Solo Autumn 2022

From the Chairwoman

The news of the Late Queen Elizabeth II’s passing brought sadness to many. Her reign of 70 years was the longest in British history during which there were great industrial, economical, technological, and social changes. The Late Queen Elizabeth was widely respected for her diligence and sense of duty and will be greatly missed.

The Executive Committee is proud to congratulate its fellow member Lubna Shuja on becoming President of the Law Society.

Top Table Event

Our next event is the SPG Top Table on Friday 11th November 2022 at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 0SD.

This is another luxurious venue; a fabulous Jacobean country manor five-star hotel situated in over 200 acres of lush Hertfordshire parkland to give us all that feeling of ‘getting away from it all’.

We are holding this event to give our members the opportunity to join the heads of our regulatory and representative bodies along with key industry leaders the opportunity to sit in a small group setting and chat face to face and raise concerns and /or obtain clarity on issues that affect you.

Guests include Lockton’s Partner Brian Boehmer, Law Society President Lubna Shuja, Legal Services Board Chair Dr Helen Phillips, SRA Chair Anna Bradley, and the Legal Ombudsman Elizabeth Davies.

The event is a full day conference with a Gala Dinner in the evening. The Conference commences at 09:00 hrs on Friday 11th November with registration and refreshments. A drinks reception starts at 18:30 hrs followed by an informal 3 course evening meal and dancing.

With the help of our main group sponsors; Lockton Insurance we have a fantastic promotional discount member ticket price of £275, using code SOLO-TT-2022, which covers all refreshments throughout the day, lunch, pre-dinner drinks, 3 course evening dinner with dancing, overnight stay (double room for single occupancy) and breakfast the next day.

I understand that this is also tax deductible as it can count as professional development.

To book your place please visit our website at www.spg.uk.com

Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF)

This remains a prominent issue for our members and as I reported in the last edition of Solo the SPG submitted a robust response to the SRA’s consultation which can be accessed on our website.

The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (“SRA”) earlier this month announced that they were minded to bring in a new consumer protection arrangement to be administered by the SRA either as a compensation scheme or an indemnity scheme. The SRA confirmed that the level of protection that consumers enjoy from the present SIF scheme would be maintained under the new arrangement.

The SPG welcomes the SRA’s proposals as a step in the right direction but negotiations on

the final solution to the SIF issue, headed for the SPG by our Honorary Secretary Clive Sutton, are still to continue.

SPG FOCUS

We are currently focusing on the following areas that our members have informed us are causing them concern.

Conveyancing

In the area of Conveyancing, members considered the issue of referral fees between solicitors and estate agents needs to be reformed as the consumer does not benefit from them. This is because consumers tend to be referred by estate agents to solicitors based largely on the referral fees, they receive rather than the quality of service.

Concern was also expressed about a clear conflict of interest in the current practice of the same solicitor (on the mortgage lenders panel of solicitors) acting for both lender and the consumer.

Wills

Members also thought that this is an area where unregulated will writers cause significant detriment to consumers. This was primarily because poorly drafted wills by an unregulated and uninsured will writer firm can lead to expensive inheritance disputes. As the will writer firm is unregulated the consumer has no recourse to either insurers or a regulatory body,

The Executive Committee would appreciate it if other SP members with experience of issues in the above areas would share them with us to better inform the reports we are preparing in these areas. Please contact me initially at jo@spg.uk.com

Access to Justice

A pilot scheme was initiated in June 2022 in six county courts, Bedford, Luton, Guildford, Staines, Cardiff, and Manchester for all small claims except for housing disrepair and personal injury cases.

Instead of a consumer having a small claims trial, cases are being determined on paper whether the parties’ consent or not. The majority of these claim would be made or defended by litigants in person and in the absence of an oral hearing there is no judicial support to assist

them to ensure an equality of arms.

There is no right to apply to set aside a paper determination under this pilot scheme, only the right under CPR 52.3 to apply for permission to appeal. Those who are unable to express themselves clearly on paper or identify the correct legal principles will be disadvantaged under the current rules and, if permission is granted, an Appeal, is only a review of the court below’s decision, not a rehearing.

Although it is only claims with a low value currently coming under the pilot scheme there is little doubt that claim value will be increased over time.

Engagement with Members

We continue to maintain contact with our members via Mail Chimp notifying you of

seminars, consultations and other items that may be of interest you.

The SPG website’s members private interactive forum is now live and can be accessed here www.spg.uk.com/forum

As it is a private member only forum, you will need to first register to access it. Members can engage with each other and access useful information in their areas of practice as well as other areas.

Committee Attendees

If any SP member would like to attend the National Executive Committee meetings as an observer, please contact me at joanna@spg. uk.com and I will arrange it for you.

Joanna Connolly SPG Chair

Congratulations from the Editor

On Wednesday 12 October Lubna Shuja took over as the 178th president of the Law Society of England and Wales. She made history as the first Asian and the first Muslim solicitor to be elected to the role. She is also the 7th woman president in 178 years of the presidency.

For the Solicitors Sole Practitioners Group the appointment was particularly welcome as Lubna, a solicitor of 30 year standing, is a sole practitioner and knows so well what it means to deal with legal work as well as all the administrative responsibilities of being in private practice. It was obvious from her inauguration that Lubna is liked and respected, and the Group takes real pride in her appointment. We will do all we can to support her.

Lubna has been a member, past Chairman and staunch supporter of the Solicitors Sole Practitioners Group for many years and we are all delighted to see her take office. We congratulate her and look forward to working with her and seeing her ambitions achieved. Justice, ethics, diversity and the rule of law are at the centre of her agenda for the year ahead. It is no easy time to take on the presidency as Lubna acknowledged in her speech last Wednesday. She spoke eloquently and with a clear plan which I am sure she will implement with determination.

I first came to know Lubna many years ago when I started to appear regularly as an advocate

before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and she was a Tribunal Clerk. She was always a pleasure to work with and was well regarded by advocates and Tribunal Members alike.

Little did I know that a couple of decades later I would be joining fellow members of our Group in congratulating her as Law society President, wishing her every success and above all an enjoyable and memorable year. Lubna said she was proud to be President and on behalf of us all can say that we share that sense of pride with you.

David Barton Editor

spg.uk.com

Honorary Secretary’s report Autumn 2022

monarch, but they are the essence of our constitution, which after evolving over many hundreds of years, now provides for a seamless transfer of monarchical authority from one individual to the next without the need to raise any questions or to have a vote.

Despite talk of abdication – never by the Queen – and missing a generation – never by Charles – the reality is now upon us, and how well the transfer has worked even with a transfer of Prime Minister almost at the same time.

Having said that let us give thanks for the long life and service of Queen Elizabeth II.

My last report was Spring 2022 since when we have had the successful annual conference at Carden Park together with the Annual General Meeting. Firstly, I can report on the AGM which took place on the second day of the conference. The AGM has its formal business, being a report by the Chair, Joanna Connolly, a report by me as Honorary Secretary and a report by Kem as Treasurer. Also, the election or re-election of executive committee members and most importantly an exchange of questions and answers and views with members in the meeting.

The remaining business of the elections of Exec. committee members, including the election of three new members, was followed by a lively question-and-answer session with membership present in the room.

A huge amount of effort and work was put into that conference, and it is being followed up by a top table event on 11 November to be widely advertised in this edition. Booking is available on Eventbrite. Similarly, preparations for next year’s summer conference are underway. All this takes up a huge amount of time and effort for our executive committee and staff.

