www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk Autumn 2020
Northamptonshire Law Society
Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin
Covid-19 edition
‘Working from home in a pandemic’ Patroned by: QPI legal - Professional Indemnity, tailor-made for Professionals
Clear thinking where it counts
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Contents
Autumn 2020
5 The President Writes
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6 Questions - Linda Lee
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9 Questions - Landmark Information Group
www.eastparkcommunications.co.uk Managing Editor - Carolyn Coles Advertising - Simon Castell Key Account Manager - Denise Castell Design - East Park Studio Accounts - Tony Kay
11 Your NHS Needs You! 15 Questions - Tollers Solicitors
Northamptonshire Law Society
Law Society Bulletin
16 Questions - VSH Law 18 Questions - Ruth Taylor Family Law & Michael Orton Jones 20 Questions - SP Law 21 Free helpline from expert counsellors at Relate Northamptonshire for Northamptonshire residents
Media No. 1111 Published October 2020 Legal Notice
22 Mergers & Closures
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23 Questions - Aardvark Planning Law
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24 University Life Under Lockdown 28 Questions - Wilson Browne Solicitors 33 And Finally…
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President
Sharine Burgess
Deputy President Jabeer Miah
Immediate-Past President Oliver Spicer
Honorary Secretary Ika Castka
Honorary Treasurer Afua Akom
Constituency Member & Past President Linda Lee
Council Members:David Browne Laura Carter Michael Orton Jones Karen Shakespeare Euan Temple - Past President Edward St John Smyth- Past President Afua Akom Aimee Johns Amy Leech Lynsey Ward
Co-opted Members: Sarah Franklin Maurice Muchinda
Society Manager Carolyn Coles
Northamptonshire Law Society The Gatehouse, Stable Lane Pitsford
Northampton NN6 9NG
Tel: 01604 881154 Email: Sec.nls@outlook.com All Council members should in the first instance be contacted through the Society Manager.
The President writes... Welcome to this edition of the Bulletin. It is difficult to believe how quickly this year is flying by. We have all faced disruption to our lives and many challenges over the past 6 months. Against this backdrop, it has been great to hear positive reports from members that business activity levels have remained high despite the uncertainty and changes since March 2020. One member told me he had never been so busy! From my own experience activity levels have increased faster than anticipated and it is good to see that locally some firms are now recruiting again.
Northamptonshire Law Society
Northamptonshire Law Society Officers & Council Members 2020
However, there are uncertain times ahead with infection rates rising and a second wave predicted by many scientists and with Brexit looming all of which are likely to impact upon the legal sector. There are challenges ahead as the government’s work retention schemes come to an end and firms embark on costs saving exercises. Please do continue to share your experiences, positive or otherwise. NLS would like to hear from you if your employment has been affected and are particularly interested to hear from trainees who may now find their training contacts in jeopardy as we are keen to offer support. So please do get in touch. I hope you all had the opportunity to take a summer break, even if not the summer holiday as planned. My planned two weeks in a luxury 5-star hotel in Morocco turned into a caravan in the Lake District in some extreme weather conditions. Still, attending an outdoor theatre during a storm and playing tennis and crazy golf in torrential rain (the latter was abandoned as the course became so waterlogged it was impossible to hit the balls!) are memories that will stay with me for a very long time. NLS have swung back into action following the summer break with our AGM being held virtually on 7 September 2020. Thanks to all those who attended. I was very proud to be re-elected to serve a second term as President. I would like to pay tribute to my colleagues on the Council for their efforts over the last few months. I cannot thank you enough for your commitment and support. I would also like to thank Carolyn Coles, Society Manager, for working tirelessly on behalf of NLS during the Covid crisis. Carolyn has been working harder than ever to deliver business as usual and to support our membership throughout. Part of my strategy is to increase our membership and I am keen now more than ever to reach out to other legal professionals in our community so please do refer your colleagues to Carolyn Coles who will be happy to assist. I am pleased to report that NLS launched our new website in August 2020. Please do check it out at: www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk I cannot stress enough that this is your website so any ideas you have as to how the site can be improved or other information you would like to see on it will be gratefully received. A huge thanks you to Oliver Spicer and Carolyn Coles for making this happen. As I reported in the last edition, it remains our intention to reschedule the Annual Awards Dinner which was due to take place in May 2020. A date will be fixed once it is safe for the event to be held. NLS are looking to resume our training programme so do look out for events. As always, if you have any suggestions for future courses, I will be happy to hear from you. Finally, please do continue to submit articles and items of interest for the Bulletin. If there is a topic you would like to see covered please let me know. Stay safe and happy reading!
Sharine Burgess - President Northamptonshire Law Society www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk
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Northamptonshire Law Society
Linda Lee Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition From Linda Lee 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter?
I hold a number of roles, I am a Commissioner, deputy Chair of the Body Corporate and a board member at the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the public body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The CCRC has around 95 staff, 11 Commissioners and 3 non-executive directors.
All of the organisations I am involved with took similar steps. Working from home became the norm but, in some cases, this was simply not possible. Many disciplinary hearings were cancelled. Some were thought suitable to hold online but in situations where the credibility of a Respondent had to be assessed, Respondents were reluctant to be subjected to a remote hearing.
I am also a Consultant specialising in regulation at Radcliffes LeBrasseur, a 42-partner firm. We have around 150 people in total working in offices in London, Cardiff and Leeds. Radcliffes offers a full service to commercial and private clients and also has specialist teams in Healthcare and Regulation. I also sit as a legally qualified chair for a number of regulators.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal which adjudicates on complaints made against doctors and makes decisions about a doctor’s fitness to practise, returned to live hearings in August. A risk assessment was carried out to enable this to progress, fewer hearings could be held and the rather collegiate atmosphere of lunchtimes was impacted with fewer tables spread more widely apart, and our packed lunch handed to us in a paper bag! I heard my first case under the new rules in September and we did not wear masks in the hearing. As Manchester and the North West has become a high-risk area, the hearings are continuing but now everyone must wear masks.
I hold a number of voluntary roles, I am the Law Society Council member for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland. I was President of the Law Society of England and Wales, 2010 to 2011 and I have chaired a number of Boards and Committees at the Law Society. I chaired the Regulatory Processes Committee until 31 August and I chair the newly formed Mergers and Closures Taskforce. I am also a member of the Access to Justice Committee. I also Chair the Solicitors Assistance Scheme (SAS), which has no paid staff, only volunteers. We provide free initial advice to solicitors and to their staff and families, on a range of topics including regulation, disciplinary action and employment law.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts? Like many others when I heard of it at the beginning of the year, I took an interest, but I had no idea that it would plunge the whole world into crisis.
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At the CCRC, we were concerned that we ensured that the staff’s mental health was protected, as some of the work can be very distressing in nature and we looked at a variety of ways in which we could keep people connected and supported including team meetings and mentoring. At the SAS, we immediately moved to remote meetings. Our volunteer administrative assistant, a trainee solicitor was put on furlough. Fortunately, the SBA, the Solicitor’s charity came to our aid and our trainee was able to volunteer for the Solicitor’s charity and to continue to assist us. We also started running a series of online courses targeted at different sectors of the profession, for example junior lawyers and sole practitioners, to explain the help available.
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At the Law Society, Chancery Lane was closed, and we moved to remote meetings. The AGM did not take place in July as usual, but instead was held remotely in October. In response partly to COVID-19 but partly due to the hardening Professional Indemnity market, we formed a closures and mergers taskforce to ensure we had all the necessary help and guidance for the profession and that it was up to date. It was anticipated that a higher than average number of firms would have closed this year in any event but whilst there will be some winners in this situation, there will inevitably be losers as a result of the pandemic. We owe it to our members to ensure that there is as much help as possible in this very difficult time.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans? At the time of writing, we are nearing the second peak of the pandemic and it does not seem likely that we will be returning to normality any time soon. Early hopes of a vaccine for the autumn have been thwarted due to significant side effects being discovered in trials of some of the early, most promising vaccines. It seems unlikely that a vaccine will be available until late spring/early summer 2021 and even this may not be achievable. It seems working at home is the new normal. Additional support will be required for staff well-being in all the organisations I am connected to.
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing Although the impact on conveyancing is obvious, I fear there will be long term effects on litigation and hearings of all types as the backlog continues to grow. Justice delayed is justice denied.
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic? Making best use of new technology
positive. For me personally, the reduction in travelling has been a benefit as I tended to work away and spend up to 6 hours a day commuting. I don’t miss hotel food!
7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? I am concerned at the future for all firms, big or small. We are
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not well supported by government, our exclusion from small demands put on criminal legal aid lawyers at the start of the pandemic.
