to listen to a client’s concerns and wishes as to the outcome of their case is a very important skill. Therefore, hosting such an event for the future lawyers of our country is commendable.

2022 has also seen the inauguration of the first EDI committee for Surrey Law Society, and we are proud to have held our first event with the very wonderful Mary Eniolu, a leadership coach and sole practitioner. Her talk on recognising and eliminating bias was very interesting and resonated with many people in the audience.

I’m looking forward to more EDI events held for Surrey Lawyers. Please also look out for our LinkedIn posts for more information on forthcoming events, as well as our series of Equality and Diversity educational content, put together by Amber Matheson, myself and Emma Patel of Rosewood Solicitors, who were winners of our “Law

Firm of the Year” category in the SLS Legal Awards of September 2021.

If there are any specific areas of equality, diversity and inclusion you would like Surrey Law Society to cover then please email me and I will endeavour to add these to our contents calendar.

The theme of “ending bias” which as I said was Mary Eniolu’s topic, was also adopted for International Women’s Day 2022, and I was invited to speak at an event hosted

by Surrey Junior Lawyers Division. My thanks go to Amber Matheson for the invitation, and I commend her for all her hard work for putting on this most excellent of events, in collaboration with Surrey Association of Women Solicitors.

Another significant event in 2022 so far was collating our response to the SRA’s consultation on the closure of SIF. We also urged members to send individual responses as a demonstration of the strength of feeling surrounding this most significant of topics. My thanks go to Alastair Logan, TLS Council Member for Surrey, for taking so much time and effort to prepare our comprehensive response.

It's always a pleasure to represent SLS on behalf of our members, and an honour to be invited to speak and attend events. My thanks as ever go to our sponsors and patrons as well as to our members for their continued support of SLS. Without their continued support and understanding we would not have been able to progress as we have over the past 2 years, which were undoubtedly marred by the impact of COVID-19. SLS is here to continue to support you and therefore if there are matters which you wish to bring to our attention then please do get in touch and we will be more than happy to help you where possible. ■

Mumtaz Hussain President

SURREYLAWYER | 5

OFFICERS

KEY OFFICERS President MUMTAZ HUSSAIN M: 07983 488 351 mumtaz1uk@gmail.com

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

Vice President MADELEINE BERESFORD TWM Solicitors LLP, 65 Woodbridge Road, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4RD Tel: 01483 752742 Email: madeleine.gooding@TWMSolicitors.com

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

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 CLAUDENE HOWELL QualitySolicitors Palmers, 1 Hazel Parade, Penrose Road, Fetcham, Surrey KT22 9PY T: 01372 454 791 E: claudenehowell@qualitysolicitors.com 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 CARINA BRITS Palmers Solicitors, 89-91 Clarence Street, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 1QY Tel: 020 8549 7444 Email: carina.brits@palmerssolicitors.co.uk KAREN GRIMM Stone Rowe Brewer LLP, 72 High Street, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8JD Tel: 020 8891 6141 Email: k.grimm@srb.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 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 Rachel Philip Carina Brits Maralyn Hutchinson Ema Jones Martin Whitehorn

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

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Mumtaz Hussain Victoria Clarke Alastair Logan Amber Matheson Emma Patel James Scozzi

RACHEL PHILIP S. Abraham Solicitors, 290A Ewell Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7AQ Tel: 020 8390 0044 Email: conveyancing@sabrahamsolicitors.co.uk

FINANCE Claudene Howell Nick Ball Maddie Beresford Kieran Bowe

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Mumtaz Hussain Helen Opie PRIVATE CLIENT Kieran Bowe Maddie Beresford Karen Grimm Jess Buttaci QUO VADIS Claudene Howell Nick Ball Maddie Beresford Kieran Bowe James Scozzi Helen Opie SOCIAL Madeleine Beresford Claudene Howell Mumtaz Hussain Daphne Robertson Gerard Sanders Helen Opie Kim Wintle SURREY JUNIOR LAWYERS DIVISION Martin Whitehorn (Chair) Alice Barrett Sapphira Gold Victoria Batstone Katrina Burrows Adele Edwards Amber Matheson Kate Lewis Chloe Wallington Alexandra Milson Tabitha Lee Kim Wintle Sonay Erten William Smith-Brix James Fry Nedra Daniel Grace Butler Bethany Walker Seema Gill Email: surreyjuniorlawyersdivision@gmail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ young-surrey-lawyers Instagram: jld_surrey Twitter: @YSL_Live / @SurreyJLD

INTRODUCTION

CEO Report SPRING 2022 Helen Opie

A

s I write this report, Easter is fast approaching and fortunately Spring is now upon us, although the current temperature doesn’t really reflect this. It’s been an exciting start to the year at Surrey Law Society HQ and I’m pleased to share with you some of the recent developments at the Society, which I hope you will find of interest.

at Daytona, Sandown Park, on Thursday 16th June, and this year we’re thrilled to be inviting friends from Kent Law Society to join in the fun. The SLS Legal Awards will return to the calendar on Thursday 22nd September, and we encourage all of you to nominate yourself or your colleagues in one of the 11 categories, details of which can be found later on.

We kicked of 2022 by sharing our programme of training and events for the year and are delighted to have received such a positive response to the planned activities. Continuing our pandemic-related activities, we have scheduled a range of webinars across the year that are completely free to SLS members. These cover a broad range of topics and practice areas, with sessions so far on the CQS, The Family Solutions Initiative, Contested Wills and Estates, Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace and No-Fault Divorce. Attendance at these webinars has been our highest ever and the feedback extremely positive, so we really do hope that they are adding value to your membership. Just a gentle reminder that only people nominated as members within your firm are eligible for free attendance, where others are asked to pay a £15 attendance fee, so please do ensure that you have all the correct people listed on your membership renewal notice.

Away from training and events, the Society has been delighted to renew its partnership with our 2021 patrons as well as welcoming new partners, Howden, Tower Street Finance and TWM Solicitors.

I would like to thank all our patrons, listed below, for their continued support, without which we would not be able to put on the comprehensive programme of activity for members.

In addition to free webinars, the Society has a full schedule of longer online courses, recent ones having taken place on ‘Protecting You and Your Client: Unmissable Guidance for Residential Conveyancers’ and ‘Pensions and Life Policies in the Context of Estate Planning’, and a number of in-person sessions, which can be booked at our lowest ever fee of £95 plus VAT. Forthcoming sessions include in-person courses on Maximising Family Wealth Through Efficient Tax Planning and a Residential Conveyancing Update for 2022, as well as an online course on Crypto-Assets in Divorce & Separation – An Introduction for Family Lawyers. You can view more information on each session and the full programme at www.surreylawsociety.org.uk.

The Society is also pleased to have resumed its Supporting Surrey programme, which is run in collaboration with Surrey Junior Lawyers Division and this time focuses on Mental Wellbeing. In February, we launched the programme with a session on ‘How to Leave the Office on Time Every Night: Tips on Achieving the Right Work Life Balance in 2022’ with Anthony Taylor and you can find an article on this later in the magazine. Our next webinar, taking place on 5th May, is ‘Burn Brighter than Your Imposter Syndrome’ and you can find more information and booking details for this on the Surrey Law Society website. Supporting Surrey webinars are free to members of Surrey Law Society, subscribers to the Surrey Junior Lawyers Division mailing list and students at the University of Law Guildford and School of Law at the University of Surrey.

In addition to training, we were also delighted to kick off our social events programme for the year with our inaugural John Perry Memorial Dinner, which took place on Thursday 31st March. This special occasion was held at Glenmore House in Surbiton and replaced our traditional President’s Dinner. It was an evening of music, laughter and great company and you can read more about the evening later in the magazine.

Looking to the future, we have scheduled our annual go-karting competition, the Past President’s Championship Cup, to take place

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HFS Milbourne Howden Moneypenny Finders International TWM Solicitors LawSure Insurance

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Landmark Information Group Tower Street Finance Chadwick Nott Pro-Drive IT Conscious Solutions

In other news, many of you may have recently received communications from our newest member of the team, Elouise Enright, who has joined the Society as Membership & Events Coordinator. Elouise joined us in March through the Government’s Kickstart Scheme and is already proving to be a great asset. I’m sure you will join me in welcoming Elouise to the Society and she looks forward to meeting you at a course or event soon.

You will hopefully by now have received your renewal notice for the membership year 2022-2023; thank you to those who have already processed your new subscription. This year we have added further to the list of benefits that are included in your membership and are delighted to announce a collaboration between Surrey Law Society and the Law Firm Marketing Club, which allows SLS members to attend or access recordings from the insightful, informative, and educational webinars run by the LFMC on a range of topics specifically focused on help law firms to do better marketing. We hope that you find this valuable.

So, it’s been a busy time for the Society, and we’re looking forward to more activity over the next few months. We very much hope to see you at the Past President’s Championship Cup, or one of our forthcoming webinars or courses in the very near future. ■ 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

LOCAL NEWS

Morr & Co – A change of name for leading law firms Morrisons Solicitors, Wheelers Solicitors and Harrops & Hepburn Solicitors O

n Monday 10th January 2022, the Morrisons Group, which includes Morrisons Solicitors, Wheelers Solicitors and Harrops & Hepburn Solicitors, rebranded to become Morr & Co. With eight offices across Surrey, Hampshire and South West London, Morr & Co is one of the South East’s leading law firms.

From its origins in Surrey in 1729, the firm has been growing and adapting; expanding into new areas, developing its people and offering a wider range of services.

In recent years Morr & Co has grown through natural development and through acquisition.

At the end of 2018 the firm merged with Harrops & Hepburn Solicitors in Oxted and then in 2019 with Wheelers Solicitors, acquiring their offices in Fleet, Farnborough and Ash Vale.

With both acquired firms having strong brands and great reputations in their respective regions, it was decided to keep their names, whilst integrating them into the Morrisons Group.

However, the time has come to bring the brands together. And so, on 10th January 2022, the firm became Morr & Co – the same team of expert solicitors, just under a new name.

Paul Harvey, Morr & Co’s Managing Partner said “Uniting the firm under a new and modern brand is very exciting for us. Morr & Co feels like a natural progression for the business. There’s a familiarity about it and a connection to our past and our rich heritage, but it’s also progressive and takes us into the future.”

Morr & Co now represents a broad and loyal client base across the region, which remains at the forefront of the work ethic and values of the firm.

The evolution of the firm It’s not the first time Morr & Co have changed name. In 1812 when George Morrison joined the firm, “Morrison” appeared in the company name for the first time. Since then, there have been various name changes, before becoming Morrisons Solicitors in 1978. With the company’s 300th anniversary approaching, the firm has taken the opportunity to modernise once again, while retaining an unbreakable link to its origins and heritage.

Over the past 20 years in particular, Morr & Co has seen enormous growth, both organically through the acquisition of talented lawyers and support staff, as well as more recently through mergers with other respected law firms.

8 | SURREYLAWYER

Why Morr & Co? Morrisons Solicitors has been known affectionately as Morr Law for many years. The firm’s new name represents that familiarity and respects their history. In addition, the “& Co” recognises the unification of their brands, and the company of talented individuals across the business.

Managing Partner, Paul, continued, “I passionately believe that everybody in the firm has a very important part to play, and the “& Co” represents just that. We’re in this together. We are a team.

We share our core values.”

The future of Morr & Co Morr & Co has long supported both individuals and businesses with their legal requirements – with the depth of knowledge, capabilities and resources of a large firm, and the approachability of a local practice.

Paul went on to say, “Whilst the visual part of our business has changed, I want to assure everyone that there will be no changes to the services that clients receive nor to our commitment to supporting those in the surrounding areas.

We hope that our clients and communities will come along on this journey with us, and see us as a modern, progressive law firm, who are moving forward, and responding and adapting to change, to provide the services they need from us today, and in the future.”

The firm promises to continue playing an active part in the communities in which it operates, supporting local charities and causes, and will remain heavily involved with its regional business communities. “This is part of who we are and that won’t be changing.” Paul added.

To find out more about Morr & Co and the legal services they provide, visit morrlaw.com. ■

EVENTS

John Perry

Surrey Law Society hosts inaugural John Perry Memorial Dinner

O

n 31st March, members, past members and past Presidents of Surrey Law Society joined family members, friends and associates of John Perry for the Society’s first John Perry Memorial Dinner, held at the beautiful Glenmore House in Surbiton. This special occasion was added to the SLS social programme, replacing the traditional President’s Dinner, to honour the enormous contribution John, who sadly passed away in October 2020, made to the Society and the wider legal community in Surrey.

John’s involvement with local law societies spanned over four decades, starting in 1978 when he was Social Secretary and a Committee Member of what was then called the Mid Surrey Law Society, and he was heavily involved in the merger of three local law societies to form The Surrey Law Society in the early 1990’s.

special by the longstanding connection he had to John and Rosemary, whom he met and became friends with shortly after leaving university, as part of a group of singers led by the British tenor, David Johnston. John and Rosemary, known to all for their generosity, showed Andrew many acts of kindness, including regular overnight stays.

John was a stalwart supporter of SLS, and he believed passionately in the profession and the role of the solicitor, and we hope that the introduction of this event to the social programme, goes some small way to express the gratitude we have for all he did for Surrey Law Society. ■

During his time John served as a Committee Member, as Secretary, twice as President, on the Sub-Committee for Conveyancing and Land Law and was a Surrey Council Member on the Council of The Law Society of England and Wales.

We were delighted that John’s family, Rosemary and Lucy, were in attendance at the dinner, along with so many people who have benefitted from John’s friendship and kindness.

Many guests shared their memories and experiences of John, including SLS members Ken Seakens, Robert Gray and Simon Leo, as well as friends from Ireland with whom John attended the much-loved SLS Walking Conference and past Surrey Law Society CEO, Sue Seakens.