Please acknowledge that, by coming to the conferences which are attended by the heads and representatives of all the major legal organisations to which we, as solicitors, are connected. Also please come to support as organisations sponsor our conferences.

The Queen is dead. Long live the King

These words may seem impersonal when we have lost such a cherished and dedicated

Postscript 19th October

Perhaps the light of recent events the procedure for the transfer of Prime Minister could be looked at to improve it next time!

Solicitors Indemnity Fund.

At the time of drafting this report on the 15th of September the up-to-date position is that the SRA have acknowledged that the Fund must be continued to protect the public. At the beginning of August, the SRA issued a discussion paper putting forward three potential proposals. The continuance of SIF Ltd; the continuance of the Fund run in house by the SRA; the continuance of the fund as a discretionary fund in line with the compensation fund.

The SPG have been against the compensation fund option because solicitors cannot be sure that the money that they put into the fund will protect them if it is subject to discretionary payments on the lines of the compensation fund payments. The SPG preferred option is the continuance of SIF Ltd based on the indemnity by the Law Society on behalf of its members. This is on the basis that that arrangement has worked well and has the confidence of the profession.

The SRA appear not to like that option because they take the view that SIF Ltd is costing a great deal of money to run to provide a small amount of protection to members of the profession and to public. They have published a news release on 14 September stating

“We have decided that existing solicitors’

indemnity fund arrangements, as operated by the solicitor’s indemnity will be replaced with our own indemnity arrangements from September 2023.

The decision to introduce SRA run indemnity arrangements which will maintain consumer protection for post six-year negligence as a regulatory arrangement – with the same level of coverage as the SIF – follows the Board’s in-depth consideration of the evidence and feedback from extensive consultation and engagement, research, expert advice, and insight”

In addition, the Chair states: “This approach will provide that important protection for those who need it, whilst giving us clear oversight of how the indemnity operates, enabling us to run the scheme efficiently and realise potential cost savings.”

The SPG’s concern is firstly that there should no longer be excessive costs because one of the extra costs of the SIF Ltd was to provide reserves required by a standard insurance company. In the future reserves will be replaced by the indemnity been given by the profession. In addition, during the time that these consultations have taken place, amongst warnings of a reduction in the monies available in the fund, the accounts of SIF Ltd have not shown any significant variation.

Indeed, with the lack of need to make provision for reserves by buying reinsurance and with the potential increase in interest rates our financial experts consider it is unlikely that it will be necessary to call on the profession for support for the fund in the immediate future.

The operation of the fund through SIF Ltd is established and can be economised by the control that the SRA and the Law Society have over that company through their shareholding of it. It is a separate legal entity whose duty is to make settlement of claims on behalf of the profession.

The operation of the fund by the SRA in-house requires a new set of rules to be set up and a dialogue over the transfer of the funds from SIF Ltd to the new indemnity system and the ring fencing of those funds within the SRA.

In addition, questions have been raised as to whether it is right for a regulatory body, passing judgement, as it now does, on its members, to also be administering a scheme to which those members are entitled for their own indemnity and whether that will pose a conflict-of-interest which may have to be resolved by Chinese walls.

A further consultation will be produced by the SRA on the arrangements and rules for the SRA run indemnity. The SPG will be asking that this consultation considers the prospect of the scheme continuing to be run by SIF Ltd or any other independent organisation on the same basis as SIF Ltd to avoid any such conflict.

All the relevant players will be at the top table event on 11 November for you to raise any questions on this subject and many other subjects.

Postscript. 19th October. Since drafting the above we have received the consultation paper issued by the SRA for the next stage of the process. This ignores any further discussion of who will be running the fund and makes it clear that the SRA will run it.

The Law Society effectively agree with this course of action subject to stringent safeguards being written into the new rules which will have to be drafted to transfer the administration of the fund from Solicitors Indemnity Ltd to the SRA together with the substantial £30 million fund in that company.

The SRA argument is that this will be more costeffective and will enable the SRA to get a handle on the background to the claims which they say they can’t do through the operation by Solicitors Indemnity Fund Ltd.

I personally think the principle of independent management of the Fund, which was paid for by solicitors before the inception of the SRA and is being indemnified in the future by solicitors and I believe is the wish of my solicitors, is the overriding factor which should be considered now that a decision has been made to continue the cover. However, in this we are not supported by the Professional Indemnity Committee of the Law Society, and the Executive Committee of the SPG will be discussing whether there is any point in taking this argument further, even

though the SRA are looking to engage with our financial experts who contributed to the response to the first consultation.

The second recent consultation sets out draft rules by which the SRA will control the Fund together with the standard regulatory and equality impact assessment upon which views and comments are sought. This leaves no further room for comment on whether the SRA should be managing the fund. I believe people who responded to the recent discussion paper were keen for independent operation of the Fund.

The response to the consultation is required after Christmas so there is plenty of time to consider this response. The main thing is that the fund will continue but in such a way that the SRA will be able to decide in the future whether it will continue on an indemnity basis or whether there should be a further consultation on potential proposals to administrator it in similar terms as the compensation fund.

Clive Sutton, Honorary Secretary.

Solicitors facing issues with professional indemnity insurance renewal

As the traditional October professional indemnity insurance renewal date approaches, law firms are being urged to start the process of renewing their insurance as early as possible. With changes in the legal market and an oncoming economic recession, the hard professional indemnity insurance market is set to continue with an expected sharp increase in premium costs and a number of firms becoming uninsurable.

In preparation for the renewal process, the Law Society advises that solicitors are organised and that they should prepare and submit their applications to PI insurers months in advance. A large proportion of solicitors do not submit their presentations until the last four weeks leading up to renewal, and others miss the deadline completely.

Why are solicitors facing issues with professional indemnity insurance renewal?

Over the past few years, law firms in England and Wales have found it difficult to obtain professional indemnity insurance cover for a host of reasons. Economic factors, such as Brexit and Covid-19 have played a significant role in the hardening of the professional indemnity insurance market, and with a recession on the horizon, many more law firms face the possibility of becoming uninsured. Other reasons for insurance brokers becoming unwilling to offer cover to solicitors include the following:

● SRA minimum terms and conditions (MTC)

This type of insurance for legal professionals is less profitable and more difficult to underwrite than other types of insurance. The reason for this is due to the SRA MTC, which often acts as a financial guarantee, containing more terms and conditions and a number of exclusions. The broad wording of the MTC may deter new insurers from providing cover for solicitors.

● Claims being pursued against solicitors

Although the number of claims being made against solicitors has not drastically increased, the monetary values for these types of claims are surging. Whilst the

majority of firms are not experiencing claims against them, the value of the pay-outs for those who are experiencing claims now exceeds the total premium collected by insurers for all solicitors. As the volume of work for some legal sectors, such as conveyancing and contentious probate increases, the risk of high-value claims will also increase, leading to an increased risk for insurers.

● Cyber-attacks Cyber-attacks are becoming more and more common in all industries. As solicitors are in possession of high volumes of sensitive client data, claims against law firms for data breaches due to cyber-attacks are likely.

What happens if solicitors cannot renew their insurance?

Renewing your professional indemnity insurance is vital for your firm's risk management, to cover claims made against the firm. If a law firm is unable to obtain professional indemnity insurance, they will be required to operate within the Solicitors Regulation Authority extended policy period and cessation period.

The extended policy period will provide an extra 30 days of cover to allow the firm more time to obtain cover. The firm will enter the cessation period if they are unable to get cover after the extended policy period. The cessation period will allow the firm 60 days to plan an orderly closure of the firm, or alternatively, merge or be taken over by another firm.