Northamptonshire Law Society
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Landmark Information Group From Tony Rollason, Regional Manager of Landmark Information 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work. Landmark Information Group is the UK’s leading provider of information to the property market. Within the group, the Landmark Legal business division provides a comprehensive suite of environmental and planning due diligence search reports to property lawyers and legal conveyancers. Used for both residential and commercial property transactions, this includes its flagship RiskView Residential all-in-one report.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts? I was aware of the virus around February time when daily new reports began closely monitoring what was happening in other countries. It soon became clear that it was going to impact all of us in some way. As March unravelled, it was clear decisive action was needed and this would have a big impact on both our personal and business lives.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter? As a business, we already have a strong Business Continuity Plan in place, which is tested at regular intervals. The BCP is something we have always had given the fact we are part of a larger listed organisation, and due to the nature of the work we do. It is important for us to continue delivering a consistent service to our customers. We were therefore able to ensure all our staff could carry on working throughout this time of uncertainty, and switched to home working without any issue. We already have the secure technology in place to support this approach and so it has worked well.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans?
Chancellor has introduced the Stamp Duty holiday until March 2021 and so we have seen a huge acceleration in transaction volumes. It creates a pressure for property lawyers to be able to meet this deadline, and so the reliance on easy to access data which supports their due diligence process is likely to only increase.
Northamptonshire Law Society
Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition
6. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? The next six months will be a whirlwind for property lawyers and conveyancers as they grapple with a surge of transactions as people look to capitalise on the Stamp Duty holiday. Of course, in between all of this we have Brexit to contend with. This may add another layer of uncertainty to an already pressured workforce. From our perspective, we will want to provide the steady reassurance that we always have, by delivering accurate location-based due diligence that can be relied upon – which is backed by the highest protection in the industry, with remediation cover of up to £250,000. 53 quarter page.pdf 1 24/07/2020 17:21
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Northamptonshire Law Society
Your NHS Needs You!
by Carolyn Coles
It was March 26th, the call from the national media came for us to step up and assist the NHS. They were asking for additional volunteers to help take the strain on the ever-mounting pressures, and it was predicted that this was only going to get worse. I felt the need to apply. The NHS had saved my father just a few weeks beforehand. January 3rd, I received a call from the hospital over 100 miles away and they advised that his life was hanging in the balance, and that as we spoke he was undergoing a serious operation that would hopefully save him. They advised that I should start the journey, as by morning it was probably going to be too late. I cannot begin to express the relief of being shown my father through the recovery room window, albeit he was dwarfed by all the equipment – they had beaten the odds and managed to save him. As I registered, all I could think about was just how I would feel, if I had been unable to sit with my Father, holding his hand, giving him reassurance. If I could offer a small amount of empathy, reassurance, support to a patient, despite the potential risk of contracting the illness, it was to me, a “no brainer” The application was daunting, 3 interviews, and then 9 modules each with at least 3 exams that had to have an 80% pass rate. By this time, I was home schooling my young children and still managing the day to day administerial duties of the Law Society. It took me 3 weeks to get it all finished, by which time the daily updates from the Government were becoming more and more daunting. I was asked to attend some general training sessions, one being how to perform resuscitation, obviously mouth to mouth was out of the question. The Medic who presented this, was mid-way through 4 days of 14-hour long shifts. He looked exhausted, and his arms were sore and burnt, caused by the continual washing, and administering of alcoholic gel. Mid way through training, his bleeper went off and he ran out of the room, issuing instructions via his radio… literally the last thing he said was, you need to make the heart massage count, which may in turn result in us breaking a patient’s ribs. This was not going to be a walk in the park. Monday 27th of April, I received a call to ask when I might be able to start. I took the bull by the horns and said I could offer Tuesday 28th – 9am until 1pm. I was assigned to an acute stroke ward- the
staff were so welcoming and went out of their way to explain and support me. It was in at the deep end, assisting with bed baths, changing beds, feeding patients, which to someone who had never had any previous experience in the care sector was a real steep learning curve. The temperature on the ward was unbearable, all air conditioning units had to be turned off to prevent any risk of the virus being spread. The PPE whilst necessary, was stifling and claustrophobic. The patients struggled to hear you, and I had to learn quickly to express my emotions via my eyes. I was also shocked at the amount of protection that was used. All masks, gloves, and aprons had to be changed between each patient contact, it was little wonder that on some days the hospital was using over 7000 pieces. As the weeks have rolled by, I was amazed by the stamina of the full-time carers, nurses, doctors and the support staff, the Physio’s, the speech, and language staff. If they were feeling the strain, they never showed it to the patients. Always there with a smile, a few words of support, or reassurance. I have had the pleasure of supporting these amazing people and being able to get a glimpse into the patient’s lives. Via Facetime video calls we have shown family members their loved ones, and more importantly the patients have had contact from their families. Despite the wards being full of noise and bustle, these patients can feel very lonely, vulnerable, and scared. I have felt privileged to sit with them, to share a conversation, to raise a smile.
the decision that as all the hospital outgoing lines were busy, he could use my mobile. The removal of the PPE so I could leave the ward to get my phone, took a frustratingly long time. The phone and case had to be cleaned and I once again put on the apron, gloves, visor and gained his home number from his records. The transformation in his demeanour was amazing and he started to look so much more positive. When I went back some time later to enquire how his wife was, he took my hand and looked at me with tears in his eyes and asked how he could ever repay me. In that moment, I knew this was exactly why I had volunteered. I am pleased to advise that the gentle, sincere articulate Bud, was discharged to his lovely wife and dogs in early July.
At the end of this pandemic, I will take the experience and memories and be grateful that I was able to help in some way. I often think of some of the more charismatic patients, and hope that they are becoming stronger, and with the support of their friends and families making positive steps along the road to recovery. Rosemary, a former nurse, and a very vocal patient was a delightful challenge. We bonded over her love of marmite, and in moments of clarity would recall her childhood and being evacuated during the war. Barry, and his love of rugby. I have had to promise I would meet at a Saints game and treat him to a pint when he is able. It has been hard mentally and physically, but in a world where we may aspire to having that new car, better paid job or trendy new kitchen, when you are lying in a hospital bed having a complete stranger wash, feed, and monitor all of your basic bodily functions, perhaps we should take a different approach to what is “valuable”
One morning I noticed one of the male patients, Bud. He had been washed, but asked to remain in bed, as he did not feel well enough to get up. I enquired how he was doing. This was not his normal behaviour, despite how Carolyn Coles much discomfort he Carolyn Coles, manages Northamptonshire Law was in, he always had Society, organising the training, publications, a smile. He replied awards dinners and other clerical duties. that he was feeling Her background consists of banking, payments rather anxious about and manging Corporate relationships. his wife. I was acutely A middle aged mum of two ( 11 years, 8 years) she supports the local aware that a patient’s school by fundraising and assisting in the classrooms. More recently health could deteriorate she has trained to become a NHS volunteer to provide support during Covid – 19. She is a lover of good human company, dogs and Gin. very quickly, so made
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Northamptonshire Law Society
“Let’s Hope The Cat Doesn’t Run Over The Keyboard!” The Expert Witness Institute Virtual Conference 2020 “Bridging the Gap” Friday, 18th September 2020 An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE, Richmond Green Chambers
The strange times we live in throw up inventive new ways to conduct our legal business: working from home (WFH). None more so than attending the Expert Witness Institute (EWI) Annual Conference for 2020 held remotely for the first time. And it was a great success with first class speeches, panel discussions and “breakout sessions”. Amanda Stevens, the Conference Chair, began these historic proceedings almost as though they were a regular occurrence. It was a busy and detailed programme aiming as always to cater for current issues which experts face. Predominant is the mystique surrounding “virtual” or “remote” hearings which seem now to be a regular fixture for future litigation. We heard first from Lord Kerr in one of his last remaining duties as a Supreme Court Justice giving the keynote address. Brian Kerr was the last of the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary and he holds a life peerage enabling him to remain in the House of Lords on retirement. His reflections on the legal changes he has seen were fascinating, bridging the gap between the Lords as an appellate committee, to the emerging UKSC. And the remote system for the keynote speech worked well. The morning sessions covered what will probably be the most useful for the comments and observations on how we will now use virtual meetings, hearings, 12
and trials for the foreseeable future. The chair of the Bar Council for 2020, Amanda Pinto QC, and the vice-chair of the Personal Injuries Bar Association, Sarah Crowther QC, opened an interactive session on “Covid-19: How the Pandemic shaped the role of technology in the courts”. There was so much commonsense advice on display that it is worth watching any of the available conference videos to catch the suggestions. Probably the most important points which participants will take with them include the need for more than one computer when you undertake remote work. That is because you need one screen for the hearing itself, either via the Cloud Video Platform (CVP) for similar systems such as zoom, skype or teams. You then need a separate screen for the trial bundle which you cannot turn, or cross refer to in quite the same way as the paper version. Finally, always have a mobile phone as (sadly) it is common for one party or another to lose a connection during the hearing. To reinforce Pinto and Crowther, we were given “lessons from the courts- a panel discussion” chaired by Dr Penny Cooper, with Alexander Hutton QC, Mrs Justice McGowan, and HHJ Nigel Lickley QC from the Old Bailey. Readers will notice how top heavy the conference was with barristers so far. However, they proved the justification of their invitations with some great forensic tips for our new remote age. And at no stage did any of their cats run over
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the keyboards of their PCs to disrupt proceedings! Apart from animals or others contributing to virtual chats, there was also the recurring comments on the appropriateness (or otherwise) of the backgrounds- books rather than beds being the favoured option. Networking and exhibitor sessions were useful dividers between the formal discussions. We were lucky to have contributions from Bond Solon, Redwood Collections, and the New Law Journal. The afternoon breakout sessions covered the more “bread and butter” sessions which I am sure the participants found useful for their professional updates, including these areas: improving practice in inquests; in arbitration; and post-Brexit. The final panel session brought back Penny Cooper for a discussion on “Lawyers and Experts: bringing together Experts and Instructing Parties” with contributions from Duncan HughesPhillips, Frank Hughes, Jennifer Jones, and Robert Clayton. We missed EWI chair, Martin Spencer, this year although his welcome note was spot on- little did we know how appropriate the conference theme “bridging the gap” might be! We did end the conference knowing how we could improve our practice and develop our skills to make us fit for the future as lawyers and experts. And I think we all now know what to expect for the 2021 and that the next Conference, whether it is virtual or attended, will always remain professionally rewarding for everyone.