The evening included a drinks reception accompanied by a string trio, and 3-course dinner including an excellent musical interlude from practicing solicitor and professional opera singer, Andrew Mayor. Andrew’s contribution was made all the more

SURREYLAWYER | 9

EVENTS

Nom in

now

ate

!

LEGAL AWARDS 2022 – Thursday 22nd September 2022 –

The SLS Legal Awards were introduced in 2018 to recognise the exceptional legal talent within the Surrey Law Society membership and celebrate the outstanding commitment to the profession across the county. Last year’s ceremony, our biggest yet, saw 250 attendees come together to recognise the achievement of peers and colleagues, who won awards in a range of categories and enjoyed a fantastic evening of celebration.

This year we are inviting nominations in the following 11 categories, including a brand new ‘Employment Lawyer of the Year’ award, and would encourage any member to nominate themselves or a colleague before the closing date, Thursday 28 April 2022.

The nomination process couldn’t be simpler, you need only download the appropriate nomination form at

www.surreylawsociety.org.uk, review the criteria for the category selected and write your entry with a maximum of 1,000 words. 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.

We would love to see entries from across the membership, from sole practitioners to large firms, and members are entitled to nominate for more than one category if they feel they meet the criteria for each. The only thing to remember is that nominees must be members of the Society to be eligible, so if you’re not sure who within your firm is listed under your membership, please don’t hesitate to contact the SLS office for clarification on this, or to sign up any colleagues not currently subscribed so that they are eligible.

1. Law Firm of the Year

2. Lawyer of the Year

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.

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.

3. Commercial / Corporate Lawyer of the Year

4. Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the 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. Nominees will be accepted from Lawyers working in corporate finance, private equity, banking, insolvency, Intellectual Property and other commercial disciplines.

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 dispute resolution 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.

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EVENTS

5. Employment Lawyer of the Year

6. Family 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 from those who practice in any area of employment law.

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 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.

7. Paralegal of the Year

8. Private Client Lawyer of the Year

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.

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.

9. Property Lawyer of the Year

10. Rising Star 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 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.

11. Support Team Member of the Year

Could it be you?

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’.

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 winners?

GO TO SURREYLAWSOCIETY.ORG.UK FOR MORE INFORMATION SURREYLAWYER | 11

EVENTS

Chris Andrews Memorial Client Interviewing Competition 2022

SLS President, Mumtaz Hussain

A

fter a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, SLS was thrilled to sponsor and support the Chris Andrews Memorial Client Interviewing Competition, which took place at the University of Law, Guildford, on 26th February.

The Chris Andrews Memorial Client Interviewing Competition started in 2005; it is a three-way competition between the University of Surrey, the University of Law (Guildford Campus) and Royal Holloway, University of London, with each institution taking it in turns to host the competition.

Teams from each institution take part in the competition, with each team comprising of two students. They are interviewed for up to 30 minutes on a particular scenario and up to two different fact patterns. The interviews are judged by legal practitioners who are also members of the Surrey Law Society.

Each team is judged according to the National Client Interviewing Competition criteria, including ten components, namely establishing an effective professional relationship, obtaining information, learning the client’s expectations and needs, problem analysis, legal analysis and giving advice, developing reasoned courses of action, assisting the client to make an informed choice, effectively concluding the interview, teamwork, 12 | SURREYLAWYER

Winning Team: Izabela Toma and Khola Shah and ethical behaviour. At the end of the interviews the judges provide valuable feedback to each team on their performances and deliberate as a panel to decide upon the winners.

Following deliberation, President of Surrey Law Society, Mumtaz Hussain, announced the winners of the competition and awarded prizes. The first prize was won by Izabela Toma and Khola Shah from the University of Law; the second prize was won by Sarah Morgan and Ryanne A El-Gheriani from the University of Surrey; and the third prize was won by Lidia Ballocchi and Lauren Andrews from the Royal Holloway. ■

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

The Case for Diversity and Inclusion

By Mary Eniolu, Founder, Can Do Academy

A

ccording to Deloitte’s 2021 Global Human Capital Trends Report, recognition of the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace has increased by 74% in the last three years. In our experience and in the work we do in training and development and speaking to business owners, we find that while most business owners will agree that there are benefits to be had in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce, unfortunately, many businesses and organisations still think implementing initiatives like Diversity and Inclusion programmes is expensive business, costing lots in time and money, when in reality the real cost is in not implementing it. In today’s world, Diversity and Inclusion is not an option but a necessity for every organisation that wants to remain relevant, profitable and lead its market in the future and here is why.

1. It’s the right thing to do As humans, we all have the same basic need to feel loved, respected, valued and to be understood. Everyone has the right to fully show up as their real authentic self, full of confidence in who they are, not who they think they are expected to be. While the Laws that undergird Diversity and Inclusion are vital and we breach them at our peril, we must not forget that embracing Diversity and Inclusion is fundamentally the right thing to do.

2. It’s not going anywhere Even in the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Diversity and Inclusion still managed to receive sustained global attention. It is not going anywhere, especially as we see more and more Millennials in the workforce. While data on what percentage of the workforce will be Millennials by 2025 is inconclusive, what is clear is that they will be the largest group at work and if there is one thing we know about Millennials, it is that they care very much about social issues like the environment and social justice. One can just imagine the recruitment challenges if the largest portion of the pool you can recruit from does not want to work for an organisation like yours.

It’s not just about recruitment either. More and more, members of the public are looking to spend their hard-earned cash with companies that care about more than profits.

3. It leads to increased productivity and profits The data tells us that an organisation with a diverse and inclusive culture is healthier, more profitable and more sustainable. This should come as no surprise. When employees feel included, they engage and when they are engaged, they are more productive. When they feel excluded, they disengage. In fact, they might as well have quit, but keep getting paid. Having a truly diverse and inclusive culture, where everyone feels like they belong, frees the employee to give their employer their discretionary goodwill, where they go above and beyond the call of duty. It’s a win-win situation because the employee is more productive and feels more fulfilled and happier in their role and the organisation is more productive.

4. It is cost saving According to the Office of National Statistics, an estimated 141.4 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in the UK in 2018, the equivalent to 4.4 days per worker.

It is interesting to note that minor illnesses were given as the reason for over a quarter of days lost in 2018, about 27.2%, while mental health conditions accounted for about 12.4%. A 2020 study by Viking revealed that fake sick days cost UK businesses £5.6 billion in 2019. Not only is it easier for someone to call in sick rather than face one more day of bullying, racial abuse or some other form of discriminatory or prejudicial behaviour by a boss or colleague, but such toxic environments can also affect the mental and physical health of staff, causing them to take time off work, which costs the company in loss of revenue. Not forgetting the cost of: ■ l osing and replacing employees ■ failure to attract new talent ■ lack of innovation and loss of diversity of ideas and knowledge ■ settlements and payouts for discriminations cases ■ interruptions to business operations by way of lost time and other disruptions What can be done?

The conversation about Diversity and Inclusion is not about asking people to change overnight Instead, it is about holding space for difficult, but necessary conversations to be had and being open to ideas, perspectives, and experiences outside of your own. One very simple, practical step EVERY organisation can take towards creating a more diverse and inclusive culture is to create time and space for everyone in the organisation, leaders and teams alike, to think and talk through the issues, to ask the question…how are we doing in this area, and could we be doing more? The answer of course is there is always more that can be done. ■ Mary Eniolu – Speaker, Trainer and Coach. Mary is a solicitor and professional speaker, trainer, and coach. She is founder of Can Do Academy, a training and development company offering Institute of Leadership and Management approved and CPD accredited training and coaching solutions to individuals and organisations, helping them increase performance and to achieve desired outcomes.

Sources referred to: 1. McKinsey’s Article – Why Diversity Matters dated 1st January 2015.

2. Yahoo’s Article – Workers took almost 52m sickies in 2019 dated 29th January 2020.

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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Will the SQE affect Diversity in the Legal Profession?

Posted by Isabelle Booth, Client Services Associate at Legal Futures, Associate at Flex Legal

I

n recent years, law firms have been increasingly pressured to attract a more diverse pool of young lawyers.

One of the fundamental motivations behind the introduction of the centralised Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) assessments was to address this issue.

This article investigates what the SQE means for diversity and considers the recent developments in this area.

How diverse is the legal profession now?

As a starting point, it’s useful to look at the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) most recent diversity statistics (https://www. sra.org.uk/sra/equality-diversity/key-findings/diverse-legalprofession/), to really highlight the problem that the SQE is aiming to address.

They show that 3% of all solicitors are disabled, compared to 13% of the UK general workforce. In addition, 21% of solicitors are Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic group (BAME), broken down as 15% Asian, 3% Black, 2% from multiple ethnicities and 1% from other ethnic groups.

The lack of diversity can be further highlighted by the fact that 21% of solicitors attended a fee-paying school, compared to 7% of the general population.

It is clear from these statistics that more needs to be done to open up the legal profession to all members of society, to ensure that the legal community truly reflects the people it serves.

The SQE pilot studies: a cause for concern?

The suggestion that the SQE would aid diversity in the legal profession encountered a significant obstacle during its initial pilot studies. It was found that White candidates generally outperformed their BAME counterparts in assessments of functional legal knowledge and other skill sets that were proposed to form part of SQE1.

This result threatened to undermine the efficacy of the SQE in addressing diversity as employers are likely to consider SQE results in their hiring process. If White candidates perform better than their BAME peers in the SQE, they will also perform better in the job market meaning issues with diversity will remain.

Shortly after the SQE pilot studies, the SRA published an equality, diversity and inclusion risk assessment (https://www. sra.org.uk/globalassets/documents/sra/equality-diversity/ sqe-edi-risk-assessment-may-2020.pdf?version=49f457) that said the methods used in the SQE could not be seen as “intrinsically biased” and the outcomes were equal to those seen in the current legal practice course (LPC). But if that’s the case, how will the SQE have any positive effect on diversity at all?

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What are the benefits of the SQE for diversity?

The main way in which the SQE aims to tackle the lack of diversity that we currently see is by removing the gamble of the LPC. At the moment, there is a significant imbalance in the number of students passing the LPC and available training contracts, causing an unhelpful bottleneck. This means many aspiring solicitors are forced to find around £14,000 to fund the LPC with no guarantee that they will even be able to qualify and see a return on their investment.

Finding this amount of money is a struggle for anyone, particularly those from lower-income households, meaning a number of highly intelligent minds are excluded from the profession. These fees also create a high level of risk for those who are required to take out loans to fund the course.

The SQE removes this uncertainty by allowing SQE candidates to qualify as a solicitor with two years of qualifying work experience (QWE).

QWE is extremely flexible; it must simply be grounded in legal work and provide candidates with the opportunity to develop some of the SRA competences, which broadly relate to areas of legal knowledge and legal skills.

QWE can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis and can be paid or voluntary. So, the SQE puts the control back with the candidates; if they cannot secure a training contract (or the SQE equivalent), they can look elsewhere for paralegal roles that will allow them to qualify.

The minimum costs of the SQE are also substantially lower than the LPC. The SQE examinations, which are technically the only essential expenditure associated with the SQE, cost around £4,000.

By contrast, the average price of the LPC is a huge £14,000.

The difference between these two routes is reduced when you factor in the price of SQE preparatory courses. However, the considerable variability in these prep course fees means the SQE still has the potential to be a much cheaper option for students.

There is also much to be said for the standardisation of the SQE. Previously, the LPC examinations were set by individual course providers. By contrast, the SQE is administered by the SRA’s partner, Kaplan, ensuring all candidates are assessed in a consistent way.

This means that there should be less emphasis placed on where candidates completed their SQE preparation and any previous education or opportunities.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

A report by the Bridge Group (https://static1.squarespace. com/static/5c18e090b40b9d6b43b093d8/t/5f0d4e7ca194 1063f2d63f97/1594707581191/SQE_BridgeGroup_July20_ FINAL.pdf), which specialises in diversity and social equality, supports the idea that the SQE could have a beneficial impact on diversity.

The report said the SQE has the potential to increase candidates’ choice when it came to legal training. It also hypothesised that costs may be driven down by competitive pressure.

However, Nicholas Miller, chief executive of the Bridge Group, did acknowledge that “there is no silver bullet to address diversity in the legal profession” and that the success of the SQE in addressing diversity issues will “depend on how much legal business and training providers embrace the opportunities around these reforms”.

Recent developments The Law Society has recently called on the government to formulate a loan system specifically for students undertaking the SQE. It warned that, if no loan system was devised, candidates from less affluent backgrounds could encounter a “significant barrier” to entering the legal profession. This would have significant implications for diversity and mean that the issues faced are nearly identical to those associated with the LPC. The Law Society also explained that the absence of a loan system would prevent smaller law firms from taking on aspiring solicitors, which is one of the key benefits of the flexibility that the SQE offers.

Smaller law firms may not be able to cover the costs of SQE preparatory courses, meaning candidates will continue to be drawn to large City law firms. Thus, the best talent would remain with these firms, and candidates’ choice of firms to apply to would be limited.

Whilst large firms may be the desired environment for some, others may prefer the intimacy and responsibility that comes with working at a smaller firm. A government-backed loan system would ensure that candidates have a choice and can pursue their careers in the environment that is right for them.

Although the details of this loan system would have to be considered further, the Law Society has suggested several potential avenues, such as use of the apprenticeship levy in a more flexible manner or an extension of an existing loan scheme.

Regardless of these details, it is clear that some consideration of SQE prep course funding must take place to ensure that the SQE has the desired effect on diversity in the legal sector and helps this sector to reflect the community it serves.