How can R&R Solutions assist?

R&R Solutions can assist firms wishing to exit

specific areas of law. You may decide to exit a high-risk market to ensure you obtain adequate professional indemnity insurance for the rest of the firm. Alternatively, you may be struggling to obtain professional indemnity insurance cover, and therefore, you may wish to merge your firm or plan an orderly closure.

Whatever route you choose to take for your firm, R&R Solutions can assist in the process by transferring your files to the most appropriate firm on our panel of solicitors, ensure the most positive and profitable outcome is achieved for your firm.

An additional benefit being that the firm’s clients not only get a seamless transfer, but they are also married up with a firm specialised in their particular needs.

The unique scheme offered by R&R Solutions is suitable for law firms and professional advisors, including restructuring and insolvency solicitors, insolvency practitioners and accountants. Our team manage the transfer of files from start to finish, placing case files with an approved law firm so as to protect the integrity of the client’s case.

We will provide you with all the advice and support you need, and we guarantee 100% confidentiality for all clients.

If you would like to find out more about our process, feel free to get in touch with our Director David Johnstone at david.johnstone@r-rsolutions.co.uk or 07887796989 or our Director Sally Dunscombe at sally.dunscombe@r-rsolutions.co.uk or 07774205 870

Andrew was first called to the Nigerian Bar in May 1990. He practiced extensively as a Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria before relocating to the United Kingdom in 1997 and he has dual qualifications from two Jurisdictions Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

WHY LAW?

I have always had a passion for justice whilst growing up, I stood up for whatever I believed was right and I found myself taking up other people’s fights, especially when they are disadvantaged or helpless. This passion led me to study law, so I can be an advocate for individuals requiring justice and ever since graduating from Law school, there has been no turning back.

Get to know the Exec TeamAndrew Osadebe

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOUR CAREER?

Being able to listen and support clients through difficult moments and helping them to find legal solutions to their problems, be it immigration or family issues. The smile on the individual’s face after a matter has been resolved, makes my day and this is what has sustained my practice over the years.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

The fear of failure and the insatiable urge to succeed have been my motivating factors. When I think of all the things that can go wrong if my client is not well represented, I stop at nothing to study and research wide enough to enable me provide the best representation possible.

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD?

My innate passion for justice has always made the law profession desirable to me. I have always seen myself as a defender of the oppressed and realised at a tender age that the best way to seek redress was through the law.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?

My first job was working in the administrative department of a pharmaceutical company during holidays, it was my holiday job whilst at university

and the experience ushered me into adulthood

WHO IS YOUR HERO? WHY?

My hero is Nelson Mandela who sacrificed the greatest part of his productive life, fighting for the emancipation of the black South Africans from apartheid rule. He is a great example of insatiable quest for justice.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?

Exercising, Reading, listening to music, and Gardening.

FAVOURITE TYPE OF MUSIC? WHO INTRODUCED YOU TO IT?

Rhythm & Blues, Soul & Rap Music. I grew up following the American music scene and all these were in vogue at different times from my teenage years to adult life and I have continued to listen to them all.

SUN, SEA, SAND HOLIDAY OR CITY BREAK?

I prefer city breaks which are more exciting as you get to learn and understand the cultural heritage of the people.

WHAT THREE ITEMS WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU ON A DESERTED ISLAND?

My backpack with the essential tools for survival. Water food and warm clothing.

Sole Practitioners Group

JOANNA CONNOLLY Chairwoman

Joanna is well known as an expert in the complex field of consumer credit law. She is a Solicitor Advocate and qualified to represent clients in the Higher Courts. Joanna’s experience and passion for helping people is reflected in her exceptionally high success rate. Joanna and her team run a thriving practice dealing with clients from all over the country. Hers is the ‘go-to’ consumer credit defence firm in the UK.

Tel: 0330 053 9340

Email: joanna@spg.uk.com

Joanna Connolly Solicitors 33 Cheadle Avenue • Liverpool • L13 3AE

CLIVE SUTTON Honorary Secretary

Clive specialises in private and commercial litigation and has been a sole practitioner in Lymington in Hampshire since leaving a partnership in 1998.

He is Chairman of his local Amenity Society in Lymington and Trustee of the New Forest Centre Museum in Lyndhurst. In the past he has served as Chairman of the local Citizens Advice Bureau and Churchwarden and in the early 70s as a Resident Magistrate in the Seychelles.

Clive has been an SPG committee member since 2000 and served as Chairman, and then as Hon Secretary and Chair of the Insurance Subcommittee from 2006.

He was on the Law Society Council Membership Committee for 10 years and since 2017 has been the SPG Nominated Law Society Council Member, serving now on the Councils Scrutiny and Performance Committee.

Tel: 01590 672 595

F: 01590 671 466

Email: clive@spg.uk.com

Clive Sutton Solicitor, 3 The Old Print Works • 85b High Street Lymington • Hants • SO41 9AN

KEM MASINBO-AMOBI Honorary Treasurer

Kem qualified as a solicitor in November 2002 and has extensive commercial experience gained in demanding and challenging environments. Kem has spent time at some of the most prestigious legal firms in Suffolk and Norfolk. A keen gardener, Kem has completed the RHS Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture and other hobbies include reading, travelling and cooking in true “Nigella” fashion.

Tel: 01473 760 046

F: 01473 760 058

Email: kem@spg.uk.com

KMA Solicitors, Pishon Gold House • 12 Old Foundry Road Ipswich • Suffolk • IP4 2AS

LUBNA SHUJA

President of The Law Society

Lubna Shuja is the first Asian, the first Muslim and only the 7th female to become President of the Law Society of England and Wales, which was established in 1825, almost 200 years ago. Lubna is a member of the Law Society Board and has been a member of the Law Society Council since 2013 representing the interests of sole practitioners and was Chair of the Solicitor Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) in 2012-2013. She qualified as a solicitor 30 years ago in 1992. She is a sole practitioner at Legal Swan Solicitors in Birmingham, a firm she set up in 2007, where she now specialises in professional discipline and regulation. She works with a number of professional regulators as Chair of their Investigating, Disciplinary and Fitness to Practise Committees. Prior to 2007, she worked in a high street firm in West Yorkshire for 14 years undertaking litigation and personal injury work. She is also a Mediator (CEDR accredited) conducting civil, contentious probate and family mediations.

Tel: 0121 551 7866

Email: lubna@spg.uk.com

Legal Swan Solicitors

1st Floor • 168 Hamstead Road • Handsworth Birmingham • B20 2QR

SUSHILA ABRAHAM Solicitor

Sushila has lived in Surbiton, Surrey for over twenty-five years. She decided to start her own practice locally because she wanted to offer quality and care to the local community. She also wanted to be free from pressure to overcharge clients, in order to meet the profit and billing targets set up by some of the bigger law firms.

She is married to Matthew a barrister, and they have one son who has also qualified as a barrister. In addition to being wife and mother, running her practice in Surrey, and her role on the SPG Executive Committee, Sushila is also ‘Cllr Sushila Abraham,’ having been elected as Lib-Dem local councillor in the Borough of Kingston in a by-election in February 2013 and then re-elected in May 2014 and 2018. She was elected as Deputy Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in 2020 to 2021 and Mayor in 2021 to 2022. Sushila was also President of Surrey Law Society, and she was elected as Law Society Council Member for Surrey. She is also a Board member of the Membership Board at the Law Society and a Trustee of ICLR representing the Law Society.