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Tollers Solicitors From Duncan Nicholson, Managing Partner, Tollers Solicitors 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work. Duncan Nicholson, Managing Partner, Tollers Solicitors. Specialist in Corporate Recovery and Turnaround. Tollers is a full service law firm providing legal services to businesses and individuals. Specifically we provide Corporate, Property, Dispute, Employment and Insolvency services for businesses and Private Client, Family, Residential Property, Personal Injury and specialist vulnerable client care services for private individuals. We have around 135 staff.
working, particularly for our solicitor and fee earning staff. We have reopened offices with Covid-19 policies to keep both staff and clients safe. While we will meet clients we continue to encourage virtual meetings where possible. We have reduced the number of operational sites with Tollers as a much larger proportion of business is done on a virtual basis with location being less of an issue and, where legal activity has reduced in certain sectors, we have made some difficult decisions and reduced headcount. Most staff are now back from furlough with only a handful of support staff remaining on the scheme..
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts?
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing
Early in January 2020 the news on Coronavirus started to become higher profile and I started to take more of an interest from then. If I am honest my initial thoughts was it would be similar to other coronavirus outbreaks such as swine flu and that it would not have a huge impact on our day to day lives.
Yes. Conveyancing dropped off the side of a cliff initially. Then, once lockdown was relaxed the market bounced back due to pent up demand. That was further boosted by the Government’s stamp duty holiday and so our current levels of instructions are ahead of where we expected them to be pre-Covid. Commercial Property was also hugely impacted but is also bouncing back. Corporate deals were shelved thus reducing activity there. Private Client and Family have seen greater activity however that has not always meant an increase in fees. The closure of Courts, financial institutions and Government bodies have resulted in far slower processing and so the fees from the greater activity are taking longer to harvest.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter? In February/early March we started to take additional steps in connection with office hygiene etc. In addition we cancelled a number of events that would involve mass gatherings. When lockdown was announced we were able to react very quickly as we had the technology and IT infrastructure to send all of our staff home. Where staff were unable to work effectively from home, such as Receptionists, we used the Government’s furlough scheme. We also used the scheme to mitigate against the reduction in activity brought about as a result of the impact of Covid-19. 4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans? We continue to keep a very close eye on the level of economic activity and legal instructions. We have introduced flexible
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic? Positives are the acceptance of more flexible working and the ability to serve clients in a wider geography as a result. We have also identified additional efficiencies which were forced upon us but have been beneficial. Where there is disruption there is always opportunity and at Tollers we are on the look out for opportunities. 7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession?
Tollers is well geared up and robust enough to manage its way through the pandemic. Its been tough, particularly in the first 6 weeks of lock down but we managed our way through. We have learnt a lot and developed as a business. While the economic outlook remains so uncertain it is not the time to be complacent but we believe that we are strong and will emerge even stronger. For the wider profession the concern has to be the smaller firms who cannot invest in the technology for more agile working. In addition, with the Government support packages slowly being phased out, the wider economy is likely to worsen and the impact on legal practices and all other sectors is likely to be significant.
Northamptonshire Law Society
Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition
8. Any top tips? The main tip is not to panic and to keep a very close eye on activity and costs. At the start of the pandemic we were monitoring activity weekly and budgeting accordingly. That is not sustainable however we have continued to monitor our financial indicators very carefully and as a result the firm has performed as well as we could have expected it to given the significant business interruption brought about by Covid-19. 9. Any other thoughts you would like to share? In terms of final thoughts, communication in times like this is probably the most important thing. We communicated with our staff regularly, especially with those on furlough, so they did not feel out of the loop. In addition, there is a lot to be said for communicating with your business rivals. I have spoken to many other firms to compare notes. We can all learn from one another and however experienced you might be, there will always be something new you might pick up along the way. The impact of the pandemic will continue to be felt for some time and on behalf of Tollers I wish all businesses and individuals in and around Northamptonshire every success in meeting Covid-19 head on. None of us are alone so lets all keep talking and learning.
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Northamptonshire Law Society
VSH Law Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition From Laura Carter of VSH Law, Thrapston 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work.
the office to cover mainly incoming or outgoing post and to keep the paper side of things moving.
I am partner at VSH Law in Thrapston. We are a one office practice with a rich history. The firm employs 18 people and we specialise in the non-contentious areas of commercial law, commercial and residential conveyancing, employment and private client. We serve the local and wider community..
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans?
There were initial reports about it around Christmas and into the New Year, but back then, I would never have imagined where we are now and what upheaval we were due over the next few months. I remember when lockdown was announced, that evening we held a partners’ meeting to discuss how to deal with this; everything happened so quickly.
Although our front door is still kept locked, as lockdown has eased, we are seeing more people venturing out and dropping documents into us personally. Whilst most appointments are still held remotely, we also now hold socially distanced signing meetings at our office. We have adapted to work from home, and although over the weeks, a few people started to work back in the office we now tend to have a pattern that there are some members of staff that work permanently in the office and some who spend their time between office and home. An eye is kept on numbers to ensure that social distancing can be maintained and we have rearranged office space to make this easier in open plan spaces.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter?
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing
Being a small firm, we were able to adapt our way of working overnight. We closed our front door, put messages in all prominent places and sent everyone home with laptops and printers. I work in the Private Client Department, so Will and Deed signings were topics that we had to discuss and resolve. Over the following days more information was released and we had a clearer picture of what the following months would look like.
As a firm, some issues and difficulties affected us all. Each department has had its own particular issues and difficulties to overcome. In the Private Client Department the biggest issue was how we were going to deal with Will signings. Perhaps, as would be expected, there was an increased focus on Will making and organising personal affairs, and sadly, an increase in probates. Employment was very busy throughout the period and continues to be so as companies shed staff. Residential conveyancing was very slow for the first couple of months but as soon as full lockdown ended, the market became very busy over night with transactions that had been put on hold. Agents and other firms were not quite quick enough to respond to this in terms of bringing back staff from furlough, which has resulted in ongoing delays in
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts?
Meetings were switched over to video conferencing, or telephone calls. Everyone was reliant on their home internet connection, which sometimes did not work as it should. Lockdown, baking and home-schooling became the topics of conversation. Only key workers (as per the government definition) were based permanently in 16
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residential conveyancing. Our Company/ Commercial Department remained buoyant as did our Commercial & Agricultural Property Department. In both areas, our client base seems to have been relatively unaffected. 6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic? We have all embraced working from home and it is no longer scary. Video conference meetings have become the norm. If lockdown happens again, we know what to do and all of our systems are already in place to ensure that our service to clients is seamless. It is heartening to know that our systems are robust and that we could transition from office life to home life overnight pretty much seamlessly. 7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? Adapting to new working practices has been a benefit. However, I do not think that it will radically change how we work, some matters are still best dealt with by personal appearance. In my department, Private Client, we work with people who often prefer to visit and talk to us in person. Commercial and employment matters have always tended to be dealt with via email/phone and continue unchanged. 8. Any top tips? Always keep a face mask handy. 9. Any other thoughts you would like to share? I am amazed by the resilience of the staff and how they have taken every change in their stride, going above and beyond to ensure that our service to clients is unaffected. It has been a tough six months and I am concerned about what the winter months have in store. However, I am confident that what we have learnt since March will help us to weather the storm ahead.
Having qualified in 1997, Claire Berrington FCCA is a menber of the Expert Witness Institute with over 13 years experience as a Forensic Accountant and Expert Witness. She works with Barristers and Solicitors throughout the UK.
Claire has experience in the following areas: • Fraud, including evasion of VAT and Excise Duty
• Directors misfeasance & disqualifications • Wrongful and fraudulent trading
• MTIC, advance fee and boiler room • Partnership and directors disputes • False accounting and money laundering • Business valuations • Charity, PAYE fraud and tax cheat • Mortgage fraud • Drug offences • Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA)
• Preparation of detailed reports which clearly set out the issues and conclusions • Assistance at Court including Expert to Expert consultation and giving evidence • Appointment as joint expert
Claire Berrington BA (Hons) FCCA MEWI Call for a free initial discussion on: 01822 259593 or 07833 431013 claire.berrington@integrityafs.co.uk www.integrityafs.co.uk La Grange, The Chipshop, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8NT
Ruth Taylor Family Law Northamptonshire Law Society
Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition From Ruth Taylor of Ruth Taylor Family Law 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work.