Article by Isabelle Booth for Flex Legal, https://flex.legal/?utm_ source=surreylawyermagazine&utm_medium=article&utm_ campaign=sqediversityblog-16.02.22 and originally published by Legal Futures, www.legalfutures.co.uk. ■

Legal profession celebrates LGBT History Month

O

n 1 February 2022, solicitors in England and Wales celebrated LGBT History Month by participating in events across the country to raise public awareness of LGBT+ people and their history.

“LGBT History Month is a great time for colleagues to celebrate progress towards widening LGBT+ diversity and inclusion in their workplace and take stock of what more can be done,” said Law Society of England and Wales president I. Stephanie Boyce.

The Law Society has been gathering data on the experiences of our LGBT+ colleagues and, in 2021, published landmark research which showed we have seen a significant change in attitudes to LGBT+ equality and visibility in the profession in the last decade.

“A higher proportion of respondents reported positive, rather than negative, experiences in the workplace, as a result of their LGBT+ identity.

“The majority of respondents said they were able to be their authentic selves, working in organisations with inclusive cultures, alongside support from colleagues and senior staff.

“The experiences of our LGBT+ colleagues were brought to light – including coming out to colleagues or clients, experiences of microaggressions and the support from allies.

“There is, however, still work to be done. Incidents of homophobia, biphobia or transphobia often went unreported, with some lacking confidence that the issue would be resolved effectively while others said the behaviours weren’t serious enough to report formally.

“We encourage our members to read this research so they can use the insights to make a positive change to their working practices.” ■

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Surrey Junior Lawyers Division S

urrey JLD looks back at what the new committee has been up to since our Christmas Quiz, which turns out to have been quite a bit!

website’s Wellness Hub. LawCare is the mental health charity for the entire legal community throughout the UK and Ireland including aspiring lawyers.

Networking We were delighted to see so many of you at our afternoon tea at The Tea Terrace in Guildford for International Women’s Day, held with the Association of Women Solicitors Surrey. Surrey Law Society President Mumtaz Hussain and Chair of Moore Barlow LLP Helen Goatley spoke about their experiences progressing through the profession and the need to continue to strive to equality. £168 was raised for our charity of the year, The Emily Ash Trust, thanks to the sterling work of our Charity Representative Katrina Burrows.

Cocoa With The Committee We started 2022 with an Employment Law Cocoa in January starring private practice solicitor Chantelle de Filippis, in-house solicitor Thomas Haines, consultant solicitor Richard Hiron and corporate solicitor specialising in employee ownership trusts Hannah Bignell. In February we had a Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence Cocoa with Sonay Erten talking about acting for claimants, legal assistant Sarah Wilson on acting for defendants, then paralegal now solicitor Will Johnson on keeping doctors out of trouble and in-house solicitor Nezire Turkan on the varied work at the Ministry of Defence.

Career development February commenced with a talk on obtaining a training, newly qualified or senior position with Chadwick Nott’s Penny Heighway and Morr & Co LLP’s Jenny Turner, organised

by Social Media & Publications Representative Alexandra Milson. We also conducted a survey of our members with key demand being apparent for career development events beyond qualification including becoming a senior associate or partner, so watch this space.

Access to the profession We have been busy in our outreach to aspiring lawyers, with Universities & Colleges Student Representative, Bethany Walker, contacting several local universities and colleges, and having already spoken alongside our Chair Martin Whitehorn to pupils at Epsom College about accessing the legal profession. Also, Social Media & Publications Representative Tabitha Lee discussed her journey into law and trainee life with students at King Edward’s School, while Martin Whitehorn was one of the judges at Guildford’s University of Law Client Interviewing Competition.

Well-being In January Sonay Erten hosted the second of our ‘In Conversation With’ series of talks, this time with CEO of LawCare Elizabeth Rimmer, LawCare peer supporter and former Surrey JLD committee member Céline Winham and LawCare Champion Chloe Benton. Sonay has written key takeaways from both this and the executive Junior Lawyers Division’s recent webinar on burnout on the Wellness Blogs section of our

The Surrey JLD’s Networking Event for International Women’s Day, held with the Association of Women Solicitors Surrey.

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Martin Whitehorn’s endeavours to obtain an in-house perspective at these Cocoas hosted by Bethany Walker has proved very valuable for attendees, with lovely feedback received.

“Super informative. Loved the insights from the 3 different routes, private, in house and consultancy. Was great to hear how they differ and the advantages and disadvantages. Will definitely be attending more events going forward.”

“It was really helpful! All the different perspectives, thorough answers and each with a clear passion for their chosen way of working. Really helpful and reminded me that I should do a seat in employment if possible.”

“It was a great session. Particularly the insights into working in-house, which isn't something I'd considered before. Thanks to you and the JLD for organising it!”

“I enjoyed the comparison between the in-house solicitor’s perspective and private practice as in house is always something I've considered. Thank you for a very enjoyable event.”

We are eager to give active Surrey JLD members looking to stand out in their chosen practice areas the opportunity to be Cocoa speakers to help support their careers, so please do contact us at surreyjuniorlawyersdivision@gmail.com in order to be considered. ■

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Council Member’s Report

By Alastair Logan OBE

T

he Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed it, have caused many changes and challenges.

Some are to punish the aggressor and some to compensate for the fact that we are limited in what support we can provide to the Ukrainians. Some will reduce the wealth of oligarchs and others will have an impact on our cost of living.

Our laws are changing. Measures that should have been in place years ago to prevent the laundering of dirty money in our country are only now being introduced. With these changes comes the blame game. Politicians and others anxious to burnish their credentials in the aftermath of the invasion have chosen to accuse our profession of behaviour that they describe as frustrating the sanctions or aiding and abetting the oligarchy that have established themselves and/or their money in our country. Politicians have been happy to accept Russian money and the benefits that wealth brings with it and to allow the laundering of dirty money in our financial system and properties for years – long after the truth was there for all to see. It is galling to have to remind them that lawyers act within the law and that providing services for clients does not mean that they share their causes.

Our profession faces the conflict between Articles 14 and 18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. Art 14 states: “Lawyers, in protecting the rights of their clients and in promoting the cause of justice, shall seek to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms recognised by national and international law and shall at all times act freely and diligently in accordance with the law and recognised standards and ethics of the legal profession.” And Art 18 states: “Lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions.” Rights for some may be achieved by the loss of rights for others. We cannot look solely to professional ethics for a solution, as legislation and court decisions will inevitably change the situation. The moral outrage at the enablers of Russian oligarchs and entities cannot be met by defensive statements which only serve to convince those outraged that lawyers are complicit in illegal activity. They are not. But some activity we have undertaken (for example in SLAPPs) leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

The Law Society has been proactive. It immediately condemned the invasion and offered our support to the people of Ukraine.

It has defended the reputation of the profession against professional enablement and Strategic Litigation lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and those who would scapegoat our profession. These are legal actions that are taken, not necessarily with the goal of winning in court, but intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defence until they abandon their criticism or opposition. The government has reversed its stance on openness to Russian wealth over the weeks which have elapsed since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine having done nothing in the last 20 years save for the weak and ineffective Unexplained Wealth Orders legislation. The Law Society has provided guidance and help on the terms of the Economic Crime Act 2022 many of which were adopted. It has responded to the Sanctions Regime and other government actions in a positive and constructive way. It continues to lobby for improvements in the legislation and has also provided expert advice and insight into the development of the sanctions regime and emerging government thinking on SLAPPs. It has signposted members to pro bono support for Ukrainians and other philanthropic initiatives. It has supported lawyers at risk in the conflict reaching out to the Ukrainian legal profession. It has also been supporting Members and firms withdrawing from work with Russian clients, cutting ties with colleagues abroad and closing their Russian offices.

The Law Society has offered to assist in bringing together the expertise that could formulate a sanctions regime that was not vulnerable to challenge. In doing so It had to remind those who were attacking lawyers for being enablers that the right to legal representation was not to be compromised and was a pillar of the Rule of Law. An example of the work that is being done is the provision of an advice centre with 430 volunteer lawyers by the city firm DLA Piper to Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK set up 4 days after the invasion. We should also remember that The Law Society and our members have been in the forefront of providing help, support, and sanctuary for those citizens of Afghanistan who faced discrimination and death with a government immigration climate which was far less comfortable than the one that now obtains for Ukrainians – a change brought about but public demand. ■ SURREYLAWYER | 17

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The Law Society

By Beth Quinn, Key Account Manager, The Law Society

INTERNATIONAL Russian invasion of Ukraine The Law Society have condemned the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine and have praised the defence of the Ukrainian nation by its armed forces and its civilian citizens. We express solidarity with our fellow lawyers and their families in Ukraine and pledge to do what we can to help in the coming days, weeks and months.

The Law Society have reached to the Ukrainian National Bar Association and the Ukrainian Bar Association. We also stand with the Russian people who oppose their government’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and lawyers who are defending the rule of law in the region. We have put out a strong statement in support of Ukraine which you can view on our website.

Law Society statement on Ukraine: “The Law Society are gravely concerned with the news from Ukraine and are continuing to support our members in the region. A clear principle of international law is that a state is prohibited from the use or threat of force against another state.

We are standing in solidarity with the Ukranian people, the Ukranian National Bar Association, the Ukranian Bar Association and with the Russian people who oppose their government’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and lawyers who are defending the rule of law in the region.”

Our internal international policy advisor continues to monitor developments before international tribunals and should there be any developments here, I shall let you know.

Our ongoing Lawyers at Risk programme supports lawyers and human rights defenders who are hindered in carrying out their professional duties. We provide support by sending letters to state authorities about specific cases and we carry out more substantive and strategic work to improve lawyers’ safety. This applies less to Ukraine at present, which is a conflict situation where everyone is at risk, but more so in Russia we are keeping an eye on lawyers who may be at risk for assisting protesters, amongst other things. This has always been the case, however, despite the current conflict.

We submit briefs to domestic high courts and international tribunals to change legislation and practices that pose a threat to the independence of the legal profession and are detrimental to the effective functioning of the judicial system. We also carry out trial observations in different countries to support lawyers at risk.

The programme aims to: raise awareness of the risks and challenges associated with being a lawyer; highlight the importance of an independent legal profession; foster solidarity 18 | SURREYLAWYER

with colleagues abroad. We collaborate with a network of nongovernmental organisations, international institutions, state agencies and bar associations for advocacy and follow-up on interventions and submissions.

Our intervention tracker compiles data and helps us to analyse regional trends of intimidation and identify places where the independence of the legal profession is particularly threatened.

The programme is supported by our International Action Team (IAT), a volunteer group of practising and retired solicitors, as well as the Lawyers at Risk core group of law firms that are members of the Law Society.

Our Immigration Law Committee also reviews and promotes improvements in immigration and asylum law, practice and procedure – something apt at present with refugees from Ukraine who are facing a difficult process when trying to get to the UK. Christopher Cole, a member of the committee, recently spoke with LBC about this process.

We also have a page dedicated to how lawyers can show support for people in Ukraine. This includes information on Pro Bono initiatives Ukraine Advice Project UK and Ukraine Justice Alliance as well as resources for UK nationals in Ukraine.

Sanctions The Law Society supports sanctions as a response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, which are aimed at encouraging Russia to cease actions destabilising, undermining, or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.

Law firms and their clients – like all other businesses – must comply with the government’s sanctions regime. Solicitors have an important role advising their clients to ensure they comply with the rules. Solicitors employed by government also play a key part in drawing up the sanctions and making sure that they are watertight.

However, we are again hearing rhetoric about solicitors as ‘professional enablers’ – this is a concerning and damaging narrative on the reputation of the profession. The Law Society will continue to champion the profession and counter the narrative on this topic.

All solicitors operate within a strong regulatory framework overseen by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and must have appropriate policies in place to make sure they comply with sanctions legislation. This includes carrying out regular and appropriate checks of sanctions lists.

The Law Society has guidance on the UK sanctions regime which sets out: T he criminal offences under the regime H ow to carry out a risk assessment O bligations to check clients against sanctions lists

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H ow to apply for a licence to act for a client on a sanctions list Y our reporting obligations You can check our guidance on the UK sanctions regime to find out what steps you and your firm must take to comply.

UK sanctions list (https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/the-uk-sanctions-list) UK sanctions on Russia (https://www.gov.uk/government/ collections/uk-sanctions-on-russia) SRA statement on sanctions compliance (https://www.sra. org.uk/sra/news/press/financial-sanctions-russia/) FCA statement on new financial sanctions on Russia (https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/new-financialsanctions-measures-relation-russia) UK/New Zealand trade deal The UK is continuing to develop its Asia-Pacific focus by agreeing a free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand, which reflects the importance of market access for professional services in both economies.

The UK-NZ FTA commits to liberalising services in a way that strengthens bilateral relations and deepens market access, making it easier for professionals like lawyers to operate in each other’s economies. Professional services and mechanisms to facilitate further recognition of professional qualifications are also outlined in the agreement.

The Professional Services Annex confirms existing rights of UK and New Zealand lawyers to advise clients in their home country and international law and to provide arbitration, mediation and conciliation services in the other country’s territory using their original qualifications and title.

The agreement also establishes a legal services regulatory dialogue, which will help relevant legal bodies to facilitate a route for requalification that’s transparent and proportionate.

It will also encourage greater collaboration and knowledgesharing on regulatory matters and wider issues affecting trade in legal services.

UK workers will benefit from improved business travel arrangements and professionals such as lawyers will be able to work in New Zealand more easily, allowing UK companies to set up shop with the best British talent to grow a sophisticated international legal market across both jurisdictions.

The agreement includes a domestic regulation chapter – a first in New Zealand and UK FTA practices – reflecting both countries’ support for ambitious rules building on those currently under development in World Trade Organisation negotiations.* The Law Society look forward to contributing to discussions on improving smoother trade in legal services with key bodies, including the New Zealand Law Society, and welcome the clear framework proposed under the FTA with New Zealand to further this opportunity.