Sushila is a very community minded person and has run cookery classes for local school children, which she called “Suzie’s Kitchen,” believing in the importance of teaching life skills.

Tel: 020 8390 0044

F: 020 8241 0601

Email: sushila@spg.uk.com

S Abraham Solicitors

290a Ewell Road • Surbiton • Surrey • KT6 7AQ

SUKHJIT AHLUWALIA Head of Marketing Sub-Committee

Having worked in some of the most prestigious banking and consultancy organisations, Sukhjit opted to provide a more personal, one to one service through his own practice. He has been based in Goodmayes in Ilford since 2003. Sukhjit likes to get involved in charitable activities, working with organisation to assist people from all backgrounds and ages in reaching moral excellence either in their private or professional lives. His children are still young and take up a great deal of his time but when he does have time for himself, Sukhjit likes to sit, read a good book and watch the world go by.

Tel: 020 8215 0884

Email: sukhjit@spg.uk.com

Avery Emerson

Gloucester House • 335 Green Lane

Ilford • Essex • IG3 9TH

MOSES AJAYI

Solicitor

Moses was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1987. He has also a qualified solicitor in England and Wales. Moses specialises in Human Rights and Immigration, general civil and criminal matters. Outside work he enjoys sailing and has participated in many sailing events around the world. He also enjoys discovering new places and spending time with his family.

Tel: 020 7733 6506

Email: moses@spg.uk.com

Slade & Fletcher Solicitors

Highland House • 165 The Broadway Wimbledon • London • SW19 1NE

PENNY RABY

Conference Organiser (Previous Chairwoman)

Penny has been a SP specialising in family law for 20 years, working with her husband Mike a Forensic Accountant on divorce cases involving business and complex asset and income tracing and Inheritance Act disputes. She won Worcestershire Family Lawyer of the Year award in 2014 and was nominated for the National Family Law Magazine Family Law Firm of the Year for 2015. She has appeared on radio and television and has presented her networking pantomime ‘Snow White and the Seven Small Business People‘ here and abroad.

Tel: 01386 555 114

Email: penny@spg.uk.com

Penny Raby & Co

Harmony House • 7-9 Church Street

Pershore • Worcestershire • WR10 1DT

DAVID BARTON Editor, Solo

David qualified as a solicitor in 1982. He became a sole practitioner in 2003. He specialises in solicitors’ professional misconduct and criminal road traffic work. He has rights of audience in the Higher Courts. David is married with 3 grown up children. He is a keen cyclist, golfer, walker, traveller, and reader.

Tel: 07876 711708

Email: david@spg.uk.com

David Barton Solicitor Advocate Ltd Flagstones • High Halden Road • Ashford Kent • TN27 8JG

RAHIL CHAUDHARI

Solicitor

Rahil Chaudhari is a Senior Solicitor at Arlingsworth Solicitors. Rahil secured an LLM at University College London and trained and worked at some of the most prestigious law firms in the City before joining Arlingsworth in 2005. Rahil is a highly experienced and versatile solicitor and specialises predominantly in immigration, human rights and company law. Rahil has become a leading authority in these areas, his client base spans a wide range of sectors from multinational companies to private individuals.

Tel: 01273 696 962

Email: rahil@spg.uk.com

Arlingsworth Solicitors Ltd 145 Islingword Road • Brighton East Sussex • BN2 9SH

DORCAS FALODE

Head of Pastoral Health & Wellbeing

Dorcas has been a Sole practitioner for over 12 years and has offices in London and Lagos, travelling regularly between them. She specialises in Immigration Law dealing with entry clearance cases, settlement, visitors’ and students’ visa applications. The practice also deals with family and education cases, giving a voice to the weak and defenceless. She recently authored a book called Nigerians Inspire which serves to promote the image of Nigerians against a backdrop of bad publicity caused by a minority and to encourage young people to believe in themselves. She won the Gathering of Africa’s Best (GAB) Award of excellence for contribution to the promotion of positive image of Africa and Africans through motivation. Dorcas is married with four children and outside work is a counsellor, nurse, cook, Taxi driver and tutor to her four young adults. She loves to travel and finds shopping very therapeutic.

Tel: 020 3223 1061

F: 020 3223 1067

Email: dorcas@spg.uk.com

DF Solicitors

791 Sidcup Road • London • SE9 3SB

HAMISH McNAIR SRA Liaison Lead

Hamish is based in Fulham, London. Having initially specialised in copyright and trade mark work, both in the City and New York City, his practice now includes conveyancing, wills trusts and probate, as well as litigation. Married with three children, when Hamish is not at work he enjoys open-air swimming, sailing, overnight bike rides, and has a passion for the theatre.

Tel: 020 7371 7896 / 020 7371 7988

Email: hamish@spg.uk.com

McNair & Co

EBC House • Ranelagh Gardens London • SW6 3PA

OLUWAKEMI MOSAKU Solicitor

Kemi was qualified a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria in 1989 and admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2004. She has a varied work experience which includes working in the immigration department of the Home Office and in private practice. She specialises in Immigration and Human Rights Law. She also undertakes family law work. Outside work Kemi enjoys spending time with her sons. She also enjoys keeping fit, music, networking, reading biographies and current affairs.

Tel: 01634 780 230

Email: kemi@spg.uk.com

Emerald Solicitors

The Old Courthouse • 1 The Paddock Chatham • Kent • ME4 4RE

TAHIRA SHAFFI Solicitor

Tahira has been qualified for 20 years and started as a sole practitioner in 2010 after being made redundant. Working on your own can be a lonely experience but she has found the SPG to be wonderful source of support and friendship. It is important for her that there is an independent body outside of the Law Society working hard to look after its members interests. Tahira is based in Bury, Greater Manchester where she lives with her family. She has many interests outside of the law. Tahira was previously an LEA school governor and has stood as a candidate in the local elections. She is passionate about civic duty and putting something back into the community.

Tel: 0161 222 6092

Email: tahira@spg.uk.com

Mikhael Law

197 Rochdale Road • Bury • Lancs • Bl9 7BB

ZOE TRANTER Solicitor

Zoe has worked in various organisations including national and international law firms, a Regional Development Agency, and consultant to a number of Local Authorities on regeneration projects. She has also acted for a number of major institutional pension funds and a number of major household names from the retail sector in connection with the management of their extensive property portfolios. She established Tranter Mills Solicitors 13 years ago as a niche firm reflecting her expertise. Outside of the office Zoe’s interests include hiking, reading as well as baking and gardening. Zoe loves rally driving and can often be found attending the WRC Welsh Rally Stages as a spectator. It is her ambition to attend the Swedish stages of the WRC at some point.

Tel: 0845 544 0499

Email: zoe@trantermills.co.uk

Cornwall Buildings

45 Newhall Street • Birmingham West Midlands • B3 3QR

ANDREW OSADEBE Solicitor

Andrew was first called to the Nigerian Bar in May 1990 after qualifying. He practiced extensively as a Barrister & Solicitor in Nigeria before relocating to the United Kingdom in 1997. He has worked at several law firms as a Human right proponent before he qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 2007. Andrew is highly organized and motivated, and describes his goal as achieving excellent results for clients. He has been a sole practitioner since 2008. He specialises in Conveyancing, Matrimonial and Immigration law. Andrew is a family man with 3 children. He loves jogging, gardening and listening to music in his spare time.

Tel: 020 7582 55743

Email: andrew@spg.uk.com

Zuriel Solicitors

290, Holloway Road London • N7 6NJ

10 reasons to contact LawCare

Bad day at work? Need to talk? Working in the law can be a very rewarding, but very challenging career, especially when, as a sole practitioner everything falls on your shoulders.