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic?
Ruth Taylor Family Law, in Family law solicitor. Two solicitors and one secretary/ assistant. We are purely family law such as divorce, separation, children issues, financial settlements, injunction proceedings, change of name deeds, living together agreements.
We have been productive working remotely and has made me realise it is possible to do so, especially when a staff member has children at home wheh previously I might have thought it would not be possible.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts?
For our clients a big positive is telephone hearings as they are very much less expensive than us physically attending Court due to no travel and waiting time / expense. This has allowed us to represent clients at Court who may otherwise bot have been able to instruct us.
Initially late 2019/early 2020, particularly as I visited Cambodia and Vietnam in February 2020 so more seriously after that. Initially some concern but concern progressed in March when our government were more vocal about it.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter?
Care to begin with but after the main government announcement we worked remotely except for secretary/ assistant who worked in the office alone to be safe. It was a new way of working for us working remotely. No major problems.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans? It is easier for us as there is only 3 of us. The solicitor and secretary/ assistant have separate rooms and are very careful. I am continuing to work more remotely than in the office to deal with administrative work.
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing No, not in my professional role.
7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? I think we will revert to being office based. I think it is good to keep work and home separate. It is also good to see work colleagues. But we know that we can work remotely if we need to.
8. Any top tips? No, but having hard working, conscientious and committed staff has been a huge bonus. They just rolled up their sleeves and got on with it. We worked well as a team, sharing the duties appropriately, one or two slight changes from how we did in the office. I am very proud of them and grateful to them for that.
9. Any other thoughts you would like to share? I am interested to hear from others how the situation has affected them. I think everyone has been affected in many different ways. I have wondered what is going on with the rest of the local profession as there has been less interaction. I have checked on some I have worried about but they are fine.
Michael Orton Jones Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition From Michael Orton Jones - notary public, solicitor & a commissioner for oaths. 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work. I am a solicitor and a notary public and practice mainly as a notary now. I started working for Shoosmiths sixty years ago.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts? Don’t remember. Same as everyone else I expect.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter? I usually have to see clients face to face so
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stopped doing this for a while.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans? I see clients in the yard in front of my house. We wear masks and try to distance.
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing. Yes. My work has expanded particularly for private clients. Corporate work has not been so busy.
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic?
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I have never been busier. I am happy not to have to travel and find Zoom and Skype work well.
7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? I am getting old and shall need to pass my work on to others. I deal with the whole world and meet interesting people.
8. Any top tips?
Be available 24 hours a day every day.
9. Any other thoughts you would like to share? I think it is sad that firms are only interested in profit per partner rather than helping people.
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SP Law Northamptonshire Law Society
Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition From Lynsey Ward of SP Law 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work. I am Head of Department for Family at SP Law. SP Law deal with family, employment, civil litigation, immigration, conveyancing and wills and probate.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts? I first became aware of COVID-19 when it was being reported in China. Initially, I naively did not think that it would spread to other countries. I then stupidly watched, Contagion, which scared the life out of me!
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter? Initially my firm encouraged people to work from home. Several employees from both offices were subsequently furloughed, I was one of them as I had no childcare (see
front page) . The firm cut back unnecessary expenditure, such as the DX.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans? I am back to work, albeit some days at home. I plan to continue working from home at least one day a week.
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing Landlord and Tenant work really slowed down, as did conveyancing. Since the SDLT changes conveyancing seems to have picked up a lot, however, we are conscious there may be a drop again.
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic? Being furloughed allowed me to spend quality time with my twin girls before they started school. As they were born early
they were in hospital for nearly 5 months and following their discharge they were in and out of hospital. I, therefore, felt as if I did not spend any quality time with them during my maternity leave. The time spent in lockdown with them, whilst on furlough, was extremely special and, in a strange way, it felt as if I had ‘got my time back’. The firm has also adapted to more flexible working and more employees now work from home. Fee earners use new dictation software where possible, to free up secretarial support.
7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? We have made in through the tough timesthings can only get better!
8. Any top tips? Stay focused on what is important to you. Embrace change and remember life is here to test you. Oh, and keep your gin/wine well stocked!
IGNORANCE IS NO DEFENCE
DevAssist investigates locations for development risks that could impact a property. We are an accredited CPD provider on development and planning. Our products:
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01342 890010
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w: www.devassist.co.uk
Free helpline from expert counsellors at Relate Northamptonshire for Northamptonshire residents With 60 years’ experience of supporting people across the county, Relate Northamptonshire has a widely developed service for couples, families, individuals, children & young people and employees. Our 22 staff have a wealth of experience in supporting individuals with mental health problems as well as helping couples and families build better relationships.
Responding to Covid
Planning for the Future
We actually shut down our face to face appointments a week before lockdown officially began, perceiving that people in a confined room was not a good idea. Within 3 days of closing down 100% of our work, we were back up and running, providing all of our work digitally or via telephone appointments. Our team were incredible at adapting to this new way of working. This put us in an excellent position to support people as requests for our services began to rapidly increase. We quickly identified the substantial mental and emotional impact the pandemic was having on people, demonstrated by a surge in enquiries for our counselling services.
Throughout lockdown, we have been amazed at how readily people are adapting to receiving support digitally. Our current plans are therefore to continue providing all our services remotely until March. In fact, we will never return to 100% face to face – the opportunities and possibilities opened up to us through remote appointments are brilliant for both us and our clients.
A key part of that offering is our free helpline for people impacted by coronavirus, paid for through emergency Covid funding. Available for adults over 18, these free 30-minute telephone appointments with a qualified Relate counsellor provide three things: •
active listening - not just hearing but full concentration on all that you are communicating, with all of the experience and insight from our expert counsellors to fully understand where you are;
• psycho-education - explaining some of the relevant psychology of your experience and how that knowledge might help you overcome your individual challenges; •
signposting - our counsellors have an excellent knowledge of all the services available to support you in this time, and will be able to point you in the right direction should you require further support.
This service is open to anyone whose mental health & sense of wellbeing have been impacted by coronavirus.
A Positive Impact t’s been wonderful to have so much positive feedback from clients about the free helpline service. Here are just some of the things they’ve said: “I thought I was at the end, then I reached out. Now I feel like I’m back at the beginning.” “You picked up on me putting myself last, which I didn’t realise I did; you very quickly pointed this out... It was perfect. I wish I’d called earlier.” “[It helped me] to be able to tell the truth and verbalise what’s been swirling around my head, someone to actually listen to what’s been bottling up inside me.” “I found it very useful; it’s put me in perspective again and I have got back in control before it got out of hand. It’s nice to have the service to hand. It will help out a lot of people like me… A bit of guidance to get me back on the straight and narrow.”
Unfortunately, we anticipate that demand for our services will continue to rise in the coming months. With continued local lockdowns and outbreaks, Covid will impact our communities’ emotional wellbeing, mental health and relationships for some time to come. Our team’s new digital skill set, combined with their longstanding counselling expertise, means we can support our county through this challenging season.
Top tips to protect your mental health This situation is unusual for our nation: everyone is impacted by the pandemic. Every family, every relationship and every individual is under stress. Recognising this, and appreciating the impact it has on you and those around you, is really important. So how can you look after your mental health and support your clients? 1.
Give yourself time. Anxiety and stress are a part of all our lives at the moment. Giving yourself time to process how you are feeling and why is really important. In many ways, this is the function of our helpline: it gives people focussed time to find new perspective on what’s happening around them.
2.
Notice what causes you stress and what brings contentment. This mindfulness can help you to place boundaries around stressors to limit their impact – and build into your day the things that feed you. If supermarket shopping causes anxiety, plan half an hour afterwards to relax with a book. If the news makes you feel stressed, limit yourself to 10 minutes in the middle of the day. If your hobby really helps you relax, plan it in asa regular part of your week.
3.
As teams, we can do a huge amount to support each other. Verbal affirmation can make someone’s day; giving a few minutes to finding out how someone is means they feel valued; a phone call instead of an email helps someone feel connected. Find what works for you and your colleagues, and be deliberate in caring for one another.
4.
Know how to access appropriate help. There are plenty of excellent free services available for all sorts of situations. Keep a note to hand of a variety of contacts so that you can signpost clients or colleagues to the services they need. www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk
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Northamptonshire Law Society
Mergers & Closures By Linda Lee
A century ago, solicitors were facing rebuilding the profession after the biggest series of catastrophes ever to impact on this country, and indeed the world. When the First World War broke out in 1914, there were around 15,000 solicitors. At the end of the war, a tenth of all solicitors and a third of all articled clerks (now known as trainee solicitors) had been killed.1 The end of the war was followed by the Spanish flu epidemic. It is not known how many solicitors died as a result, but it is estimated that between 20 and 40 million people died worldwide and the flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 402. The world was then plunged into recession.