REGULATION Economic Crime Act The Economic Crime Act has received Royal Assent and has been welcomed by the Law Society of England and Wales.

The Act will help the government uncover potential criminal activity in the UK and we have welcomed the amendments which have improved the legislation for the benefit of both

consumers and professionals. We have supported the government’s aim to improve transparency of property ownership in the UK and a new register for overseas entities.

During the Act’s passage through parliament, we highlighted ways to strengthen the legislation and address potential gaps with existing regimes and are pleased to see that, following the introduction of amendments, many of these have now been taken forward.

The Act now gives investigators much improved ability to shine a light on who the beneficial owner of a UK property is. We understand the Act needed to be brought in quickly, given the recent events in Ukraine. Further improvements should be possible via implementation of the legislation and related workstreams.

This includes completing the reform of Companies House and resolving some of the tricky issues that remain in the People with Significant Control regime – which enhances the transparency of ultimate ownership of UK companies.

Moving forward, the Law Society is happy to offer our expertise on these matters to make sure that the Act meets its ambitions.

Read the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 at https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3120.

Consultation: SIF/PSYROC We have been clear as an organisation that we are opposed to the potential closure of SIF and termination of PSYROC and have now submitted a response to the SRA’s consultation.

This response, when it was in draft format, was shared with you in confidence via the Local Law Society Bulletin to assist you with your own responses to the consultation. We also made available a short template response on our website to assist the wider membership with their responses.

A summary of the consultation, and the implications for the profession and the public is available on our website (https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/consultationresponses/sra-post-six-year-run-off-cover-and-solicitorsindemnity-fund).

The SRA will consider all responses received and we expect a decision to be announced in the spring. If the SRA decides that, having considered the matter further, it would be better to retain the SIF for the ongoing provision of PSYROC then the Law Society would offer our support. However, should the closure of SIF press on we shall be forced to consider other options. We will remain active in the pursuit of a solution that will protect the interests of the profession, consumers and the public at large.

Consultation: Financial Penalties In November 2021, the SRA consulted on proposed reforms to its approach to financial penalties in relation to traditional law firms and individuals. Amongst the proposals, the SRA sought an increase to its internal fining powers from its current maximum of £2,000 to £25,000 – more than 12 times the current limit. The Law Society has said that such a steep rise is inappropriate, and we share our members’ concerns about the SRA acting as an investigator, prosecutor and judge without independent scrutiny. We have instead suggested a more appropriate limit between £5,000 and £7,500.

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Read the Law Society’s full response at https://www. lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/consultation-responses/srareview-of-financial-penalties-for-individuals-and-firms.

SQE In November 2021, over 1000 candidates (including 27 solicitor apprentices) took the first-ever Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) – SQE1. The candidates received their results a few weeks ago, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed an overall pass rate of 53%.

The SQE1 assessment is made up of two parts – Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) 1 and FLK2 – which candidates are required to pass in order to pass the SQE1 overall.

Of the 1,090 candidates that took the SQE1 in November, 683 were women, 376 were men and 25 preferred not to say – the SRA reported no difference between the pass rates (54%) of men and women. That said, there was a reported difference between the pass rates of white candidates (464) compared to candidates of colour. According to the SRA’s report, the percentage from each group that passed is as follows:

hite candidates – 66%; W Asian/Asian British – 43%; Black/Black British – 39%; Mixed/multiple ethnic groups – 58%; and other ethnic groups – 41%.

There has been continued coverage of the pass-rate disparity between white candidates and candidates of colour, and the Law Society has welcomed the news that the SRA has commissioned in-depth research so it can better understand the causes of differential attainment in legal qualifications.

Research will be conducted by the University of Exeter, and the SRA will continue to monitor and report on performance by candidates by ethnicity after each assessment. The SRA have noted that one of the benefits of the SQE is the rich dataset that it will provide over time to help explore this issue. They have said that they will provide more detailed analysis across a number of assessments in Kaplan's annual report, the first of which will be published in 2023.

First SQE assessment results and breakdown of available data is available at https://www.sra.org.uk/SQE1results.

A2J/ RULE OF LAW Nationality and Borders Bill The Nationality and Borders Bill, which is set to overhaul the immigration system for asylum seekers and refugees, is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords.

We believe that, if signed into law, this bill will contravene international law, damage access to justice, and have an impact on lawyers working on immigration cases.

This will be of utmost importance to many of our members and we ask that you familiarise yourself with the Law Society’s stance on the matter and alert any of your peers who need to see it: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/ topics/immigration/nationality-and-borders-bill?sc_ camp=EF0D3A16FB1F40E0CE95D51522FEDBFF. Procurement of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has announced its intention to 20 | SURREYLAWYER

begin the procurement of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract in October 2021 for services to commence on 1 October 2022.

The 2022 Contract will run for an initial one-year period, capable of extension in further increments of up to one year each, with a maximum term of three years. The aim is to provide flexibility in order to try to align the contract with the outcome of the Independent Criminal Legal Aid Review.

While we welcomed the opportunity for new firms to enter the market, we expressed some concerns about the difficulty of planning for the future that a series of one-year contracts will present. Financial commitments such as leases generally require a commitment of far longer than one year. There also remains a lack of clarity as to how any changes that may arise from the ICLAR will be incorporated into the contract.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Diversity Access Scheme Part of our purpose at the Law Society is to drive excellence in the legal profession. We want to make sure that the profession is more representative and inclusive.

Our Diversity Access Scheme (DAS) (https://www.lawsociety. org.uk/campaigns/diversity-access-scheme/) helps to make positive changes around diversity and inclusion within the profession. Applications for 2022 are now open and we’re inviting talented aspiring solicitors to apply.

The scheme aims to help improve social mobility and diversity in the legal profession by supporting people who face exceptional social, educational, financial or personal obstacles to qualifying as a solicitor. It is open to those looking to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC) or the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) who need help with funding, accessing real work experience opportunities or meaningful mentoring and might otherwise struggle to get the support they need to succeed.

To date, the scheme has supported more than 260 talented awardees to pursue their career ambitions. During the 2021 application process we received 277 applications, shortlisted 34 applicants for interview and made 15 awards.

You can see the results of the 2021 scheme in our report which shares insight on:

t he application and interview process How DAS was marketed and promoted Commentary from our awardees Anonymised diversity data of applicants through different stages of the application process

The 2022 application period opened on 23 February and will close at midnight on 20 April 2022. There’s more information (including how individuals can apply) at https://www. lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/diversity-access-scheme.

If you are interested in hearing more about how you can support the DAS scheme, please get in touch with beth.quinn@lawsociety.org.uk.

Other resources Race Equality Week was held in February – and was a time to reflect on what you and your firm or organisation are doing to address barriers to equality and inclusion faced by your Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues. The Law Society has

REPORT

produced a practical toolkit to aid you in this: promote race inclusivity in the workplace.

It has also been two years since the first ‘Legally Disabled?’ research report was published, exploring the experiences of disabled people in the legal profession and identifying ways in which we can create change to become more inclusive and accessible.

On the theme of disability inclusion, we have a new article (https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/lawyers-withdisabilities/from-access-to-inclusion-neurodiversity-atwork) from Arwen Makin (senior crown prosecutor at CPS) who provides practical examples of reasonable adjustments, at recruitment and employment level, for neurodivergent people.

It’s a great article that discusses the importance and impact of adjustments and inclusion.

We’re also really pleased to share the recordings of our diversity and inclusion conference. Across six recordings, speakers explore several strands of D&I (mental health; LGBT+, disability, race/ethnicity; gender; social mobility) by discussing their perspectives and offering insights to individuals and organisations alike. The conference was held last September in conjunction with Leeds Law Society, and if you were unable to attend, I would encourage you to catch up and listen to personal experiences, practical advice and insights from expert panelists.

Want to feature in Surrey Lawyer?

To advertise in Surrey Lawyer, please call Catherine McCarthy our Business Features Editor on 0151 236 4141 or email catherine@ benhampublishing.com.

Society Membership Membership details:

To apply for membership please contact:

Annual Subscriptions: Corporate Subscriptions: Solicitor: Solicitor: Honorary Membership: Associate Membership:

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

£98 per person, per year £1,850 per year (20+ fee earners) £60 (not in private practice) £35 (not practising) Free Free – no voting rights

SURREYLAWYER | 21

FEATURE

Understanding money laundering and the enablers

By Alastair Logan OBE

R

ecent events have caused our profession to be accused of being “enablers” to those seeking to launder dirty money. The vast majority of the profession has not had any involvement with money laundering save for implementing processes to prevent them being used for such a purpose.

There have been sustained and high-profile allegations made against lawyers, some of which have been made by Ministers who should know better. Firms have been “named and shamed” in Parliament using the cloak of Parliamentary Privilege. Our Prime Minister is quoted as saying: “The legal profession and everyone involved in assisting those who wish to hide money in London and in assisting corrupt oligarchs have been set on notice that their actions are under scrutiny”. This from the Leader of the Party in Government which is mired with allegations of accepting Russian money and gifts in exchange for influence.1 Most people do not understand the complexities of offshore tax which has co-existed with the ordinary world for years.

What makes the offshore tax havens so attractive is the secrecy that they offer to those who use them. Coupled with absent or inconsistent scrutiny, they have served the rich well. They have become a way for individuals to hide money as well as for banks to derive income and to move cash around to avoid fluctuations in the currency rates.

22 | SURREYLAWYER

Alastair Logan OBE All this started to change when the Panama Papers2 became available in 2016. The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and lawyer–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The whistle-blower who leaked the documents to German journalist Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, remains anonymous. Journalists from 107 media organizations in 80 countries analysed documents detailing the operations of the law firm. After more than a year of analysis, the first news stories were published on April 3, 2016, along with 150 of the documents themselves. The project represents an important

FEATURE

milestone in the use of data journalism software tools and mobile collaboration. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider called Mossack Fonseca. The documents contain personal financial information about wealthy individuals and public officials that had previously been kept private. While offshore business entities are legal, reporters found that some of the Mossack Fonseca shell corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and evading international sanctions. The unprecedented release of these documents will do little to help Panama with its decadeslong trouble with money laundering. Since the days of Noriega’s dictatorship, Panama has worked to enact legislation against money-laundering but have done little to enforce it. According to a 2014 report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), “authorities [had] not conducted any study or assessment of the risks of money laundering or terrorist financing associated with drug trafficking and other related crimes”. The Panama Papers show how Mossack Fonseca handled the assets of, inter alia, many heads of state who are accused of laundering money, evading tax, and avoiding sanctions.

A second mass of 13.4 million leaked documents occurred in 2017 relating to a Bermudan law firm called Appleby, an international trust and corporate services company operating worldwide, and 19 tax havens' company registries. These are now known as the Paradise Papers.3 These became subject to a special investigation by The Guardian and 95 media partners worldwide. The files reveal the offshore financial affairs of some of the world’s biggest multinational companies and richest individuals and exposed to scrutiny the myriad ways in which tax can be avoided using artificial structures. Appleby was found wanting in 12 compliance reviews over a decade in the Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda.

A Bermuda Monetary Authority review found that “oversight weaknesses were repeated in high-risk findings in both the 2013 and 2014 reports". At around the same time the firm was part of a consortium lobbying against reform of tax havens. The Paradise Papers reveal the arcane schemes used by the world’s wealthiest individuals and corporations. Heads of state, technology giants and government officials (and even our Monarch) are among those whose interests in tax havens have been brought into the cold light of day. Appleby commenced legal proceedings in the UK against The Guardian newspaper and the BBC but settled those proceedings on terms that permitted the defendants to continue with their investigative journalism.

Not everyone named in the leaks was using offshore structures to avoid tax or to launder money. Going “offshore” to avoid tax is not against the law but it is increasingly controversial. The World Economic Forum stated in Davos in 2018 that global cooperation is needed to reform the international corporation tax system in the aftermath of the Paradise Papers. Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of Oxfam International, said international tax avoidance was an affront to human rights. “It’s about people who don’t have access to the services they need to lift themselves out of poverty because of tax avoidance,” she said. She called for a shift towards public transparency around corporate tax affairs as part of the solution and dismissed the suggestion that corporations were entitled to keep their tax affairs private. The Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz agreed with the suggestion that the OECD was unable to represent developing nations in tax discussions. “The problem is it’s trying to fix a broken system by (using) the guys who are making a profit out of the broken system,” he said. He said the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers investigations had exposed the problem of people hiding assets illicitly. “But there’s a problem of a global tax system that allows people legally to

avoid paying taxes and leads to a global race to the bottom [in corporate tax policy].4 Rachel Owens, Head of EU advocacy for Global Witness said: “Anonymous companies and trusts are getaway cars that enable money laundering, corruption, terrorism, tax evasion and human trafficking – with devastating impacts for people across and beyond Europe. The best way to tackle this problem is to shine the light of transparency and reveal those behind these secret structures. Member States of the EU in considering the anti-money laundering rules must agree to publicly reveal the true owners of all EU companies and trusts. They have spent the last year blocking proposed changes that would tackle these problems: by failing to act they are complicit in this corrupt system.”