It can be very difficult to reach out for support when you are having a hard time, and lawyers in particular, can struggle to let their guard down and be honest about how they are really feeling but it’s always better to speak up when an issue is just starting and to seek support before matters escalate. Putting your head down and trying to bury yourself in work just to get through it can be counterproductive and lead to burnout and exhaustion.

You might just need to get something off your chest about a challenging client, or you might be experiencing a longer-term issue with stress, disciplinary proceedings, or financial worries. Whatever it is, to mark World Mental Health Day on 10th October here are 10 reasons why you might consider reaching out to LawCare for support.

1. Everyone you'll speak to on the phone, email or online chat either works in, or has worked in the law. We understand life in the law and all its challenges.

2. Our service is completely confidential, you don’t even have to give your name if you don’t want it.

3. You can contact us about anything at all - from something that’s been annoying you at work to something more serious.

4. We offer one-to-one peer support for those who need a bit of extra support over a period of weeks or months.

5. We support anyone working in the law in the UK, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man.

6. Our service is also available to law students, support staff, and those who have retired from the law. You can also call us if you are worried about someone else.

7. We have 25 years’ experience in supporting the legal community and have helped over 10,000 legal professionals to date.

8. In some circumstances we are able to provide funding for single session therapy or a course of counselling with a counsellor or therapist.

9. 98.5% of people who have used our support service would recommend us to others.

10. It’s completely free of charge to access LawCare’s support service.

It takes courage to reach out, seek support and share what you are going through. People often let us know that they feel better after just one chat with us. Sometimes reaching out and getting a chance to offload to someone who can empathise with what you are going through can be really useful to help get you back on track. You can contact LawCare on 0800 279 6888, email support@lawcare.org.uk or access online chat and other resources at www.lawcare.org.uk

Join our “Tell Ten campaign” for World Mental Health Day and tag 10 colleagues or friends on social media or send an email or text and let them know about the free, confidential service LawCare offers everyone working in the law. You never know when someone might need us.

Sole Practitioner takes office as President of the Law Society of England and Wales

We are absolutely delighted and proud to announce that one of our Executive Committee members, Lubna Shuja, who is also a former Chair of SPG, is now the President of the Law Society of England and Wales. She took up her new role at the Law Society AGM on 12 October 2022. She is the first Asian, first Muslim and only the 7th female to become President since the Law Society was set up in 1825, almost 200 years ago.

Lubna has assiduously represented the interests of sole practitioners on the Law Society Council since 2013. She has been a member of the Law Society Board since 2018 and was the inaugural

Chair of the Law Society’s Membership and Communications Committee for 3 years.

Lubna has her own firm, Legal Swan Solicitors, based in Birmingham. She is a sole practitioner specialising in professional discipline and regulation. She is also a mediator dealing with civil, contentious probate and family disputes.

We congratulate Lubna on her new position and look forward to supporting her, and working with her, over the coming year. She is keen to hear from members on any issues that they may wish to raise and can be contacted direct on Lubna.Shuja@lawsociety.org.uk.

Contracts, clauses, and climate change: the net zero toolkit

Law Society’s Chancery Lane Project (TCLP) has put together a net zero toolkit to provide lawyers and businesses with climate clauses so they can take action and achieve their net zero targets.

It’s about what lawyers can do to address the climate crisis and how the toolkit can help and addresses the following questions.

• How will net zero affect the legal profession?

• What does the Chancery Lane Project do and what is the net zero toolkit?

• What type of lawyers are the tools and clauses TCLP develops useful for?

• What steps could a lawyer take today?

• What do lawyers need to be aware of and what challenges lie ahead on the path to net zero?

To find out more and read the article, enter the following into the address bar, and it will take you to the article, which contains some very useful links too.

www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/climate-change/ contracts-clauses-and-climate-change-thenet-zero-toolkit

Information obtained from The Law Society’s website.

Queen Elizabeth II

Sheila Mann - SPG Admin Support

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

In June 2022, the proposed increase in the general

fining powers of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) were approved by the Ministry of Justice. The SRA now has the power to fine traditional law firms up to £25,000.

The right to appeal the fines issued by the SRA to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal remains.

However, the government is proposing to go further and remove the £25,000 limit on fines that the SRA can pose in cases involving economic crime. The Legal Services Act 2007 is being amended through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, to require our sectors regulators to promote the detection and prevention of economic crime. The proposed changes would provide the SRA with the power to set substantial fines especially for the larger law firms in order to improve deterrence and enforcement.

The Law Society has expressed concerns with the changes and are urging the government to carefully consider the proportionality of the proposed increase in regulatory powers of the SRA.

The Bar Council has also said that the proposed changes “may be incompatible with barristers’ duties and risk confusing the role of lawyers.”

The SPG Executive Committee would be interested to receive SP members comments on this. Please email me at joanna@spg.uk.com

Latif Solicitors featuring on Northern Justice

When announcing the programme Northern Justice, in a press release, the BBC said:

“Northern Justice will reveal what happens when ordinary people facing all sorts of extraordinary times in their lives turn to local lawyers in their hour of need.”

Our Principal Solicitor Liaquat Latif will feature in 3 of the ten episodes on BBC1 highlighting the life-changing work the firm does each day.

Liaquat Latif is one of the main solicitors featured in this series. He features heavily in the BBC promotional material linked to this series including the promotional shot attached to this release.

The first episode in the series was aired at 10am on Tuesday 20th September 2022 and featured Immigration solicitor Liaquat Latif representing Sam Humble in her fight to be stopped being removed to Jamaica and separated from her husband Chris and daughter both who are British Nationals.

Liaquat features again in episode 8 due to be shown on Thursday 29th September 2022.

Liaquat represents Trent who has moved from Australia to the U.K to be with his young son. Trent is threatened with immediate removal by the Home Office for not having the correct visa. Liaquat fights to keep Trent and his son together in the U.K.

Liaquat features again for the third time in the series in episode 9 to be shown on Friday 30th September 2022. In this episode Liaquat represents Bharwinder and his Indian wife Rajwinder who are in crisis after a cancer diagnosis may have put their spousal visa process in jeopardy.

The episodes will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer

Latif Solicitors has been helping clients with Immigration issues for over 20 years. The client’s featured in the 3 episodes are typical examples

of the work that we carry out. In particular trying to keep families together under the Family life provision of the Human Rights Act.

We are privileged to carry out the work that we do which is highly appreciated in the feedback that we receive from clients which is typically seen in the many google and other reviews that we receive.

SPG Top Table Event 2022

The morning will consist of the usual welcome from our Chair and other leaders.

Ten Top Reasons to attend the SPG Top Table Event

Have you attended one of our top table events before? If not, let us give you an outline of the entire day and what you can expect.

Purposely designed as a small and intimate conference to allow members to interact closely with the key industry leaders and heads of our regulatory and representative bodies.

Listen to our panel guests and speakers share important updates that directly impact Sole Practitioners.

Have your chance to communicate, ask questions, get clarity on any burning issues you are facing in your practice directly from these industry leaders.

Submit your questions or topics for discussion prior to the event to ensure you get the most out of the event at info@spg.uk.com

As always there will be various opportunities to network with the SPG Executive Committee Team, heads of the SRA, Law Society, LSB, OLC and other Sole Practitioners.

We have packed the day out to ensure you get the most out of the day.