A hundred years later and the profession is again in some turmoil; a pandemic is wreaking havoc around the world, causing a world recession and in our small corner, we also face the uncertainties of Brexit and a hardening professional indemnity insurance (PII) market. For some firms, times will be hard, but they will find new ways of working and trade through. The Law Society has information to help and assist hereA.
There will be firms who cannot afford the renewal premium for PII, do not wish to access government loans or to trade through the years of recession that lie ahead. As a consequence, partners, solicitors and others will lose their jobs. We now face a polar dilemma to that of one hundred years ago. At that time there were too few qualified men (women had only just been permitted to practise but very few had the opportunity3). As at June 2020, there were 202,265 solicitors on the Roll of which 149,621 had practising certificates4. It seems unlikely that in a recession there will be employment or easily available employment in the law for all solicitors. It is also likely that trainees and apprentices will be amongst those who (although not technically made redundant) will find their contracts terminated. For those very close to qualification, it may be possible for the SRA to grant a waiver,B that will permit them to qualify. It is to be hoped that firms that are secure, will consider taking on trainees and apprentices who have already started their training contract elsewhere. Government help may soon be announced to assist with the cost of employing trainees (who are also classified as apprentices) and thus enable them to qualify.
Where partners believe their firms can be salvaged, it is important that they keep a close control of all aspects of their finances and are realistic about assessing the point at which it is prudent to close so that they can ensure an orderly wind-down. If they cannot save their firms, it is important that they do not risk disciplinary action that could prevent them continuing to earn a living as solicitors. There are some firms that will not be able to
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obtain PII either at a price they can afford or at all. If at 1 October, they did not have cover, they had five days to notify the SRA, as set out in the SRA’s guidance on PIIC. Once firms notify the SRA, they will go into the extended indemnity period under their existing policy. This is made up of a 30-day extended policy period (EPP) and then a 60-day cessation period (CP) and during these periods indemnity cover is provided by the last-named insurer for the firm. The firm can use this time to secure insurance, however, after 30 days it cannot take on any new business.
As a result of the pandemic, the SRA has announced that it may be possible to continue to take on new business beyond the 30 day period and to extend the CP beyond 60 days, with the agreement of insurers if firms apply forD and are granted a waiver by the SRA. Once a firm enters into the CP it must be taking steps to close down. The SRA will discover if anyone has failed to notify them as the SRA conduct a reconciliation process once the October renewal date for Practice Certificates has passed. If firms cannot obtain PII or an extension of their current cover, the firm will either have to close, or merge with another firm and in either case it is likely that the payment of the run off premium will be unavoidable.
It is increasingly unusual for a firm willing to merge to agree to be a ‘successor practice’5 but rather will insist that the old firm must pay run-off. This protects the ongoing business from claims from the merged firm. Although the runoff premium under current policies is commonly between two and three and a half times the last premium (for basic level of cover), it may be possible where partners genuinely have difficulty in meeting the payment to negotiate instalment terms with insurers.
Some partners in firms (and solicitors finding themselves redundant) are looking at the new structures available to see if there are viable alternatives enabling them to continue to practise and offer services having where relevant put their existing firm into run-off. One option is to become employed as a solicitor in a limited company not regulated by the SRA. This may be attractive where they are not carrying out reserved work, as they are not required to hold PII at the minimum level of the minimum terms and conditions. Alternative cover lower with policy premiums may be available.
Other partners are considering putting their firms into run-off, thus taking advantage of lower premiums paid in 2019, and then continuing their career as freelancers. In that case there remains an obligation where freelance solicitors or employed solicitors undertake reserved activity work to hold an adequate and appropriate level of cover6. As a freelancer, a solicitor can carry out reserved activities (if they are more than 3 years qualified) but cannot be in partnership, a limited company or have employees. (link to practice note on freelancers) (note to regulatory team check practice note warns of difficulties in obtaining insurance particularly if less than 4 years qualified) However, if solicitors become freelancers, thought needs to be given as to how to manage an exit and to discharge the liabilities of that new business in due course. From a regulatory perspective options that involve putting the firm into run-off trigger a number of important considerations. For example, client consent to transfer work to a new entity, closing off client account and dealing with residual balances, the return of deeds and storage of the records of former
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clients. The SRA must be given notice and have prepared guidanceE. You can also obtain help by contacting Professional Ethics on 0370 606 2577 or email professional.ethics@sra.org.uk. For firms who wish to carry out conveyancing and probate, an alternative that could avoid the need to put the firm into run-off, may be to become licensed through the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. The annual insurance premiums will include an element for run-off cover each year and overall premiums may be less expensive. This will not give authorisation for the practice of litigation and for a mixed practice, the position as regards run-off insurance for former litigation clients would need to be clarified. Whatever the difficulties facing individuals and firms, help and advice is at hand. The Law Society has formed a taskforce from members of its specialist regulatory committees (insurance, standards & ethics and regulatory processes), to update and add to the Society’s core list of advice with practice notes, mergers event, articles, and to make the SRA aware of the issues it needs to tackleF. If there are areas, you would like the taskforce to give guidance on or to lobby the SRA please contact us here. The guidance can be found hereG and there is also guidance available from the Law Management Section.H There is also help and advice and support available from the Law Society Pastoral care helpline7 or from LawCare who promote and support good mental health and wellbeing in the legal community. The SBA- the Solicitors’ CharityI may be able to assist with financial support for solicitors and their families and can provide financial support and advice whilst retraining in other disciplines. For advice on regulatory, disciplinary and employment matters, the expert volunteers of the Solicitors Assistance Scheme are on hand.J David Lloyd George, a solicitor and the Prime Minister in 1920 said, ‘there are times you need the courage to take a great leap; you can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.’ That is true but crossing a chasm or facing any difficulty is always easier when you have help support and a good plan. The Law Society is here to help. 1: Lawyers in Society: The Common Law World edited by Richard L Abel & Philip S C Lewis 2: Human Virology at Stamford. 3: Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 4: SRA: Population of solicitors in England and Wales 5: See Defined Terms in The Minimum Terms and Conditions 6: Code of Conduct for Solicitors section 5.6 7: Call: 020 7320 5795 Opening hours: 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday A: www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/business-management/closures-and-merger B: www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/waivers/apply-waiver C: www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/resources/indemnity D: www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/waivers/apply-waiver E: www.sra.org.uk/closing-down-your-practice F: www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-members G: www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/regulation H: www.lawcare.org.uk I: www.sba.org.uk J: www.thesas.org.uk/about-us
Aardvark Planning Law From Jane Burgess of Aardvark Planning Law 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work. We are Aardvark Planning Law, a specialist planning and environmental law firm with three solicitors.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts? News reports in the Autumn sounded like Ebola and Asian Bird ‘flu: scary but a long way away. I very much hoped they wouldn’t reach here .
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter?
Stocked up on wine! Cancelled my big birthday party. As a firm we actually adapted really quickly as our IT was designed to allow us to work remotely when doing planning public inquiries around the country. The switch to frequent Teams/Zoom video calls did catch us out a bit and we had to order more webcams from China which took a while to arrive. I bought a new, more
comfortable office chair as it soon became apparent there would be less time travelling to clients and more time working from my desk.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans?
We are being cautious and having got used to working remotely we aren’t rushing back to the office. Also we are meeting clients in person less, but still need to get out and visit sites. Avoiding public transport and travelling by car, which contravenes our environmental policy!
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing Disputes seems to be busy. The impact seems to be very patchy with some areas busier and some much less busy.
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic? However the government has decided to launch a review of the whole planning
Northamptonshire Law Society
Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition
system. So we have lots to do getting to grips with that. Also no one knows about the impact on development property so clients are asking us about the options going forward. We have picked up quite a lot of new work, particularly from public sector clients who weren’t able to move to remote working so seamlessly. Not spending hours on the train is a bonus. But missing banter with colleagues and the buzz that used to be in the office when we were pitching for new work, or had got a good result or brainstorming a new issue.
7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession?
Evolution, innovation and resilience. It will be a case of survival of the fittest and adapt to survive. But there will always be a need for legal advice and in times of crisis that is greater than ever.
8. Any top tips?
Laptop docking station, two big screens and a comfy chair! Lots of your favourite coffee. Smile whenever you can, and remember it could be much worse.