Many of those identified as using secret trusts to conceal money and the possession of it are part of what has been called “the Russian Kleptocracy”. 17 UK high street banks processed nearly $714 million from a vast money-laundering operation run

by Russian criminals with links to the Russian government and the KGB. Among those are HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Barclays and Coutts. Between 2010 and 2014 some $20 billion appears to have been moved out of Russia but the true figure could be $80 billion. It has become known as the “Global Laundromat”. A group of approximately 500 Russians including oligarchs, Moscow bankers and figures working for or connected to the FSB were involved. British registered companies played a prominent role in this extensive moneylaundering network. The real owners of most of the firms used in the scheme remain secret because of the anonymity provided by offshore systems and laws. The details of the “Global Laundromat” were obtained by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Noveya Gazeta from anonymous sources. The details include 70,000 banking instructions including 1,920 that went through UK banks. The conspiracy involved billions of dollars being sent from Russia via accounts in Latvia and Moldova through banks notorious for their exposure to money-laundering scams. The trail led investigators to 96 countries and to a network of anonymously owned firms most of them registered at Companies House in London but when the light of day was shone on these companies 21 of the core companies were immediately dissolved.5 Inevitably the dissolved companies were replaced by others leaving investigators playing “whack a mole”. The Guardian challenged all the banks on the authenticity of the data. None of them challenged the authenticity but all insisted that they had strict anti-money-laundering policies.

In the Magnitsky case, Prevezon Holdings Ltd, a Russian investment company that was used to launder the proceeds of the tax fraud identified by Sergei Magnitsky, a tax lawyer employed by Hermitage Capital, to investigate fraud using Hermitage’s companies in Russia. Prevezon Holdings Ltd was represented by Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Kremlin-linked Russian attorney who subsequently became linked to the Mueller investigation into Russian interference with the US election.

Investigations by the US government found that part of the $230m stolen was laundered by a Russian criminal network into upscale New York condominiums through a network of shell companies many of which were formed in British Overseas Territories. The holding in Prevezon, a Cypriot-registered company, was traced to Denys Katsyv, the head of a criminal enterprise very closely linked with the Kremlin. According to US prosecutors, the crime began in 2007, when Russian mafia figures stole assets from companies held by Hermitage Capital Management.

SURREYLAWYER | 23

FEATURE

The group re-registered the companies under their own names and filed sham lawsuits against themselves. Then, claiming fake losses, the companies lobbied corrupt government officials for tax refunds to the tune of $230 million. Just days before the civil case against Prevezon taken by the US government was set for trial in May 2017, Prevezon settled with the US Government for $5.9 million and did not acknowledge wrongdoing. Corporate filings to New York state regulators show that several of the Prevezon companies allegedly used for money laundering were registered to a Russian accountant’s offices. Sergei Magnitsky, who went to the Russian Authorities with the evidence of the fraud, paid the ultimate price when he was murdered in a Russian prison, after a lengthy period of denial of medical attention, aged 37 in 2009. Subsequently after his death the Russian State put him on trial for fraud in 2013. Lawyers were court appointed to defend him and denied permission to decline the appointment. He was convicted, as was William Browder who has managed singlehandedly to promote the Magnitsky legislation for sanctioning those who have committed grave breaches of human rights. Browder was sentenced to 9 years in prison in his absence. The judge said that Magnitsky would not have to serve the 9-year jail sentence as he was already dead.6 The goal of any money laundering operation is to disguise where the money from shady or criminal activities actually came from, and make it appear to have been legitimately acquired.

Rather than deposit illicit funds into a bank account, where it can be tracked, criminals often buy high-end property and cash out after selling it or borrow money from a bank against the value of the real estate. Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, was convicted of bank fraud for a similar scheme.7 Enquiries have established a money trail that snakes from Russia to the Baltic states and from there to Europe and America. The Global Laundromat scheme was an ingenious way of allowing the powerful in Russia and Kremlin insiders to shift cash abroad.

According to a study by Deutsche Bank, £138 billion has flowed into the UK in recent years and a considerable amount of that money came from Russia. As a former Moscow banker, now living in exile, said “Money-laundering is the biggest business in Russia. You steal from the budget you’ve got this dirty money.

You have to do something with it.”8 By transferring the money from Russian companies to banks in Moldova and Latvia, and latterly Estonia, the money had been “cleaned” and was now inside the EU both properly and legally. It was now possible to transfer it anywhere. Most of the money has vanished into the “twilight world of offshore companies” mingling fake transactions with real ones. The laundromat ran from 2010 until 2014 and was one of the most successful money-laundering frauds ever undertaken.

Nobody in Britain noticed, certainly not the UK banks with their “sophisticated” and “robust” anti-money laundering processes.

All the U.K.’s major high street banks including HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland allowed more than $738 million to pass through their accounts. HSBC via its UK and foreign branches processed the most namely $545.3 million.

RBS, which is still owned by UK taxpayers, processed $113.1 million. Six companies identified by Moldovan police as vehicles for the laundromat money transferred $110.5 million to a firm managed in the Isle of Man called RF Procurement Ltd whose ownership remains unclear. An Isle of Man company offered financial services to corporate and private clients around the world and acts as a registered agent for RF Procurement Ltd and therefore should know who its true owner is. The $738 million initially flowed through 21 companies most of them set up and registered in the United Kingdom with 24 | SURREYLAWYER

addresses in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and North Yorkshire. Their owners or ultimate beneficiaries were invisible, and all had nominee directors. As enquiries proceeded and more information came to light many of these companies were quietly liquidated.9 Many UK retailers are caught up in the scheme. Some of the money linked to the laundromat went on luxury items purchased in the UK. Bogus invoices would be sent to the UK banks. The trail also leads to real estate in London identifying companies registered in the UK and in the British Virgin Islands.

Accountants have been identified providing accountancy services to companies involved in the Laundromat scheme.

Companies trying to export to Russia were caught in a sophisticated Russian scam which involved paying brokers for the necessary authorities and typically making payments of 30 to 40% of the value of any shipment. The logistics chain was complex and mostly involved taking the goods to Baltic states before they were then transferred to Russia. A Russian Parliamentary committee said that the scams had cost the Russian state $40 billion. In many cases, once the goods had been transferred to Russia, the UK companies that were the vehicles used to provide legitimacy were liquidated. No duty was paid, and often Russian tax inspectors took the UK companies to court largely without any effect because the owners could never be traced. In the meantime, new UK firms were registered, and the merry-go-round continued.10 Claims have been made by Transparency International that some £4.4 billion worth of UK property may have been purchased by persons connected with the Laundromat. They have identified 176 properties. In a report released in March 2018, Transparency International stated “London has routinely been the choice destination for Russians with suspicious wealth to move to and they have had little trouble in doing so taking advantage of lax regulation and offshore secrecy.” The NGO claimed that Russian investment had grown from just 2 to 11% of market share in Islington, Clapham and Pimlico. Although there may be no evidence of the Russians continuing to use similar schemes to invest in the London property market, Knight Frank believe that there is a new generation of wealth in Russia, persons who have been commercially successful, who will be wishing to invest in London property.

The government introduced new measures in the wake of the Skripal poisoning and said it was reviewing the visas of over 700 Russian millionaires intending, so it claimed, to make them prove that their wealth was not built on “dirty” money. The government appeared to accept the allegation of Transparency International that the UK is a “top destination” for money-laundering with the level of illicit money flowing through the UK in excess of £90 billion per annum. In addition to some tightening of the rules around money-laundering, the government introduced a new weapon to combat dirty money known as the Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO).11 None have been obtained since the end of 2019. There have been high-profile successes and failures. Options for reform of the regime are being explored, including capping the cost for law enforcement of applying for a UWO.12 Belatedly, and only after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022, the Government rushed through the Economic Crime Act 2022 which received Royal Assent on 15 March 2022 which will improve the transparency of property ownership in the UK and provides a Register for overseas entities.

Bill Browder, who has been running a constant campaign against those responsible for Magnitsky’s death and the Laundromat, prepared a 37-page dossier which was handed

FEATURE

to the UK National Crime Agency. Jon Benton, the former head of the NCA’s International Corruption Unit, has told the Daily Telegraph that despite the dossier claiming that $30 million of illicit funds had been laundered through UK banks via Lithuanian accounts, the NCA made a decision not to investigate the allegations because of “instructions from his superiors on two different occasions” to close the investigation.

Media speculation includes the suggestion that there was political direction from the Foreign Office.13 Browder contends that the Laundromat could not have operated in the UK without “enablers”. He contends that Prevezon, in common with many other participants in the Scheme, spent vast amounts of money on Westerners to help them launder the money. Unlike the US Global Magnitsky Act (“the Act”), the UK does not have the ability to impose sanctions on intermediaries which are defined in that Act as someone who “has materially assisted, sponsored or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of” either human rights abuses or various acts of corruption. This would cover those who act as creators, managers and nominees in the shell company facilitation as well as lawyers, accountants, financiers and the providers of other services. Browder says British law, in theory, does the same thing, but he has no faith in its ability to catch those involved in money laundering or to dissuade money-laundering. So far as the EU is concerned bureaucracy has been resistant to the implementation of a Magnitsky Act and the EU Parliament’s repeated requests to implement such an act had always been rejected until 2020 when the legislation was passed. In Estonia government investigations prompted by the OCCRP14 investigations and local media persistence have revealed that close to $230 billion dollars of Russian money went through just one branch of Danske Bank in Estonia before travelling to Europe and other parts of the world. There has been no comparative investigation in relation to the funds that passed and may be are still passing through UK banks despite the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Browder said: “When it comes to fighting money laundering, you have a lot of good laws in place. And you have truly incapable prosecutors and police forces, who are unable to understand, identify and prosecute money-laundering. At the moment, we have absolutely just shameful lack of enforcement in countries like Britain”.15 He might have added that the UK government and the UK regulators have been singularly slow in realising the problem, identifying the issues and have showed a singular lack of enthusiasm to investigate them or challenge them.

The World Economic Forum16 have identified enablers as:

(e) notaries (f) trust and company service providers The World Economic Forum also warns that as anti-money laundering regimes become tighter and scrutiny greater, the money launderers will look for less stringent regimes and enablers who can be corrupted to assist them with their laundering. Attempts by the UK government to require offshore British Dependencies to provide information concerning ownership or shell companies have been met with a rebuff.

After all, most of the income of those states is founded on the enablers’ provision of such services and once the protection of secrecy is lost the income will reduce or evaporate because they are no longer of any use to the money launderers. ■ 1. L aw Gazette 4 March 2022 2. https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/ 3. https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/ 4. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/25/ paradise-papers-davos-panel-calls-for-global-corporate-taxreform 5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/20/britishbanks-handled-vast-sums-of-laundered-russian-money 6. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/sergeimagnitsky-russia-trial-verdict-tax-fraud 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trials_of_Paul_ Manafort#:~:text=release%20their%20names.,Verdict,on%20the%20remaining%2010%20charges 8. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/20/how-dirtymoney-from-russia-flooded-into-the-uk-and-where-it-went 9. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/20/how-dirtymoney-from-russia-flooded-into-the-uk-and -where-it-went 10. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ukbanks-russia-money-laundering-hsbc-barclays-coutts--65billion-rbs-royal-bank-of-scotland-queen-a7640861.html 11. UWOs were introduced by sections 1–2 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and are governed by sections 362A–362T of Part 8 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 12. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/ cbp-9098/#:~:text=None%20have%20been%20 obtained%20since,of%20applying%20for%20a%20UWO 13. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/620322/ response/1484800/attach/3/FOI%201137%2019%20 response.pdf?cookie_ passthrough=1 14. Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project: https://www.occrp.org/en 15. https://www.the-american-interest.com/2018/11/05/goingafter-the-enablers/ 16. http://reports.weforum.org/organized-crime-enablers2012/#chapter-enablers-of-money-laundering

■ B eneficial owners of the shell companies created in complex circumstances designed to frustrate attempts to identify the real owners; ■ The professionals whose skills create the shell companies and the complexity of companies in ownership which is the essence of concealment; ■ The professionals who provide advice to the moneylaunderers designed to make their transactions tamperproof; ■ The professionals who identify the assets into which the dirty money is converted; ■ The professionals who provide legal advice; ■ The professionals who act as a conduit for the dirty money; service providers, such as: ( a) credit institutions ( b) financial institutions ( c) auditors, external accountants and tax advisers ( d) lawyers SURREYLAWYER | 25

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SURREYLAWYER | 27

INSIGHT

The What’s and Why’s of becoming a Property Tribunal Judge

By DRT Judge David Whitney

I

am a salaried Deputy Regional Judge of the First tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Residential Property). A snappy title! Part of my role is to engage with people to try and improve the diversity and inclusivity of the judiciary but in particular for my Tribunal.

I suspect many of you will have little or no knowledge of my Tribunal or the other First tier Tribunals and frankly why should you? For me, this is something that the judiciary needs to take responsibility for, making the legal profession and the wider public aware of our existence and what we do. Remarkably more people will be involved in a Tribunal case in any one year than in a case involving the civil and criminal courts combined.

We rely on legal professionals to apply and become Judges, fee paid and salaried.

The Residential Property Tribunal has a broad jurisdiction, all of which is set out in statute. The Tribunal incorporated Rent Assessment Committees and Leasehold Valuation Tribunals and was established in its current guise in 2013. As a tribunal, we have powers to determine market and fair rents, the reasonableness of service charges for flats, the price paid for a lease extension, appeals from local authority decisions to impose improvement notices, prohibition orders and financial penalties, power to impose rent repayment orders and the power to make banning orders in respect of landlords. I should also add we have wide powers to determine disputes arising from mobile home parks. The tribunal receives about 11,000 applications a year. The work requires a good understanding of the actual legislation under which we operate and the principles applicable for each part. Much of this is technical and if you had said to me upon graduation that I would be poring over leases (and enjoying it!) I would have run a mile. We also have our own procedure rules, which the civil litigators amongst you will be pleased to know are far shorter than the CPR. I think many solicitors are unaware of the opportunities which exist to become involved in the Tribunal’s judiciary and the positive impact this can have on their professional careers. I know when I first walked through the doors of what was then Pearsons Solicitors at Fountain House New Malden to start my career I had almost zero knowledge of tribunals. I had heard of Employment Tribunals but had little idea of what was involved.