We kick off at 09:00 hrs with registration, refreshments, and the chance to network with the Executive Committee, Panel Session Speakers, Seminar Speakers, our Sponsors and Exhibitors and other Sole Practitioners.

A couple of seminars; one from a Lexel Assessor who will talk you through the most recent Lexcel updates and explain how to reduce the opportunity for complaints. A second seminar on the all-important topic of marketing your business - we are in a world where marketing cannot be ignored!

A Panel Session on “The Burning Issues in the Profession” will take place where the heads of our regulatory and representative bodies will give you any pressing updates you need to be aware of and cover any pre-submitted topics or questions.

We then move into the Top Table Sessions.

You pick 6 out of the 7 Top Tables which are of interest to you. You will make your choice when registering yourself for this event.

You will spend 20 minutes on each table in a small, intimate group setting speaking to the head of that table about any issues / challenges you are facing.

After 20 minutes you will move onto your next choice of table and so on.

The evening Gala Dinner starts at 18:30 hrs with a drink’s reception, followed by a 3-course meal, auction, raffle and the infamous SPG dancing disco.

You are free to use the 5* hotel facilities and if you wish to stay any additional nights to enjoy a nice weekend break you can choose that option during the registration process too.

Early Bird ticket price of £275 (all inclusive) ended at the end of September but you can still take advantage of this price by using code SOLO-TT-2022 until 27th OCTOBER 2022

FULL TICKET PRICE IS £375 ALL INCLUSIVE.

Book using your PayPal account and you may have the option to spread the payments.

As mentioned, this is a small intimate event and spaces are limited.

Please visit our website spg.uk.com/news/top-table-event-2022 to book your tickets now.

Full day conference, refreshments, gala dinner, AND an overnight stay

Cheap as chips! Early Bird ticket £275 (all inclusive) - full price £375

Sit face to face with the heads of our regulatory and representative bodies

Opportunity to lobby your Law Society President

Get clarity on any burning issues you are facing in your

Can your business survive a recession? Some help

Some of us have been in business for very many years and have survived and even thrived during recessions. However, although we can learn from history every recession is different. For the first time in many years, we have rapidly rising inflation and rising interest rates. Although some of this may be due to war and global warming, neither are likely to be resolved quickly. The resultant fuel crisis and world food shortages are likely to continue for some time. The inflationary consequences will have a significant impact on all businesses.

The likely effects

a) A drop in real income.

b) An increase in expenses.

c) Tensions within the business both between members of management and management and staff.

What should be done

1. Make sure that you have sound and sensible experienced advisors.

2. Make sure that you are aware of your business income and expenses and have suitable projections and keep them measured and updated.

3. Make sure that you have suitable documented agreements and policies in place both for internal purposes between management and with staff and also for external financial purposes. Significant organisations from which you may seek assistance such as the Government, Banks, and other financiers like documentation so that they may tick their boxes. You need them for your own protection.

4. Do not panic. Be confident in your own business.

5. Continue to market. Income is everything.

6. If necessary, look to cut expenses but avoid cutting expenses that will hinder your income, service, or reputation, if possible.

7. Be open about your own position with those who it may affect, such as your landlord, bank, and staff. Individuals and institutions do not like surprises. They are more likely to be sympathetic if you are open with them. Your professional advisors may help you with this.

8. Be aware that he vast majority of legal assistance provided by changes in the law during the coronavirus pandemic no longer exist. There is no moratorium on statutory demands and insolvency. Such rental schemes as there are or remain are complex and not applicable to all occupancies. Government help with fuel bills for business said to start on 1st October 2022 currently only has a sixmonth time horizon.

Solution

1. Make sure that you are aware of your own financial and legal position and have the correct documentation in place for your business.

2. Check that your advisors are suitably experienced and are willing to help you and on what terms.

3. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Talking to a professional advisor with suitable experience and knowhow is always of assistance.

4. Do not leave it until it is too late to seek help. Plan, prepare and anticipate.

©Nicholas Woolf Swanturton 26th September 2022

This article comprises the view of the author as at 26th September 2022. This note is not a substitute for legal advice or other expert advice. Information may be incorrect or out of date and may not constitute a definitive or complete statement of the law or the legal market in any area. This note is not intended to constitute advice in any specific situation. You should take legal advice in specific situations. All implied warranties and conditions are excluded, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

If you don’t have the right tools, efficiency and effectiveness will only get you so far

You are already a non-linear reader, you just don’t know it yet. You need the right tools to minimise the document admin you’re not aware you’re doing, and get on with your actual work (not the preparation).

If you’ve got to do some blue-sky thinking, you need a pen and paper. There are no external inputs needed.

But what about other types of focused work, what about your legal work? There are external inputs; client emails, law, and other documents. They arrive in a hotchpotch of ways, email or shared storage perhaps, and then they come in different file types that need different applications to open them.

As a legal practitioner, you need to work with numerous documents on any single case, and come up with a ‘view’ on all of those related documents.

To do this you have to read all the documents and make sense of them.

Is working with paper bundles all bad?

Traditionally done by printing out copies, putting in a paper bundle, then tabbing it up with a table of contents for an effective way to navigate the documents. You continued to add documents as they arrived, working through the bundle making annotations and comments as necessary. During periods when the case wasn’t moving forward you’d file it somewhere, but you could easily pick up where you left off, whenever you needed to. Once finished with you had a ready-made archive which could be stored appropriately.

Many would decry paper’s inefficiencies, but I would ask two questions:

1. How did you interact with the documents when they were in paper form?

There are many ways you’d have worked through the bundle, depending on how you chose to work. However, I can guarantee (almost) that you didn’t start at page one and work through the bundle in a linear fashion. No, you made links and connections between different parts of the bundle, letters and other documents were added at different periods during the course of the case. In other words, you read the bundle

in a non-linear way, you followed the trail of the sense of the matter, not the page numbers.

2. How do you interact with your papers now? If you are still printing your papers to make a paper bundle, then good for you, but this is a poor choice in terms of time and cost. Perhaps you’ve got a digital filing or case management system as outlined above, your way of interacting with the documents is opening them up one-by-one and doing the same every time you want to jump into that case.

and having to search across them individually, making links between them is tiresome, and making a bundle another chore in itself. It’s as if all the benefits of the paper bundle have been taken away just to save time and money in the creation of a paper bundle. One set of inefficiencies have been replaced with another.

The Solution?

What is needed is a solution that replicates the paper bundle benefits, adding a digital twist in terms of search, speed and an annotation feature set, whilst removing the inconvenience of the hard copy process. It needs to be able to create a Table of Contents at a touch of a button, and include complex pagination options.

More problems with current workflows

What if you are technically proficient enough to create a single bookmarked PDF of all the documents you need? But what happens if, as is bound to happen, you need to add a document at the last minute, recreating that magnificent monolithic document is a long and tedious process.

And then given how you work with documents, how do you create an electronic (or even paper) bundle if you need to go to arbitration or court? You need to create a ‘bundle’ from scratch.

Back in the paper days you would already have a bundle to hand, you had begun to make it from day one of the case, it built up over time, and then, when it needed to be shared with the other side or the court, you had to make a clean copy, but at the very least you had a copy to clone.

But now, none of this. Not only are you spending huge amount of time opening up individual files,

What it absolutely must preserve is the ability to work and read documents in a non-linear fashion, enabling the mind to focus and move seamlessly within the bundle, making connections of understanding. It needs to be flexible enough to work how a practitioner wants to work, pick up where they left off, and bundle and/or archive toward the end of the process without much ado. At Casedo we have built this solution, it’s available and we’d love you to try it.