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University Life Under Lockdown By Kirstie Best, Subject Leader for Law (Faculty of Business and Law), University of Northampton Originally when I was asked to write a piece for the bulletin I thought I’d do something on either the campus at Waterside or the recently approved changes to our undergraduate Law programmes. Both are significant events: Moving the University to a new purpose built, town centre location has facilitated a different approach to teaching and learning (based on a mix of workshops and online delivery) and placed us closer to many colleagues in the local legal professions. It provides a great location for future events between the University and Northamptonshire Law Society (NLS). The national changes to legal education introduced by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (currently awaiting approval from the Legal Services Board), has been a catalyst for reviewing what areas of law we teach and how we assess students, with a need to introduce more practice-based elements into our curriculum. This again will provide an opportunity to work more closely with NLS and its members as we look to further develop practitionerinformed teaching, and employability events and pro bono opportunities for our students. However, both of these, for the time-being, have been somewhat over-taken by the Government lockdown introduced on March 23rd. In common with many other sectors, this has lead to significant changes in how we do things, even though what we do remains the same. Across the university sector, institutions have had to move all teaching and student support activities (meetings with dissertation students and personal tutees, for example) online, put in place alternative assessments given that face-to-face examinations are no longer possible, and undertake all administrative activities (including exam boards) virtually. At the University we’ve been well-prepared, albeit inadvertently, for this as the move to Waterside signalled a change in the teaching and learning ethos and practice. This saw a move away from traditional large group lectures and seminars to workshop delivery supported by online materials and activities. The idea behind this was to help students to develop skills and work in ways that more closely align to workplace practices, including through a renewed focus on the application of knowledge to real-life scenarios and development of transferrable skills. The challenge with lockdown has been how to transfer all of this online at short notice, with the need to adjust as the lockdown eases. So, while for the time-being we are working wholly online the aim is that for the start of the new academic year we will be able to return to some face-to-face delivery. This is, of course, dependent on the Government restrictions, Public Health England requirements, and the needs of students and staff (some of whom are in the shielding group or caring for 24
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vulnerable family members). In terms of teaching, we already use software that allows for live delivery of classes, and this works well with smaller groups of students when the opportunities for asking and answering questions is greater. We also provide materials through ‘voiced-over’ PowerPoints, and use online discussion boards and journals for students to work together and individually in drafting work. In common with many sectors, the lockdown has accelerated changes that were happening or being considered anyway and part of our summer work will be to learn more about how we can effectively use a wider variety of the technology in teaching and learning activities. There are difficulties with online delivery and virtual teaching: students don’t always have an ideal environment at home in which to study, whether through lack of space or issues with access to wifi. There are benefits though and some of the software that we are now using, such as Microsoft Teams, is also used in the workplace, linking to the development of transferable digital skills. In terms of assessments, these are now all online and will remain so for the next academic year. While teaching can be moved from wholly online to a mix of online and face-to-face depending on the scale of lockdown restrictions, the assessments need to be deliverable whatever the situation. This will be one of the main things that we are working on this summer, to ensure that assessments remain robust in terms of quality assurance and professional body requirements. They also need to be engaging and to align to the changing legal education environment. It’s been interesting liaising with the SRA and university bodies, such as the Committee of Heads of University Law Schools, on this. For undergraduate programmes, the SRA has been ‘hands-off’ in its approach as long as universities are adhering to national and institutional quality assurance and standards. More interesting conversations have been had with colleagues at other universities and, across the sector, we seem to be reaching similar conclusions about what changes are appropriate to ensure fairness to students and outcomes appropriate to graduate employment. To conclude, lockdown has required fast but considered changes to how we do things. Like other sectors, change has been precipitated that was probably on the horizon anyway: more working from home, more use of technology, more innovation in terms of how we do things. One thing that does remain unchanged though is the value of contact with colleagues and students, and we look forward to that returning in a face-to-face form and being able to welcome you to Waterside in the near future.
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Geodesys offers free of charge SDLT service as the market bounces back As the property market resumes following the gradual lifting of lockdown measures, figures from HM Revenue and Customs have shown that property sales rose by and incredible 15.6% in August accompanied by a significant increase in house prices(1). Although experts are predicting that the boom is not sustainable, current sales are also being boosted by the Stamp Duty holiday introduced by the Chancellor in July. This sees the stamp duty threshold increased to £500,000 until the end of March 2021. Although first time buyers were already exempt from SDLT on property purchases up to £300,000, the recent additional reduction of SDLT, has been designed to stimulate the overall market and is certainly playing a role in supporting house sales.
It’s a great time to take advantage of our SDLT offer(2) To help support our conveyancing customers, we are currently offering our simple and efficient Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) service FREE OF CHARGE until 31 March 2021. Our online SDLT solution allows you to quickly and securely submit your SDLT returns from within your case. But, perhaps more importantly, the service provides complete peace of mind as the online returns process is fullycompliant with the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) and Core Practice Management Standards. Our post-completion SDLT solution offers you the following benefits: • Meets the Law Society CQS CPMS 1.2 requirement for an audit trail and third-party review process • Pre-populates the forms based on the information already stored in the Geodesys case file, alleviating the need for duplication when completing the AP1 form • Information is validated before submission to HMRC. This allows you to correct any human errors which would result in rejection.
• Instant SDLT5 certification – no long turnaround times • Has a comprehensive GDPR toolkit allowing you to search, edit, export and mark to delete your client’s personal data • Drafts can be saved at any time - no need to complete in one go • No training is required, and the submission can be made directly and securely from the Geodesys platform. Johnny Davey, Conveyancing Product Manager from Geodesys commented: “We are delighted that the
property market is seeing considerable growth at the moment, following the substantial pause during lockdown. Thanks to our technology-based service, we as an organisation have been able to continue with business as usual throughout and we have a full customer services team in place to support clients. “Now that the market bouncing back so rapidly, we are delighted to offer a little something back to our dedicated customers by offering our efficient SDLT service free of charge.” The SDLT service is just one of a number of tools Geodesys offers to provide a seamless and compliant ordering process for property searches. To find out more about our SDLT and our full range of conveyancing services, please visit www.geodesys.com or email Kay Toon, our Key Account Manager at kay.toon@geodesys.com.
Notes: (1) The Times, 23 September 2020 (2) Free of charge SDLT offer ends 31/03/2021.
Northamptonshire Law Society
Wilson Browne Solicitors Questions for Northamptonshire Law Society Bulletin Autumn 2020 – COVID Edition From Kevin Rogers - Partner in Wilson Browne Solicitors 1. Please provide a brief description of you, your organisation, number of employees and areas of work. Wilson Browne Solicitors can trace its roots back almost 200 years, having 5 offices in the county with another in Leicester. We employ approximately 165 staff covering all areas of law (except crime) for individuals and their businesses.
2. When did you first become aware of Coronavirus and what were your initial thoughts? Like many businesses we were initially unsure of which way things could go. Being ‘an unknown’, everybody was very much finding their way: the government, the ‘experts’ – everybody was trying to plan for something never seen before. In our case, we planned for the worst case scenario and that proactivity has stood us in good stead.
3. What steps did you/your firm initially take and what problems did you encounter? In February 2020 we started to lay the groundwork for what is now our Coronavirus plan which we review and amend regularly. We talked about how we would respond: were clear that offices would remain open to those clients who needed to visit us (allowing for Government guidelines and social distancing); we put in place rotas to facilitate visits to the office by staff, and accommodate essential visitors; we recognised that some of our lawyers were vital (what later became known as ‘key workers’) and that we could not simply pull up the drawbridge: the question was how we could continue to offer those range of services in a different, COVID-secure way; the business went from having some 24 members of staff with homeworking facilities at the end of March, to 150 by the second week of April 2020; we worked as a team and involved everyone, and everyone contributed to finding solutions supported by the leadership shown by partners and the senior management team. Everyone was prepared to do their bit - the ICT team relocated workstation desktop computers to people’s homes (following social distancing,
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of course) and given the run on laptops and peripherals at a national level, many staff were happy to use their own equipment; staff were really ingenious in getting work done and finding solutions : we have had documents sworn over car bonnets, in car parks, across socially-distanced reception areas (rather than smaller interview rooms); we adopted Zoom very early on and also MS Teams. Now of course, everyone is using Zoom but whilst others were using it for “what’s in your fridge” challenges and pop quizzes, we were having client meetings for both new and existing clients; we produced podcasts and videos with no intention of selling, but purely the intention of offering help, guidance and reassurance; the Marketing team were ahead of the game in creating the coronavirus advice hub as a resource for individuals and businesses. Looking at it now, it seems that everyone has a ‘hub’: we can claim to be one of the first, if not the first, at a regional level; our Marketing team was also clear and decisive in regard of not “going quiet”: we commissioned new adverts, increased our advertising both online and offline (digital/ internet and press) and reviewed our other advertising such as radio, to offer a more reassuring compassionate tone.
4. Now we are slowly coming out of lockdown, how are you tackling this, what are your plans? Some businesses are talking about “we’re back” – we never went away; we never closed. Our direction to employees and staff was (and remains) simple, if you can work from home then do. If your job cannot be done remotely then you need to be in the office, and if you are going to be in the office then pay attention to the new way of going about things - face masks in reception or in meetings, handwashing, sanitising stations and so on.
5. Have you seen different sectors of Law, more affected than others, if so which eg. Conveyancing. We saw a sudden and steep decline in new enquiries which was to be expected, but humans are nothing if not adaptable, and we saw an equally sharp “bounce back”.
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Private Client work (wills & trusts) has bounced back incredibly well; residential conveyancing is buoyant; employment work (for both employers and employees) is strong. Some areas have remained largely unaffected, such as clinical negligence, commercial litigation (our large litigation team is back at full compliment and capacity) and many are somewhere in between.