I practised up until my appointment as a litigator with a particular specialism in property litigation. I regularly appeared as an 28 | SURREYLAWYER

advocate in the County Court. As a property litigator, I dealt with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal making applications in respect of enfranchisement claims and service charge disputes. I would appear before the Tribunal in residential leasehold disputes and gradually this became the bulk of my day-to-day practice.

In 2010, I saw an advert in the Law Society Gazette to become a fee paid Chair of the Residential Property Tribunal of which the LVT was part. Thinking this was something I fancied, I applied, more in hope than expectation! It was at a time when I was keen to see how I could develop further my career. I completed the application form, a test paper, took part in a role play and interview and then found myself appointed. By the time I was first appointed I had been working as a lawyer for 16 years. I felt I needed a fresh challenge to give new impetus to my career.

Over the next decade I relished the work and applied and was appointed as a salaried judge in 2021.

In many respects I perhaps fit many of the stereotypes of the English judiciary being white, middle aged and middle class. I am however the first member of my family to ever go to university.

Most tribunals sit as a panel with a legally qualified judge and other members. In Property, we have chartered surveyors, architects, environmental health officers and drainage experts as well as lay members, all with considerable expertise in the cases we sit on. Our jurisdiction is ever expanding and currently I also sit from time to time as a District Judge of the County Court to deal with certain property cases.

An appointment opens up the world of making judicial decisions and for me positively affected the way I conducted my practice.

For the first time I understood why judges got cross about poorly prepared bundles! I determine cases and apply my knowledge from practice. I am responsible for chairing the panel and explaining the legal principles. I will case manage any hearing and then draft a written reasoned decision setting out our findings and reasons. That practical experience I gained in the 27 years prior to my appointment is vital in exercising

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my judicial powers. This is particularly true in property tribunal, which remains a specialist expert tribunal. The help and support from panel members and other judges is one of the major positives of accepting an appointment. There is always someone I can bounce ideas off. Whilst fee paid, I saw the way that other practitioners approached cases and was able to learn from this. My own practice inevitably changed; I think for the better. The Judicial College provides high quality training in what was and is a specialist area. Inevitably this training assisted and fed into my day-to-day work. Sitting as a judge provided opportunities to meet, interact and learn from other practitioners across the country. And you get paid!

I know that firms often worry about the time commitment that is required. Certainly, days out of the office must be planned and time allowed for preparing for cases. Diary management is key but that is true of any busy solicitor’s life. You will gain many opportunities to improve your skills as a lawyer in every way.

This will in my experience positively impact on your practice and ability to advise and act for Clients. The time commitment in my Tribunal is not overly onerous. Most cases are listed for one day and you will have to undertake a certain amount of pre-reading and prepare a written decision. Many of our fee paid Judges sit no more than once a month although opportunities do exist for some to sit more frequently.

There is no doubt the application process is difficult and arduous. Recruitment exercises typically take 9 to 12 months involving application forms, online testing, and interviews. For many, particularly from the private sector, this process will be completely alien. Proper preparation is key to a successful application giving particular thought to the examples you use to demonstrate the skills (called Competencies) by which the Judicial Appointment Commission assess applications. The JAC website contains a lot of helpful information. Opportunities exist to sit with Tribunal judges to get a feel for the work and there are mentoring schemes. I would urge anyone potentially interested to talk to someone who has been through the process so that they can assist you and talk you through it. The process is designed to be fair and open to all.

There is no reason why any solicitor cannot consider a judicial appointment. Times are changing and the judiciary like all professions has had to take a long hard look at itself. This means we need to recognise the needs of those with disabilities and caring responsibilities and ensure roles can fit in with the same. Likewise, we wish to encourage people from all walks of life and backgrounds. It is certainly the case that fee paid roles do offer a large amount of flexibility. So, if anything I have said has struck a chord do make contact via the editor. The judiciary needs to be representative of our broader society and become more diverse.

How Legal Workflow Automation Can Improve Your Firm’s Operations

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egal administrative work is crucial to running a successful firm, but it’s something law firms can struggle with. For many law firm staff, the processes at their firm make admin time-consuming and tedious and can pull their focus from building the firm. That’s where task and workflow automation comes in.

According to Clio’s 2020 Legal Trends Report, 84% of legal professionals believe they could better serve their clients by automating more aspects of their firm’s operations. We also found that firms using a combination of legal technology collected an average of $19,541 (£14,334 at the time of writing) more per lawyer than those that did not use legal workflow automation.

Let’s look at three legal workflow automation tools that can save your firm hours:

simply have to start and stop a timer to record how long they spend on any one particular case or matter. From there, they can create detailed (and accurate) time and expense reports in minutes, which can save hours for fee-earners and those responsible for collating and billing for time.

3. Issuing Bills Speaking of billing, legal workflow automation can be a huge boon for legal firms here, too. Instead of manually collecting and applying the information needed to client invoices, automating the process can cut hours from end-of-month billing cycles. If you use software that syncs to your accounting system (Clio, for example, integrates with Xero, QuickBooks Online, Klyant, and Cashroom), you can save even more time and admin work on your processes.

1. Document Automation and Management Creating new documents from scratch can eat up a lot of law firm time. Document automation makes it easier for lawyers and other law firm staff to create new documents from existing templates, reduces the time to create a first draft, and speeds up contracting and communication processes.

By automating what can be automated, law firm staff can spend more time on high-value tasks. If you’re seeking to maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, embracing legal workflow automation could be the exact thing you need to take your law firm to that next level.

2. Time Recording Time recording can often fall to the bottom of to-do lists – and items can get missed. With legal time recording software, users

To see how Clio helps with workflow automation, see clio.com/ uk/surrey-home or, Surrey Lawyer readers can take advantage of a 7-day free trial clio.com/uk/surrey-free. ■

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Time to look at the “big picture” DISCOVERING THE EMOTIONAL BENEFITS OF FINANCIAL ADVICE No two individuals share the same goals or ambitions. Each person is unique, with their own needs, targets and budgets.

So when it comes to managing your money, building wealth, securing your future and, above all else, drawing up an effective plan for fulfilling your investment objectives, professional financial advice should be tailored to your unique specific needs.

FEELING LESS ANXIOUS Having access to financial advice is strongly linked to feeling more secure and less anxious about money. According to the survey, around 3 in 5 people who have received financial advice report that they feel financially more secure and stable, compared with under half of those who have not received any advice.

Only 1 in 3 people who have received financial advice report feeling anxious about their household finances, compared with over 40% of those who haven’t.

FEELING MORE CONFIDENT One of the key practical benefits of financial advice is that it gives you access to expertise on topics that are complex.

This provides you with more confidence and increased peace of mind. People who have received financial advice report feeling three times more confident about their understanding of financial matters and products than those who haven’t.

For example, areas that some people find confusing concern retirement planning and understanding their life insurance and critical illness options. Among those who have not received advice, around 1 in 4 people say they would not know where to start when it comes to the different options available to them.

Among those who received advice, that number is fewer than 1 in 12.

FEELING ABLE TO COPE IN A CRISIS The COVID-19 pandemic has left many people feeling less stable in their financial situation. 35% of those who have not received financial advice report feeling anxious about their finances, while 65% see the value in being more prepared for unpredictable events in life.

Financial advice helps you prepare, plan and navigate any future shocks or crisis. And while you can experience the benefits of advice after just one meeting, it’s essential to receive ongoing advice over the long term as your situation and life goals change. This means your adviser gets to know you and 30 | SURREYLAWYER

Steven Vallery your background, and can help you adjust to whatever life has in store. Those people who have an ongoing relationship and receive regular financial advice are twice as likely to report feeling in control of their finances as people who do not. ■

Steven Vallery

Managing Director S4 Financial Limited hello@s4financial.co.uk

INSIGHT

Solicitors’ PII: A “claims made” policy – what does that mean?

By Amanda Murray, Senior Claims Executive, Howden Amanda Murray

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n December 2017 you acted for a client who was purchasing a new home. All went well, the matter was completed, and you closed your file.

In February 2022 you receive an email from the client. They have now discovered a bypass is being built 15m from their home, which will seriously affect its value. They say they would not have bought the house if they had known and claim that you are at fault for failing to follow up on a local search that referred to proposed new roads.

Which Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) policy do you notify this matter to? The policy in place in 2017 when you did the work? Or the policy that you have now? It might make quite a difference if your self-insured excess was £2,000 in 2017, but £10,000 under the policy in place when the claim is made in February 2022.

Solicitors’ PII is written on a “claims made” basis. This means that the policy in place at the time the client makes the claim will provide cover. This is the position regardless of when the work was undertaken or the date that you notify insurers of the claim, although remember that your policy will require notification to be made “as soon as practicable” (or words to that effect).

The exception to this is where you notified a circumstance that may give rise to a claim (“a circumstance”) to insurers on a previous policy. For example, if you are concerned that you might have been negligent and a client could have a potential claim against you, then you should always make sure the matter is notified to the insurer on risk at the time as it would be deemed a circumstance, or a precautionary notification.

If a claim is made by the client at some later stage regarding the same issue, it is the policy in place when you made the precautionary notification that will respond – not the policy in place at the time the client makes the claim against you.

In the scenario described above the claim will be noted under the policy in place in February 2022 when the claim was made.

For solicitors’ PII the position can be briefly summarised as follows: A circumstance – will be noted against the policy in place when the circumstance is notified to insurers A claim – will be noted against the policy in place when the claim is made (or intimated) against you, unless the matter has already been notified as a circumstance, in which case it will be dealt with under that earlier notification.

Scenario 1 ■ W ork undertaken 2020 ■ Claim made 2022 ■ PII policy that responds: 2022 Scenario 2 ■ W ork undertaken 2020 ■ Precautionary notification to insurers 2020 due to concerns there might be an issue ■ Claim made 2022 ■ PII policy that responds: 2020 Scenario 3 ■ W ork undertaken by prior practice 2018 ■ Succession occurs 2019 and no elective run-off taken by prior practice ■ Claim made 2022 ■ PII policy that responds: 2022 policy of the successor practice Scenario 4 ■ W ork undertaken by prior practice 2018 ■ Succession occurs 2019 and no elective run off taken ■ Precautionary notification made by prior practice to its insurers in 2019 before succession ■ Claim made 2022 ■ PII policy that responds: 2019 policy of the prior practice

A final bit of guidance…

The “claims-made” nature of solicitors PII policies means that it is always important to notify your current insurers of a “circumstance” you are aware of prior to changing insurers or being succeeded to. Not only do you have an obligation to do this under your policy, but it will not sit well with your new insurer, or the insurer of a successor firm, if you have omitted to do this and a subsequent claim comes in that will then fall to be dealt with under their policy.

Likewise, if you are increasing your excess when you renew your policy with your existing insurer, always double-check to ensure that all precautionary matters have been identified and notified prior to the change. This means that if a claim does arise then it will be dealt with under the earlier policy with the lower excess. ■

To demonstrate this important issue further, we invite you to consider the following scenarios, which also cover the situation when there has been a succession.

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XXXXXXXXXXXX

HELP YOUR CLIENT TO PROTECT THEIR INTERESTS, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE Informing homebuyers of the hazards arising from climate change that could affect their future property.

dyedurhamuk.com/about-us 32 | SURREYLAWYER

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Expert insight and data that puts your client first Tim Champney

By Tim Champney, Head of Commercial, Insight & Data at Dye & Durham

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cquiring best-in-class data is critical to the conveyancing process. Quality of data is the foundation of any search and is a fundamental part of your due diligence processes, providing accurate information that helps the client understand any potential issues with their home purchase. However, the data itself is only part of the story. The presentation and interpretation of that data is just as critical. At Dye & Durham, our experts help to translate raw data into discernible insight, ensuring clarity and certainty, thereby allowing conveyancers to concentrate on putting the needs of their client first.

The conclusions we can draw from data are highly influenced by a number of factors. Timeliness for instance; when it was captured, how and why – all of which impact how it should be interpreted or relied upon.

For example, the quality of neighbourhood Planning information, now sought in 1 in 5 property transactions, is significantly affected by its timeliness. Given the speed in which the built environment is changing, this data can quickly become outdated. Therefore, minimising the time taken between data capture and its use in reporting can significantly increase its value-add to the conveyancing process.

Additionally, the nature of planning application data can make it challenging to identify the full extent of land over which the development will impact. Using our innovative FCICapture technology, we identify those applications, which although on face-value appear to be far from the property, are in fact likely to encroach much closer. The tools we’ve built really help to give more confidence to a homebuyer that we’ve captured all the relevant information to them, but still at an incredibly low cost.

To further help conveyancers, we have brought together the expertise and experience of three well-known brands, Future Climate Info (FCI), Terrafirma and Lawyer Checker, into one Insight & Data Team to provide a one-stop shop for due diligence on a transaction. This enables law firms to protect their clients against risk, and their clients to make informed buying decisions with the most up to date information.

Streamlined Reporting We are committed to making life easier for the conveyancer, and that begins with the report itself. We design our products to streamline the process; keeping them concise, easy to read and easy to report on. We want solicitors to be focused on where they add the most value for the homebuyer, not on trying to understand or interpret unnecessarily complex reports.

What differentiates us, and our products, is that we provide data and insight with upmost transparency. We always present ‘full’ datasets. Nothing is held back or made only accessible for an additional fee.

Climate Risk The frequency and severity of climatic and flood events has increased in recent years, and this will inevitably impact on property enjoyment and value. These events are often linked.

For example, increased rainfall can lead to flooding, but it can also interact with the local geology to exacerbate potential ground stability risks such as subsidence or landslip. Coastal erosion might encroach upon the boundary of a cliff-side property, but that same process is also creating contamination risks, through the erosion and exposure of waste in historical coastal landfills. As these risks change and evolve, so too must the way in which we consider them in the context of buying property.