For 20% off your first year go to www.casedo. com/getcasedo/ and use code SOLO22 before the end of the year. Otherwise, you can try Casedo free for 30 Days.

Jim Hitch is the CEO at Casedo

Report from Law Society President and Council Member - Lubna Shuja

By the time this article is printed, I will have taken office as President of the Law Society of England and Wales. The Vice President will be Nick Emmerson, a solicitor from Yorkshire who deals with cross border mergers and acquisitions, and international capital market transactions. I am pleased to confirm that Richard Atkinson, who is a criminal law solicitor based in Kent was elected as the Deputy Vice President and will take office from October 2022 completing our Office Holder team. I very much look forward to working closely with both Nick and Richard over the coming year.

Recent Law Society Council meetings took place on 5 July 2022 and 14 September 2022. Below is a summary of some of the issues we discussed together with an update on the work being done by the Law Society on behalf of members. Copies of the reports to Council from the Law Society’s CEO can be found on the SPG website at www.spg. uk.com. I would urge all members to take a look at the Law Society website for further information, not only about the work of the Society but also for details of events taking place. Please also register on ‘My Law Society’ on the website if you have not already done so. This will allow you to receive updates on matters of interest to you. It will also enable you to access ‘Law Society

Connect’ which is a popular online secure private portal for sole practitioners and small firms to chat, network and support each other.

Ukraine and SLAPPs

The Society has communicated with and supported legal colleagues in Ukraine. It has also advised the Government and our members on the form and implementation of effective sanctions measures in respect of Russia.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, there has been a marked uptick in criticism of lawyers. The Society was keen to understand what impact this is having on perceptions of the legal profession, so we surveyed members of the public. The results showed a worsening of public opinion of lawyers overall recently, which seems to have been driven by news/politics. This will be an area we intend to focus on during my year as president. It is the job of solicitors to represent their clients, whoever they may be. This is how the public can be confident they live in a country that respects the rule of law.

The Society is developing a strategy that supports our members and also engages positively with the Government reform processes on specific issues such as strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). We will be actively engaging in further dialogue with our members and stakeholders, about the ethical challenges of operating in today’s environment.

Afghanistan

The Society has drawn attention to the situation facing judges and lawyers in Afghanistan and has worked to help secure resettlement in the

UK for members of the profession and their families whose safety was under threat.

Human Rights and Immigration

Most recently, there has been significant publicity around legal responses to the UK government’s agreement with Rwanda in relation to asylum seekers. The Society emphasised that individuals faced with removal from the UK should have access to, and legal support through, due legal process. As I write this article, we are still awaiting the outcome of the judicial review, which was due to take place in September, challenging the policy. The Law Society’s concern is that if migrants and refugees are sent to Rwanda this would make profound and irreversible changes to their lives. They would have no way of challenging breaches of their human rights in Rwanda because the proposed safeguards are not binding or enforceable in Rwanda and they would have no way of seeking justice in the UK.

The Law Society understands that people have been given insufficient notice or time to get legal advice about their removal to Rwanda, only 14 days, or 7 days if in immigration detention. Anyone who is subject to such a life changing order must have access to legal representation and be able to challenge the decision and have their case fairly and transparently processed. We await the outcome of the judicial review which is the first legal challenge testing whether the arrangement is lawful.

Solicitors Indemnity Fund

Following an extensive and well-coordinated campaign by the Law Society in favour of retaining the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) with the support of a profession-wide levy, the SRA has deferred the closure of the SIF for a year (to the end of September 2023). In August 2022, the SRA issued a discussion paper on the future of the SIF. The Law Society responded outlining three key principles for consumer protection in relation to negligence claims brought more than six years after a firm has closed. These principles are:

1. Any new arrangement should continue to run as an indemnity scheme, which could be funded on an ongoing basis through a mandatory levy, suggested at around £240 per firm.

2. Any residual funds from SIF should be ring-fenced for the specific purpose of dealing with post six year run off cover (PSYROC) claims, for the benefit of consumers and solicitors.

3. Any new arrangement must provide the same scope of indemnity cover that is currently provided by SIF.

Having received response to its discussion paper, the SRA very recently announced that the existing SIF arrangements will be replaced with an SRA-run indemnity arrangement from September 2023, which will maintain the same level of cover as SIF. The Law Society has requested a timetable

from the SRA setting out how they expect this matter to progress to ensure appropriate protections will be in place by September 2023. We will continue to engage closely with the SRA in order to make sure any new scheme will be affordable in the long term, providing good value for money whilst maintaining the same strong protections for both solicitors and consumers.

Criminal Legal Aid

Since the Government published its response to the Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid (CLAIR), the Society has engaged closely with MPs and Ministers to highlight our concerns about the shortfall in the Government’s proposed package for solicitors. Following news that barristers have voted to escalate their current legal aid action from 5 September, the Law Society warned that solicitors will continue to leave the criminal defence profession unless more investment is forthcoming. Whilst they have the same concerns as barristers, many are limited in the action they can take due to their professional obligations to their clients and their legal aid contracts.

Many solicitors, especially those joining the profession, see no future in criminal defence work, following the Ministry of Justice’s failure to fully implement Lord Bellamy QC’s recommended minimum fee increases. The number of solicitors and firms doing criminal legal aid work continues to fall at a time when the criminal defence profession is needed more than ever to tackle the huge backlog of Crown Court cases. Duty lawyer schemes in places like Barnstaple and Skegness are collapsing, meaning that people who are arrested may be unable to get advice in the police station that they are legally entitled to have. This would have serious adverse consequences for the fairness of any subsequent trial if they are charged.

The backlogs in the criminal courts continue. There are more than 59,000 outstanding Crown Court cases and more than 353,000 in the magistrates’ courts. Some trials have been delayed until 2024 which means victims, witnesses and defendants are being denied timely access to justice and are losing faith in the criminal justice system. However, physical space is no longer the only or most pressing problem. It is now becoming apparent that HM Courts and Tribunals Service is struggling to find enough judges and staff to be able to operate existing court rooms and sessions. For the criminal courts to run at capacity, as well as enough court rooms, more judges, court staff, prosecutors and defence lawyers are needed.

We will continue to urgently press for further investment in all parts of the criminal justice system to prevent its collapse and ensure justice for all.

Judicial Review and Courts Bill

The Law Society achieved a major influencing success on the Judicial Review and Courts Bill by persuading the Government to drop a statutory presumption that would have directed judges to use particular remedies in judicial review cases. This success was the culmination of nearly two years of lobbying, encompassing engagement with government officials, key parliamentarians, and the Public Bill Committee.

International Market Access

The Society is working on trade policy in relation to Australia, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and India. A new consultation on trade with Switzerland is underway, to replace the temporary Citizens Rights Agreement and Services Mobility Agreement. The Society held a positive in-person meeting for the Legal Services working group on the UK-Nigeria Economic and Development Forum.

Wales

New, flexible legal services apprenticeships have arrived in Wales. The new apprenticeship pathway is the result of a collaborative approach across government and the legal services sector in Wales, aimed at improving access to justice by opening up opportunities to the growing number of individuals looking for a vocational route into a career in law. Any organisation that is able to provide the necessary legal work experience is eligible to sign up: www.legalnewswales.com/news/legal-apprenticeships-launch-in-wales/.