6. Have you seen any positives for you, your firm or more widely the legal sector come out of the pandemic? Perhaps the time is not right to be thinking about positive aspects of the pandemic and it is still too early to predict what may be around the corner. What the pandemic has taught us (or re-affirmed) is that we have a strong business and we are ‘agile’ in terms of our ability to respond. The firm has invested not just in good lawyers but in high calibre support staff in functions such as ICT, practice management, operations and Marketing and that investment is now truly showing its value. For our firm we have seen more people working from home, and as mentioned have seen how resilient and ingenious they can be in terms of providing the same service but in a slightly different way.
7. How do you see the future for you, your firm and the wider profession? From the firm’s point of view we remain strong and on an upward trajectory based on a couple of centuries of reputation, and a more recent consistent brand presence, supported by the service that our clients have come to expect, albeit all in a slightly new way these days. We see that continuing, and we continue to attract excellent talent, as do many of the members in the county. We should continue to boast about this brilliant county of ours to attract the talent that we need to the area. We all need good employees, just as much as we need to be able to do business with each other and a collective voice to tell tomorrow’s lawyers about the benefits of working in such a beautiful and varied county would not be unhelpful.
8. Any top tips? Communicate with your staff, tell them what is going on. Be authentic: don’t be afraid to tell them when you are not sure but equally give them reassurance - they will thank you for it. Keep giving great service, and be there when needed.
Northamptonshire Law Society
9. Any other thoughts you would like to share? It can be hard in a time of challenge to look too far into the future. This too will pass and whilst we must look day-to-day in terms of the challenges that face us, failing to look at the medium term and what you need to do to get there is going to put you several steps behind. More specifically at the present time ‘hard selling’ remains a bad idea. Our Coronavirus hub was implemented right at the very start of lockdown. This is something that we are very proud of, it was the first and most frequently updated resource of its sort locally. It is, I hope, a good example of putting information out there in an easy to digest format, and clients have remembered this, and associated us with being there for them, and it ties in with exactly the promise that we make day in and day out, which is for our clients, to be #allthehelpyouneed. We’ll continue to do that. Kevin Rogers is Chairman and Partner of Wilson Browne Solicitors, a past Northamptonshire Law Society Solicitor of the Year winner in 2016 and currently shortlisted for Solicitor of the Year 2020 in The National Law Society Excellence Awards. More importantly to him however is that Wilson Browne Solicitors have been shortlisted for Four Years Running in the National Law Society Excellence Awards for Marketing & Communications, fitting when communication is seen as critical at this particular time.
If our brain breaks down, we break down. Let’s unite to accelerate the progress of brain research. Leaving a gift in your will to Brain Research UK is a wonderful way to make a lasting difference to future generations by helping to accelerate research into neurological conditions. It will cost you nothing in your lifetime, but will help us to make a difference in years to come. Gifts both large and small help fund research to accelerate the progress of brain research.
We hope you’ll consider leaving a gift to Brain Research UK
www.brainresearchuk.org.uk BWB Charity Hub, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE 020 7404 9982 Registered Charity no. 1137560. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England no. 7345516. www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk
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Video Witnessing of Wills A Welcome Step, But Only if Safeguards are Met
With inheritance disputes on the rise, it seems all the more important that people’s Wills are completed correctly, minimising the room for doubt or contention.
by Rob Cope
This September, a Statutory Instrument (SI) was laid in the House of Commons, enabling changes in the way that Wills can be legally witnessed. The change follows an announcement from the Ministry of Justice earlier this Summer, which recognised the difficulty for those who were shielding from Covid-19 or selfisolating to follow the normal legalities of making a Will – namely it being witnessed by two people. The new law allows the witnessing of a Will to be carried out through video. After the Will is signed by the Testator, it is then posted to the two witnesses to sign through video conferencing too. It applies to Wills made from 31 January 2020 – when the first coronavirus case was registered in the UK – and is expected to remain in place until January 2022. Remember A Charity – the 200 strong coalition of charities working to inspire legacy giving – has welcomed the change, providing that the right sufficient safeguards are in place. Rob Cope, director of Remember A Charity, says: “With over 100 people across the UK leaving a gift to charity in their Will every day, charitable Will-writing is becoming increasingly popular and it’s all the more vital now while charities are facing critical funding shortages linked to the pandemic. Ultimately, the more accessible the UK Will-writing environment becomes, the easier it will be for people to leave a gift in their Will.”
Cope adds: “We’d encourage anyone writing a Will to seek professional guidance and support about the best route for them. A professionally written Will is invaluable, helping to ensure that people’s final wishes will be met, and that they can include all those things that truly matter to them; family, friends and good causes alike.” Since the pandemic took hold in the UK in mid-March, demand for Will-writing and charitable bequests has risen considerably, with Remember A Charity receiving twice as much traffic to the ‘Making a Will’ section of its website. He concludes: “The pandemic has helped people see the importance of getting their affairs in order and encouraged us all to reflect on those things we truly care about. This includes the charities that so many of us rely upon and the causes we are passionate about in our lifetimes.”
Find out more at www.rememberacharity.org.uk. Rob is the director of Remember A Charity. He has overseen a growing and vibrant
consortium over the past five years, developing partnerships with government and the private sector. He was previously deputy director of marketing and communications at The Prince’s Trust, including the youth charity’s 30th birthday appeal. Rob is a board director of Relief International and a keen runner.
Legacy giving is the largest single source of voluntary income, raising over £3 billion for charity annually. This income has enabled many charities to continue to offer services during the height of the pandemic, while so many other funding streams were closed or heavily reduced, including events like the London Marathon through to charity shops. The consortium highlights that even a small increase in the number of people leaving a gift could raise millions of urgently needed funding, helping to tackle the current funding threat to frontline services. Remember A Charity stresses the importance of always having sufficient rigour and safeguards in place to protect the public and ensure their final wishes will be met. Cope says: “There are few that would argue with the fact that the process of Will-writing in the UK needs updating. At Remember A Charity, we see video witnessing as a significant and welcome step to make Will-writing more accessible in Covid times. However, we’re conscious too that this decision brings in new areas of risk when it comes to issues such as undue influence and fraud. So, in these initial stages at least, we’d view it as a last resort. “In other words, this route is ideal for those that it was created for – those that can’t have their Wills witnessed in person as they are isolating or for other reasons. But it won’t be right for everybody.”
Donations and legacies enable us to offer the ‘extras’ that make a real difference to our patients.
Northamptonshire Health Charity Springfield, Cliftonville, Northampton General Hospital, NN1 5BE 01604 626927 | greenheart@nhcf.co.uk www.nhcfgreenheart.co.uk Registered charity no: 1165702
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Contact us today to see how leaving a gift in your Will can help us to enhance the healthcare of future generations.
Northamptonshire Law Society
Registered Charity number 264221
W
e are a UK charity providing a fantastic selection of high-quality audiobooks to some 50,000 people across the UK who find it difficult or impossible to read due to an illness, disability, learning or mental health difficulty. We charge a membership fee to only half of our members- those who feel they can make some contribution and that is heavily subsidised. The other half need to be fully funded. Listening Books receives no central government funding whatsoever and very little local government funding. The reality is that Listening Books simply could not survive without the generous support of sponsors and the active co-operation of publishers. Whether you have already written your will or are thinking about writing one in the near future, we ask that you consider leaving a legacy to Listening Books. Your legacy will make a vital difference to the lives of our members for years to come.
CALL US NOW on 020 7407 9417 or email us at: bdee@listening-books.org.uk
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Listening Books.indd 1
29/10/2018 15:07 Untitled-1 1
PAIN RELIEF FOUNDATION
16/10/2020 12:13
RELIEVING CHRONIC PAIN THROUGH RESEARCH
CHRONIC PAIN - THE SILENT EPIDEMIC › 1 in 10 people in the UK suffer from chronic pain – which does not go away. › Over half of sufferers endure chronic pain all day, every day of their lives. › Many sufferers say they can’t remember what it is like not to be in pain. › Thousands of sufferers lose their jobs because the pain is so bad that they cannot work. › Pain stops sufferers enjoying walking, shopping, sleeping; even playing with their children. Chronic Pain affects people of all walks of life, 43% of the population suffer from chronic pain. Research costs money, and there is always an urgent need to provide more funds for more research. The Pain Relief Foundation DOES NOT receive funding from the NHS or any other Government body. Instead, our vital work depends entirely on donations and the generosity of people like you. PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TODAY, Or leave a Legacy in your will. For help and advice, contact us. Pain Relief Foundation, Clinical Sciences Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool L9 7AL Telephone: 0151 529 5820 E-mail: lorraine.roberts@painrelieffoundation.org.uk
www.painrelieffoundation.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1156227 www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk
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Northamptonshire Law Society
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It is relief for a client when they are finally able to sign on the dotted line of a business sale and purchase agreement (“SPA”). Negotiations can often be protracted and time consuming but worth it for the client when they are left with a healthy pot of cash or a combination of cash, future earn out payments and/or deferred consideration that is due following completion. Some consider that the signing of the sale agreement is the final step towards retirement or their next venture. However, that may not be the case if, when considering their business sale, the business owners have also not taken into account how they will extract the assets from the company. For some, the most tax efficient way to do this is via a solvent members’ voluntary liquidation (“MVL”) process. However, this may not be an option if the terms of the SPA are not carefully worded to include/and or exclude certain provisions. At BRI we have dealt with quite a few “straightforward” solvent liquidations that have not been able to proceed as anticipated, or at all, due to the terms included in an SPA. Therefore, it is worth asking the client what their intentions are in relation to the final assets to ensure that the terms of any SPA do not prevent them from executing their plans. Some initial considerations are: •
Does the SPA contain an insolvency clause that will prevent an MVL for a period of time? Depending on timing, this could affect an individual’s ability to claim entrepreneur’s relief (“ER”). A professional tax advisor can offer advice on this point.