We have harnessed our expertise and technology to understand data and provide more robust risk assessments and therefore, better insight. The FCI environmental search range has led from the front since 2018 by uniquely supplying analysis of local Air Quality as standard in its core products for example.

We have also just launched our brand-new Climate Report.

This report enables conveyancers to inform homebuyers of the hazards arising from climate change that could affect their property now and in the future, by assessing the impact of climate change on hazards including soil subsidence, coastal erosion, extreme winds, and flood risk.

Featuring a simple hazard score, the report allows a swift comparison between the different hazards and time periods with intuitive dashboards throughout. It enables homebuyers to identify when the property will be at a high exposure, to which hazard.

As an added-value, easy-to-understand report, which can be passed to the homebuyer, any queries can be directed to our expert customer support team at Dye & Durham Insight & Data, without the need for interpretation by the conveyancer.

It enables conveyancers to differentiate their offering, by giving clients something additional and of added value and interest to the homebuyer, alongside their traditional due diligence service. ■

By putting ourselves in the mindset of the homebuyer, we try to ensure that what we say also makes sense to them and avoids jargon. We have found that this significantly reduces the number of queries our clients receive helping them to recoup time in their day.

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ARTICLE

Six things every Law firm can implement to improve their CX and increase their bottom line…

Jim Smith

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ustomer experience (CX) is the new business battleground for the Legal sector, yet a recent research study by CX specialists insight6 showed that many legal firms are failing to get the basics consistently right – and this could be affecting their bottom line.

In fact, out of all the professions analysed (Legal, Accountancy, Financial Services and Property), the legal sector was found to be performing worst when comparing NPS’s (Net Promotor Score) – with a sobering score of -54, and a sharp decline from 2019 when it scored -15.

Accountancy firms scored marginally better with -47, whereas insurance and finance and property firms fared best, although still poor, with scores of –32 and –30 respectively. For comparison, Amazon’s NPS is 53, Netflix is 55 and Apple is 56.

This is especially worrying as research by the London School of Economics shows that for every 7% increase in a brand’s NPS, their revenue will grow by 1% as a direct result – that’s a whole lot of untapped revenue to gain from some basic dayto-day improvements.

By surveying over 250 professional services firms in the UK, The Professional Services Customer Journey Report carried out a comprehensive analysis of the full customer journey when making a new enquiry to firms. The findings delve beyond the NPS figures and provide a benchmark for improving the customer experience at every stage.

“Legal firms, along with the whole professional services industry, have a huge opportunity to improve CX, deliver a superior experience to both new and existing clients, and reap significant business benefits in doing so.

“The Professional Services Customer Journey Report has not only highlighted what is at stake but has raised some common ‘red flags’ that are quick and easy to fix but will do a lot of harm if left.” says Jim Smith, CX Director, insight6 Surrey & Hampshire. insight6 has pulled together a simple checklist that every Law firm can implement to immediately improve their CX: 1. Offer a human touch. Make sure that all employees offer their name to callers when they answer the phone. It sounds so basic, but our research revealed that 22% of reception staff did not answer initial calls with their name, and when put through to a law expert, an astonishing 60% of these people did not offer their name.

2. Regularly test your messaging services to ensure they are working correctly. Technology is great, until it fails! Our research found that 43% of messages left (including personal voicemails) did not get a response.

3. Develop your team’s emotional intelligence. When clients or potential clients are facing stressful situations, it is critical to establish a positive connection with understanding and compassion for their situation.

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4. Check website contact forms and web-chat services work correctly and that they are treated in the same way as phone or email enquiries. Implementing new technology is a great way to improve CX – but only if it is done with care and consideration. Our research found that over a third of web enquiries were left completely unanswered.

5. Follow up! We were astounded to find that only 8% of companies bothered to follow up a potential new client lead, and where more information had been requested, 38% of the time it never arrived.

6. Make it personal! People want a personal service more than ever, but our researchers found that only 53% of email exchanges were personalised and more worryingly, 57% were poorly written with grammatical errors.

Overall, insight6 researchers were underwhelmed by how the firms handled their enquiries. Just 23% felt the team member attempted to add value or go further to help them, and only 43% said that they would recommend the business to others.

Jim added: “What we do know to be true, is that underlying problems within a firm’s culture can often be found behind poor CX. Issues such as short-term targets, disengaged teams or siloed working – effective CX is often about empowering staff and providing them with the skills, tools, and authority they need.”

LawNet understands the benefits of delivering great customer experience and has partnered with insight6 to help its members put CX at the heart of their businesses.

“LawNet believes a customer-centric business model is one of the most important ways in which law firms can add value to what they already do,” says Helen Hamilton-Shaw, Member Engagement and Strategy Director at LawNet. Helen added: “The network encourages its member law firms to put client experience at the heart of their business through its Mark of Excellence programme and independently monitors and measures how firms engage with clients as part of LawNet’s mandatory ISO quality standard.”

Jim concluded, “Legal firms are missing the most cost-effective solution for improving their bottom-line. Put simply, a wellmapped customer journey and a positive customer experience is the surest pathway to sales.” ■

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As the SRA focuses on firm’s systems in 2022, how robust is your third-party referral process?

By Dave Seager, Consulting Adviser to SIFA Professional

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financial advisory firm is appropriate for the type of planning needed but also why that is so.

If the January updating and re-promotion of the SRA Enforcement Strategy, was not an obvious enough signal to the profession, then perhaps the public recruitment drive for field officers and compliance management will be.

It is ultimately incumbent on the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice therefore to have determined important criteria, conducted thorough due diligence on the financial advisory partners under consideration and then selected which are deemed to be in the clients’ best interests for referral. Moreover, having decided which firms are the correct partners, with the best qualifications, experience and advice processes, the COLP needs to ensure that all staff with the SRA regulated firm are comfortable with the reasons and can then confidently explain to their client why that referral is in their best interests.

t seems fairly evident that the regulator is set to flex its muscles in 2022 and they feel that 3 years is enough time for the firms it regulates to not only have grown used to the 2019 codes but have embedded systems to ensure compliance with them.

With the pandemic induced shift to the online provision of legal services and advice, which the Ministry of Justice is only accelerating, the focus on solicitor firm’s having systems for everything is more important than ever. The introduction of the Firm Code of Conduct recognised the need for more uniformity in 2019, but the rapidly changing world of service delivery and indeed, client expectation has made it imperative.

Compliance Officers will rightly be focused on money laundering systems with the heightened risks associated with online interaction, but the SRA will be interested in every aspect of a firm’s client proposition and crucially that they are recognised, adopted and understood by all staff. The days of individual lawyers ploughing a sole furrow within a practice must be in the past. As the SRA outlines in the enforcement strategy document – “We do, however, require all those we regulate to be familiar with the standards, explanatory guidance and law governing their work and to be able to explain and justify their actions.”

Whilst this may seem like additional work in the short-term, undertaking thorough due diligence and choosing the right financial advisory partners, will undoubtedly benefit, not just your customers, but also your firm in the future. Professional financial planning for the individuals you introduce, will mean them embarking on a financial journey for life, based on their own needs, goals and aspirations. Financial planners are therefore in a highly privileged position which will entail regular contact and reviews of the plan. This in turn will allow them to recommend the need to return to your firm when new legal services are required, wills and LPAs being obvious examples.

In essence, getting the best process in place now for third-party referrals, will potentially turn a customer today into a long-term client for your firm in the future. ■

The regulator is saying that they will not impose rules that dictate how a firm of individuals should interpret or comply with their rules. It is only right to encourage each firm to apply the 7 Principles and systems that ensure they run through everything a firm and its staff do for and with clients. However, what they will insist upon is that each individual understands why the firm has decided to do things they way they have and be able to explain that to the regulator if asked.

When it comes to the interaction between legal and financial advice therefore, it is absolutely essential that there is a recognised firm-wide approach to referral. Every lawyer who might need to recommend a client for complementary financial advice, knows not only which

Your search for the right financial planning partner starts here.

Visit sifa-directory.info/apr22 for more information.

SURREYLAWYER | 35

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Auctions continue to provide a platform where the best price can be achieved

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s we move from the ravages of a two-year Covid pandemic to the uncertainty of a war in Eastern Europe the issue of safe investments has never been more prevalent. The stock market offers mercurial returns as the economy continues to falter with inflation and fossil fuels at an all-time high. In the midst of this crisis, property continues to offer excellent returns and despite recent interest rate rises in March to 0.75% it has been historically low since the global economic crisis of 2008.

Auctions continue to provide a platform where the best price can be achieved in an open competitive market and are increasingly considered to be the most effective selling option for vendors with time limitations. In many cases auctions have exceeded expectations and have achieved higher prices than those quoted by agents selling by private treaty and in much shorter timescales. They have been traditionally considered to be the ‘last resort’ but as the market changes and the process becomes more efficient and transparent, the old adage of ‘Caveat Emptor’ (buyer beware) is no longer relevant or legal. Recent changes in legislation, particularly those in the area of Consumer Law, enhance buyers’ rights and enable disclosure on property

matters. This has been done primarily to avoid sellers withholding information about a property that may prove detrimental to a sale and give buyers greater opportunities for due diligence when deciding whether or not to buy.

The auction process is the preferred method of sale for Local Authorities and Asset Managers, who need to prove that they have achieved the best price for the taxpayer or shareholder. In matrimonial circumstances auction sales are transparent and time limited in order to resolve disputes that can unfortunately arise in cases where property is a joint asset. Also, as in cases of Probate where sales need to take place to dispose of property on behalf of Executors and beneficiaries.

All legal information must be provided prior to the sale and this does put pressure on solicitors tasked with providing the relevant information, sometimes in cases where their client may have never set eyes on the property in question! In my opinion the auction sale is by far the fairest and quickest way of selling property in a market where supply and demand in the private treaty method can often mean that the most well-off will always be ‘first come and first served’. ■

ENTRIES INVITED Selling Land and Property with Skill, Speed & Efficiency Entries are continually invited for our auctions which are scheduled throughout the year.

We are only an email, click or call away • auctions@cliveemson.co.uk • cliveemson.co.uk • 0345 8500333 If you would like to arrange a no obligation auction appraisal please do not hesitate to contact us or complete our form at cliveemson.co.uk/selling/.

Our auction team has many years of land and property experience The Leading Independent Regional Land & Property Auctioneers - April 2022.indd 1 36Surrey | Lawyer SURREYLAWYER

29/03/22 14:42:40

ARTICLE

Law firms cost focus will drive financial innovation in the sector

By Jim Sisson, Finance Director, Tower Street Finance Jim Sisson

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he latest research by PwC has confirmed the top three business priorities for legal firms, to improve the use of technology, standardise and centralise process and improve the service offering, haven’t changed over the last year.

But what the pandemic has brought into sharp focus for legal firms across the UK is a desire to reduce costs. In 2019 cost reductions were last on a long list of priorities for firms. Fast forward to 2020 and it overtook critical challenges including the use of data analytics in decision making and reducing cyber threats to become the sector’s fourth priority.

And if the legal sector response to the 2008 economic crisis is anything to go by, cash management will remain a priority for the long term. In the short-term, reducing expenditure, and billing to time, will increase cashflow; in the longer term it presents firms with a challenge.

Many of the issues the legal sector has faced during the pandemic are common to most types of business. A recent survey by the Law Society found that firms are forecasting a 10-20 per cent drop in revenue for the 2020/21 financial year.

And that’s just the start.

Businesses that have already weathered the COVID storm will be keen to avoid costs that are not directly linked to immediate trading. Combine that with the negative effect COVID has had on families’ finances and you’ve got the perfect storm of decreasing corporate demand and an increase in clients who struggle to pay the personal fees arising from legal action.

Firms can offer their own solutions to help clients with funding cases. If cashflow allows deferred payments with an uplift in rates is an option, as is a “conditional no win, no fee arrangement”.

These approaches can help customers, but of course pass risk and cashflow challenges directly to solicitors’ practices.

At a time where cash management is increasingly important practice, finance departments are looking closely at the number of cases the practice can fund, and how long it takes for cash to come back. The uplift associated with these arrangements that accrue to practices is increasingly of secondary interest to firms.

If firms can’t offer funding solutions it can result in refusing good clients – who then walk down the road to a solicitor who is able to help them. This has a dual impact, on a firm’s reputation and its finances.

But there is an answer that benefits practices and individuals, and that’s looking externally for financial solutions that fit the firm and clients’ needs.

A good start is engaging with a provider who has deep knowledge and expertise in the area they are operating in – this is key. And that means lawyers stepping outside their comfort zone and finding innovative solutions to the cashflow problems they and their clients face today.

The financial services sector has traditionally been poor in designing products that work in the legal sector. It has often tried to shoehorn an existing approach into and expected solicitors to make the product work – it doesn’t.

Successful companies take the time to understand the dynamics of the legal sector, its challenges and are prepared to create an innovative solution that addresses them.

When we designed our first lending product in the legal sector, we spent six months consulting with law firms, specialist probate services, and ‘boutique’ firms to understand them, their business and the needs of beneficiaries.

Their input was invaluable and instrumental in shaping our offerings, which are unique in the sector. They are accessible to anyone who is due an inheritance, or executors faced with an IHT bill, and without the funds to pay it.

Our most recent product was designed specifically to address the challenges the sector faces, and in consultation with some of the largest contentious probate teams in the UK. Our recent consumer research told us that 50 percent of people would expect their solicitor to be aware of and advise on products that can help with contentious probate, probate delays, or with the need to obtain an inheritance early.

By offering their clients credible solutions, solicitors improve their cashflow and service levels, and that in turn improves their clients’ experience of the firm. ■

Of course, the issue is exacerbated in multi-disciplinary firms that include an active litigation and contentious probate teams. And with probate claims the time to receive repayment is extended further as liquidation is often conditional on both success in the case, and then the proper liquidation and distribution of the estate.