And Finally…
•
Is there a warranty period? If so, the warranty period could affect the level of funds that can be distributed from the MVL to shareholders immediately. Most shareholders we deal with want an early distribution, usually within a month from the company entering into liquidation. Is it possible for the warranty claims to be assigned?
•
If there is an earn out period or any deferred consideration, will it affect the individual shareholders ability to qualify for ER if an MVL cannot be commenced until all payments have been received? Or, can the SPA allow for future proceeds to be assigned to individual shareholder?
•
Are any earn out payments and/or deferred consideration guaranteed by the purchaser? Guarantees are generally non-transferable and so if the purchaser has guaranteed the company in liquidation, how long will the liquidation need to remain open to preserve the guarantee? Is there an option
when negotiating terms to include a provision to assign guarantees to the individual shareholders in preparation for an MVL? The longer an MVL has to be administered by a liquidator, the more it will cost.
Northamptonshire Law Society
Falling at the final hurdle
The above list is not exhaustive, each case is different and the devil is very much in the detail. Therefore, it is always advisable to consult with professional advisors throughout the sale process.
For further advice on this point or MVLs in general, please do not hesitate to contact any one of the management team at BRI Business Recovery and Insolvency on 01604 754352.
by Carolyn Coles
A round up of the topics, events and news that were not covered in this edition from Carolyn Coles, Society Manager. Well we made it to September! Thankfully from my perspective, there is currently no more home schooling. Trying to get my 11 & 8-year-old to engage in such activities became more complicated than any Brexit negotiations. I am sure those amongst our members that have children can relate to my battles. Oh! And then add to the mix, working from an impromptu office, and being in the same four walls as our loved ones over such a prolonged period, it became obvious why so many of us discovered a passion for gardening! Aside from my tales of lockdown, there were many positives that came from it. We were all able to reset our beliefs on what was actually important to us, and not what our normal pace of life dictated. A sense of communities all coming together to support one another. In our small village, we met people whom we had lived amongst, but had never seen to have a conversation with. We came together to provide emotional and practical support to those who were in need.
Likewise, the Council are putting together ideas of how as a sector we can all pull together to support each other, both on a professional, and personal level. We would love to hear from you, if you have any suggestions, or wish to get involved. You can contact me on email sec.nls@outlook.com Via our recently updated website, or by good old fashion phone 07543 662572. Wising you all the absolute best. Best wishes
Carolyn Coles Carolyn Coles - Society Manager Email: sec.NLS@outlook.com Office Number: 01604 881154 My mobile: 07543 662572
www.northamptonshirelawsociety.co.uk
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Covid-19’s impact: Practice areas by work type By Julian Bryan, Managing Director, Quill
Showing clear signs of recovery in the sector, legal activity in September bounced back to an average of 19% more than pre-Covid levels, according to the legal matters benchmarking tool, Quilldex.
Conveyancing
At its lowest point, Quilldex reported overall cases dipped by 36% in April 2020, but this has now rebounded to 19% in September 2020, buoyed by family law (25%), private client law (36%), conveyancing (49%) and employment law (49%). Let’s take a deeper look into these areas of rebound.
This trend follows a revival in the property market since lockdown restrictions were eased, and chimes with Land Registry data showing that applications in June were 64% higher than in April. In addition to the large-scale reopening of the property space, other ramifications to the housing market come in the form of the current stamp duty holiday, further incentivising buyers to proceed with house sales and adding to conveyancers’ workloads.
Family law
The emotional pressures of isolation and lockdown have taken an unfortunate toll on families. Compared to January, we’ve seen a 25% rise in September in family law matters relating to divorce, childcare and financial remedy due to relationship breakdowns. Child protection applications are up and property and investment values are also in flux or freefall. This all makes financial settlements harder to achieve. Correspondingly, HM Courts and Tribunals Service has seen an increase of 17% in receipts of family and divorce matters. These government figures are based on matters progressed to court, which are slightly fewer due to court closures and halted trials. According to the latest Law Gazette news, family courts now face a backlog, further exacerbated by complications caused by the drastic altering of financial circumstances and prioritisation of child protection cases, as intimated above. Further upheaval is expected following the summer and Christmas holidays, and not to mention Brexit, as reciprocal agreements around custody remain unclear. For family lawyers, then, it’s a busy time both now and ahead.
Private client law Quilldex saw a 36% hike in private client matters such as LPAs, inheritance, probate, wills and tax. The reality that we must all confront our own mortality is leading to many using this time to get our affairs in order and plan for the future. Reinforcing the upsurge is HM Courts and Tribunals Service who confirmed an influx of probate applications relating to coronavirus and Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures finding deaths from 7-13 September 2020 were 5.4% higher than the fiveyear average.
The upswing in matters is amongst its most apparent in conveyancing. Here, daily new cases fell to around a third of normal levels in April, indicated by a 64% drop, due to the lockdown and mandated halts placed on property moves by our government, but this is now running at 49% above the benchmark.
Employment law Employment case numbers correlate to key dates in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme calendar, which defined deadlines for furloughing employees. Said to be costing the government £60 billion by the Office for Budget Responsibility, take up of the scheme relates to claims for almost 10 million jobs. On top of this, the ONS reports that unemployment grew by 4.1% in the three months up to July, leading to a spike in employment tribunal cases from people challenging decisions about lost jobs. The Ministry of Justice has published data showing that 39,093 single claims and 5,915 multiple claims are now outstanding in the employment tribunal. These factors culminate in a heavier-than-usual caseload for employment lawyers. In Quilldex, this plays out in notable highs (average 57% increase in August) and modest lows (average 31% drop in April).
More steady areas – legal aid, criminal and immigration Legal aid is one of the steadiest graphs in Quilldex, although even that showed a rise of 10% at its September average, perhaps better mirroring ongoing cuts to legal aid rather than any Covid phenomenon. The criminal graph is also relatively steady, albeit with a peak of 17% rise in activity in September and trough of 52% in April. Nightingale courts have been opened to alleviate the pressure on the court system in dealing with approximately 550,000 outstanding criminal cases; the backlog of which has grown as a result of coronavirus and the subsequent inability of courts to function safely for much of the year. While immigration matters dipped
by 53% in May and stayed low throughout the summer months, it eventually rose by 11% in September. With widespread travel restrictions including entry and exit bans in the UK, combined with the Brexit effect on employers and universities, immigration has remained a constant source of work for solicitors throughout the coronavirus outbreak and is expected to continue up to the transition period for leaving the EU, which ends on 31st December 2020.
Slower areas to recover: Commercial and civil law
Quilldex suggests commercial law being slower to recover with September rates being 19% lower than January’s, painting a picture of instructions increasing gradually as business activity resumes and contractual relationships become more complicated, thereby demanding input from legal experts. In comparison, civil law saw a 56% increase in matters compared to January, likely due to the aforementioned complex contractual provisions and ensuing disputes, amongst other civil-related legal affairs.
Planning for the future with technology
While the adverse impact of coronavirus has been felt by us all and Covid-19 itself deemed a catalyst for change, the positive is that law firms have adapted well and are in a strong position to secure the future of their businesses. Technology plays a vital role in optimising operating models and reinforcing strategic plans, and now, accelerating growth during uncertain times. Never before has the digitisation of traditional ways of working been more in the spotlight. Modern, more virtual-friendly law firms are the way forward, and having cloud-based software is one tool to success. The reason for the shift in focus from on-premise to cloud-hosted applications is straightforward. The former is installed on a company’s own servers, and is accessed onsite and nowhere else. The latter is deployed via a cloud computing model for anywhere, anytime, any device access via an Internet connection. Enabling staff to do their work from home efficiently and securely without interruption is now a foremost concern for law firms. Essential technology infrastructure is a crucial part of business continuity and disaster recovery plans for any legal practice keen to weather the storm and keep servicing their clients virtually.
In summary If law firms have learnt one thing in 2020, it is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. And not even the most pessimistic individual could have imagined how 2020 would turn out.
After a difficult few months, it is heartening to see new instructions returning rapidly to pre-pandemic levels in so many areas of law, and in many instances exceeding them. This year has confirmed like no other that the law is a robust sector with plenty to look forward to as the UK continues its journey back to (some sort) of normality.
About Quilldex Quilldex is based on new matter openings from a representative sample of Quill’s Interactive software users, comprising 7% of all law firms across England, Scotland and Wales. Current figures are based on average monthly activity rates against January 2020 as a baseline. By launching Quilldex to the market, its data gives law firms assurance of their own recovery as well as confidence to progress with planning and investment initiatives over the rest of 2020 and into 2021. To learn more, visit: www.quill.co.uk/quilldex.
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