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SUPPORTING SURREY

How to leave the office on time every night – The answer is in the gap

By Anthony Taylor, ThreeFifty9 Anthony Taylor

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hat difference would leaving the office on time every night make for you? I’m guessing it could transform some areas of your life. Would you hit the gym more? Go for that evening stroll or spend time with the kids?

I used to think it was impossible until I HAD to. No ifs, no buts.

Had to. The reason was divorce. I found myself a single Dad fifty percent of the time and with a job 30-miles away down the motorway. The prospect of leaving two nursery-aged kids on the doorstep at 6pm wasn’t viable, and the thought of it physically turned my stomach. The idea of paying a daily £10 fine didn’t appeal much either. Which meant I had no choice. Either I needed to do less work or be more efficient. Or both.

Purpose It’s amazing what you can achieve when you have a ‘WHY.’ As Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” My why were two small, innocent children called William and Merryn. Through no fault of their own, they were the collateral damage of a broken relationship. Ten hour days, even in a nursery they loved going to, was long enough. What they needed was time with their Dad. Time that once gone cannot be bought back, no matter how much money a person earns.

Seeing their smiling faces, the excitement in their eyes, the feeling of warmth and surprising strength of their embrace at the end of the day, was all the motivation I needed.

No boss, no ‘crisis’ can compete with that. But here’s an exciting thing. What I’ve come to realise, somewhat belatedly, is that I’m just as important. My health, physical and mental, and my relationships are just as important. This is why even now the kids are older, I’m much better about walking away from work at 5:30pm. Sharp.

What’s your purpose, your why? Find it, and you are halfway there to leaving work on time every night. For the other half, there are some things you can do.

Call in the General Dwight D. Eisenhower was an American army general who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he became a five-star general in the Army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944-45 from the Western Front. Two pretty big jobs to be fair. One of the secrets to his ability to do those was a time management tool he invented. The Eisenhower matrix.

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The Eisenhower Matrix, also referred to as the Urgent-Important Matrix, helps you decide on and prioritise tasks by urgency and importance, sorting out less urgent and important tasks which you should either delegate or not do at all.

In the green box are things that must get done today. They are both urgent and important. Getting that report to your boss today as they have asked, fits that bill. Paying my tax bill by its deadline day also goes into that box.

The second quadrant we call Schedule. Its tasks are important, but less urgent. You should list tasks you need to put in your calendar here. Writing that other report due next week goes in this box. My weekly one-to-one’s with my team went in here too.

The most productive people leave fewer things unplanned and therefore try to manage most of their work in the second quadrant. That wasn’t me. I spent my days fighting fires, flying by the seat-of-my-pants from one deadline to the next. Some of it was the nature of my work, but I knew I could be better. I had to be better.

The orange quadrant is where most of the productivity IEDs live. Those booby-traps that lay waste to hours of your day.

These are the tasks that if you could delegate, you should delegate. It dawned on me that I was doing lots of stuff that was urgent, but mainly for other people. All work-related but not stuff that would count toward my annual appraisal. Not what I was being paid to do.

Does that happen to you?

The fourth and last quadrant is red and called Don’t Do. These are the things that suck the time out of your day. That make you as productive as a sieve for carrying water. These include surfing the internet without reason, gossiping, and the multitude of newsletter emails you get. The content of the last two boxes is why you can’t leave work on time. They stop you from being able to deal with essential tasks in the 1st and 2nd quadrant.

80/20 Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 principle has become a bit of a cliché, but that’s no reason to doubt its relevance. When I set Pareto up

SUPPORTING SURREY

on a date with Eisenhower, it created the most beautiful lovechild…time. Time to think, time to do, and the ability to leave on time. Every day. James Clear, wrote about it in his article the one percent rule, he also outlines a great way to apply it at work.

How to 80/20 your work: 1. Make a list of the ten things you spend the most time on.

2. Circle the two that truly drive your results. Do more of those.

3. Look at the others. Eliminate ruthlessly. Automate or outsource what you can. Press pause on the rest.

4. Repeat.

Stop the Excuses The next thing I needed to do was to stop making excuses.

Excuses for why I wasn’t delegating more. Excuses for why I wasn’t prioritising my work better. Excuses for why I wasn’t more assertive. It came down to fear. The two root causes of all psychological stress for human beings are: 1. The fear of losing approval 2. The fear of a lack of control These two fears are hardwired into us from hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. They are what kept us alive, being part of a tribe, and controlling our environment to reduce risk. It’s hard to undo that much behavioural engineering, but you can begin to unpick it. The first step is to recognise it. Once you are aware and willing to be aware of it, then you can start to do something about it. Now you have the excuse out of the way here’s what you can do.

The answer is in the gap It’s 2pm, and your boss comes to you and asks you to get a report done by 5pm today rather than 5pm tomorrow like they originally requested. What do you do? Most people would say “OK,” then start getting stressed. You might get annoyed and frustrated. Then maybe ditch what you are doing and angrily delegate it to someone else, who gets equally annoyed and angry because you’ve just done to them what has been done to you. Or do you do what your boss wants, then stay late to catch up on your other work or, worse yet, take it home?

Let me ask you a question Would you give your money away so freely? I’m guessing not. So here’s how to stop giving your time away so freely too.

Negotiate. Most people think that when a request comes in, it’s a yes or no answer. This drives your stress levels; if you say no, you risk losing their approval.

If you say yes, you lose control of your day. In that scenario, either way, you are screwed. You aren’t leaving work on time. What many people don’t realise is you can negotiate.

All you need is a soupçon of courage and two little words…“Yes, if…”. Here’s how it looks… “Can you get this done for me by 5pm?”; “Yes, if you can get me all the information I need by 2pm”; “Yes, if you can agree that I can get this other thing to you by 5 pm tomorrow.”; Yes, if you can speak to Mary and get them to ask Bob to pick up the widget account presentation.”

Once you change your mindset and accept that you and your time are valuable and have a price, this becomes easier to do. It’s much easier to learn that than it is to get divorced and become a single parent and have to do it, for sure!

Set Your UFCs “Set my whats?” Your Up-Front Contracts. What you will and won’t do and when you will and won’t do stuff. We set them all the time at home. You might agree with your spouse on a Thursday what the plans are for the weekend. That’s setting an upfront contract. What’s going to happen, when.

I use my calendar to set upfront contracts with family and clients all the time. From 8am and to 10am is my content creation time. My family knows not to disturb me unless one of them is bleeding to death or the house is on fire. I take an hour for lunch and finish at 5:30pm. Everything else works around that. It’s called time blocking Dan Silvestre wrote a great article about it on Medium.

I also used my email out-of-office to tell everyone when I would check emails and would respond. It took them a bit of getting used to but it worked.

In time people did one of several things. They would either not bother me at all and ask someone else, figure it out for themselves or they would wait until they knew I was free. All these things bought me time.

The Result I was able to leave the office on time every night and to be back to get that warm hug, the highlight of my day. I was more efficient, less stressed and amazingly no-one pushed back and I didn’t get fired. Turns out my fears were unfounded. Which means if that can work for me, it could work for you.

Four simple steps can help you leave work on time every day: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Get clear on your reason why Prioritise your work using the matrix and 8020 Negotiate. Use “Yes, if…”

Set your upfront contracts

Get control of your life; you only get one shot. Good luck. ■

SURREYLAWYER | 39

BOOK REVIEW

Simple Contract Law

Articles of Association

Stripping English Law of Complexity

Guidance and Precedents

I

n his new book, WatsonGandy 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.

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A

s the author, Richard Bishop, says in his introduction, “the development of modern company law and the ability for ordinary people to incorporate a company was driven by the industrial revolution” from the 1840s.

Practitioners have all come a long way since then, care of massive statutory provisions. Today, nearly four million companies incorporated in the UK allow their constitution or company rule book to be dictated by the standard Articles of Association.

This new book from Bloomsbury Professional Law has been constructed “to aid professional advisers, directors and shareholders make better decisions about any company’s constitution.” We were most impressed with the way in which the book is structured to follow the articles logically with useful examples in a blocked format to make the points stand out.

Depending on what you might be looking for, the author reviews the following areas: the background to the articles of association, the Company Law Act 2006, business structures and their needs; reviews of the case law (without too many cases cited) and the implications for amending the articles of association; a detailed analysis of the default articles of association proscribed in The Companies (Model Articles) Regulations 2008 Table A; and a practical guide to drafting articles of association, real life examples and discussions on why companies should adapt Table A to suit specific company requirements.

One splendid innovation which is becoming commonplace now is the facility to download precedents with instructions set out at the beginning of the work. There is also a licence agreement which is relatively straightforward to follow. The facility dispenses with the CD which has become obsolete for many new laptops by using the website to download what you may need for your practice. In the book, the precedents start from page 261 onwards which is approximately half-way through the book.

We are confident that solicitors and accountants are presented here with the tools they need to offer sound advice to their clients on how articles may impact on the company. The key remains with what the author calls “clever drafting” on how the constitution of a company can be amended to provide clear provisions to suit its strategic position. It will always depend on the specific needs of the client, and these needs are well catered for in this book.

And for those clients who may wish to consider changing the constitution of their own company, Richard Bishop’s book is full of practical examples. He covers the do’s and don’ts of drafting very pragmatically, and offers illustrations and full procedures for trustees, family investment and property companies providing guidelines for minority shareholders, investors, and directors.

Indeed, it is a superior work which gets the right balance between detail and the practical requirements of the client. ■

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Training & Events Programme 2022 MAY 2022 05.05 | 12:30 – 1:30pm | Webinar | Mental Wellbeing SUPPORTING SURREY – BURN BRIGHTER THAN YOUR IMPOSTER SYNDROME Donna Smith, Odonnata Sponsored by Chadwick Nott

TBC | TBC | Social | Social KENT VS SURREY LAW SOCIETY ROUNDERS TOURNAMENT Venue TBC

SEPTEMBER 2022

11.05 | 2:00 – 5:00pm | Course | PC MAXIMISING FAMILY WEALTH THROUGH EFFICIENT TAX PLANNING Robert Jamieson MA FCA CTA (Fellow) TEP, Mercer & Hole Sponsored by HFS Milbourne

08.09 | 12:30 – 1:30pm | Webinar | Property MORTGAGE LENDING REQUIREMENTS FOR CONVEYANCERS Fiona Haggett and Chris Shute, Barclays UK Sponsored by Landmark Information Group

18.05 | 12:00 – 2:00pm | Online Course | Family CRYPTO-ASSETS IN DIVORCE & SEPARATION – AN INTRODUCTION FOR FAMILY LAWYERS Victoria Clarke, Watson Thomas Solicitors

14.09 | 2:00 – 5:00pm | Course | Property LEASEHOLD CONVEYANCING AND LEASE EXTENSIONS: PROBLEM AREAS & SOLUTIONS Stephen Desmond

JUNE 2022

22.09 | 6:30pm – 00:00 am | Social | Social SLS LEGAL AWARDS 2022 The Mandolay Hotel, Guildford

16.06 | 6:00 – 10:30pm | Social | Social PAST PRESIDENT’S CHAMPIONSHIP CUP Daytona Sandown, More Ln, Esher KT10 8AN 29.06 | 2:00 – 5:00pm | Course | Property RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCING UPDATE 2022 David Keighley, David Keighley Training Sponsored by Landmark Information Group

OCTOBER 2022

JULY 2022

05.10 | 12:30 – 1:30pm | Webinar | Family/PC COHABITATION CLAIMS & PROPERTY DISPUTES FOR UNMARRIED COUPLES – AN UPDATE FOR FAMILY & PRIVATE CLIENT LAWYERS Andrzej Bojarski, The 36 Group Sponsored by HFS Milbourne

13.07 | 12:30 – 1:30pm | Webinar | PC POST-BUDGET UPDATE: A SUMMARY FOR PRIVATE CLIENT LAWYERS Speaker TBC Sponsored by Tower Street Finance

12.10 | 2:00 – 5:00pm | Course | PC PRIVATE CLIENT UPDATE 2022 - A REVIEW OF CURRENT ISSUES IN PRIVATE CLIENT PRACTICE Professor Lesley King Sponsored by Chadwick Nott & Finders International

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Social Events & Awards: Details of fees will be announced with the invitations for each event.

Webinars & Workshops (1 hour): Member Fee: Free of Charge; Non-Member Fee: £15+VAT (including notes and a copy of the recording) Online Courses (2 hours): Member Fee: £50+VAT; Non-Member Fee: £100+VAT (including notes and a copy of the recording) Courses (3 hours): Member Fee: £95+VAT; Non-Member Fee: £180+VAT (including notes, refreshments and networking) All courses will be held at the TWM Offices, 65 Woodbridge Rd, Guildford GU1 4RD and will be subject to stringent COVID-19 safety procedures.

Book with confidence While we hope that COVID-19 will not present any further issues with the delivery of our programme, if there should be an occasion where a session cannot take place due to the pandemic, we will transfer your booking to the revised date or an online alternative. Refunds will be provided if the course is cancelled.

MEMBER OFFERS Buy one course (online or in-person) and get a second one of the same type half price Book one SLS Training course in 2022 and receive a second one at half the price.

The two courses must be the same type of training and booked together.

Season Ticket Book 4 or more courses (online or in person) and receive a 20% discount on those or any further courses booked in the same year. This offer does not apply to the Managing Partner’s Event or any other social events.

To redeem an offer, bookings should be emailed to elaine@surreylawsociety. org.uk, or call Helen on 0333 577 3830.

For more information on all Surrey Law Society Training & Events, please visit www.surreylawsociety.org.uk. ■

SURREYLAWYER | 41

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