The Law Society team at the Wales office have also secured funding from the Welsh government for a Cyber Essentials project for law firms in Wales. If you are a sole practitioner in Wales and would like to obtain Cyber Essentials certification with the benefit of funding, please do contact our Wales office at wales@lawsociety.org.uk

Finally, please do follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter (@lubnashuja) to keep up to date with Law Society work. If you would like any further information on Law Society activities, or wish to discuss any issues affecting sole practitioners, or indeed the profession generally, please do not hesitate to contact me on Lubna.shuja@lawsociety.org.uk or on 07980 725626

Lubna Shuja

President of the Law Society of England and Wales Member of the Law Society Board

Social Media for Law Practices

Social media might not be 'your thing' but there is no doubt that its use is growing at an exponential rate. Anyone with a mobile device can search for virtually any information they need, at any time, meaning that an online presence can really help a law firm stand out from the crowd. You need your firm to be visible in the places your clients engage digitally.

Traditionally, law firms have grown through referral or word of mouth, but with an increase in competition it can be hard to attract new clients. In the 21st century, we now find ourselves 'googling' information, and this will go for your prospective client base too. Having some form of online presence will no doubt elevate your practice's standings and can also cut down on the traditional marketing costs which are much harder to quantify.

In this article, we explore some of the most popular social media platforms and the benefits they may have to your firm:

LinkedIn

When LinkedIn first launched, it was intended to be a networking platform where professionals could network with others in similar industries, make contacts, and perhaps even find desirable jobs.

However, since then, it has morphed into a massive professional social media platform with more than 500 million users in 200 different countries. LinkedIn can have many benefits to your practice; you can create a company page to share content your firm may produce, and importantly you can also set up a personal page so clients can connect with you and gain an insight into your work-based interests and knowledge. It also allows individuals to promote thought leadership and show off your expertise whilst showcasing testimonials for prospective clients to see.

Key features:

• Easy to communicate and make connections

• Hosts discussions on latest trends that engage experts in the field

• Showcase your latest content to your target audience

• Groups allow you to join the conversation of a specific field

• Network with others in a field of expertise

• Advertising opportunities allow you to promote your message to your target audience

Twitter

Twitter is fast paced and dynamic. Unlike Facebook, where you repeatedly see the same posts on your newsfeed and you can navigate easily back to past months/years, Twitter is a constant stream of incoming information. This means that if you only send out one tweet every few days, it will almost immediately be drowned out among other similar tweets and it will never resurface again. You therefore need to post regularly to avoid this downfall which could be very time consuming and disruptive on your business. This can be good a tool to communicate with your peers rather than clients itself. Through the use of the 'follow' button, it allows you to share thoughts and quick comments on each other's posts.

Key features:

• Establish thought leadership in your profession by sharing relevant content for your audience

• Gain new clients by being approachable and engaged

• Read current news to keep you up to date on developments and trends

• Network to increase exposure and obtain new clients and followers

• Share information quickly so your clients can learn more about your services

Key features:

• Connect with customers across multiple channels

• Instagram's Ad Platform has access to the most advanced social media advertising. Targeting options are also available

• Instagram differentiates personal profiles from business profiles

• Instagram is an organic platform where you can see a lot of engagement on your posts without having to pay for it.

Facebook

Facebook is a great tool for gaining new clients through social engagement and advertisement. There are plenty of options available including starting Facebook groups, engaging in direct messaging, creating video content and advertising which can significantly increase your online traffic resulting in new leads. Their advertising platform also is the best (and most cost effective) in the business in allowing you to target your ads to your target audience.

Key features:

• Easy to share business information

• Functionality allows you to promote anything from virtual events to lead generation with their advertising platform

• Direct engagement with potential clients which can create business enquiries

• Showcase all areas of your business from content to CSR

• The most all around platform to use

Instagram

Instagram may seem like an odd choice for the legal profession as it's an app used for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone. As you might expect, most law firms aren't using this platform to promote thought leadership or share case studies. With over 800 million monthly active users and over 500 million daily active users, Instagram has come a long way since it originated in 2010. Instagram is great to show the visual platform of the firm 'behind the scenes' of the boardroom. A firm can highlight their passions outside of fee earning; this can include charitable and fundraising events, baking homemade cakes, or even showcasing pictures of the office dog. It gives you the ability to highlight the more human elements to your firm.

When it comes to social media, many law firms overlook the importance of it as it's not seen as relevant to their business. In reality, social media should be viewed as another piece in your digital marketing toolkit. As the way we consume information changes, you need to be visible where your clients are, and like it or not, social media plays a big part in our modern day lives.

That being said, unless you have the time to carefully manage your social media channels, it can do more damage than good. You need to undertake thorough research into what is involved, what you hope to achieve and be prepared to dedicate your time to keeping it up to date. But with a little nurturing, you can use social media platforms as additional channel to showcase your firm to a whole new target audience.

Lockton Solicitors solicitors@lockton.com

123 3870

LegalEx - On a Mission to Modernise the Legal Sector

LegalEx 2022 , takes place on 22 - 23 November at ExCeL London and is the must-attend legal event of the year. A hub of industry thought-leaders and regula tors who are at the forefront of legislation and code of conduct changes and also experts in client success, technology, and business development.

Since the pandemic the legal sector has remained resilient, with more than 50% of in-house teams seeing their workflow increase considerably. Now is the time for organisations to explore harnessing the technology options which are available and crucial to helping stay ahead of the competition.

As stated by ascendixtech.com, technology solutions are designed to make professional lives easier and can provide legal firms with tangible benefits including fast data processing, reduced error ratio, advanced process transparency and high scalability and globalization.

There has been a definite increase in firms investing in new technology strategies to help achieve more than just a financial return of investment. Adopting some of the latest technologies in your legal firm can drive efficiencies, such as e-billing, contract lifecycle management, cyber security and cloud migration. LegalEx will provide advice, demonstrations, and expertise to help you to discover what’s best for your own legal firm.

Your FREE registration at LegalEx will give you access to two days of educational seminars from some of the world’s top legal experts and innovators. Over 80 speakers, including the likes of Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and IASME, will be delivering compelling keynotes, informative case studies and interactive panel debates.

With client expectations and needs evolving, firms have to ensure they are taking the necessary steps and arm their organisations in this new customer centric world. LegalEx’s ‘Futureproof your Firm’ theatre carries a rich program of content to support your journey of transformation. This year’s LegalEx also sees

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WITH CLIENT EXPECTATIONS AND NEEDS EVOLVING, FIRMS HAVE TO ENSURE THEY ARE TAKING THE NECESSARY STEPS AND ARM THEIR ORGANISATIONS IN THIS NEW CUSTOMER CENTRIC WORLD

the return of the popular ‘Legal Tech’ theatre showcasing digital transformation technologies. IASME and their partners will also be on hand to share the latest developments in the cyber security threats legal practices need to be aware of. There are also fantastic sessions taking place across both days in the Legal IT Theatre, the SRA Keynote and the main stage Keynote Theatre.

With the opportunity to meet over 90 solution providers, this year’s Expo will also see the

return of industry experts including Leap, Clio, Lockton and ByLawyer, who will be showcasing the very best legal guidance, legislative and regulatory changes and solutions that are shaping the future of the legal industry.

The legal sector certainly likes to network and since Covid there have been precious few opportunities to meet face to face and share and learn from like-minded professionals. With over 2000+ legal professionals attending across the two days LegalEx is a fantastic opportunity to come together and meet some old friends and make some new connections.

If you go to one legal event this year, make it LegalEx. Everything is under one roof to help you assess the new technologies which can help your firm’s digital transformation, understand the cyber threats which will target you and your staff and gain insight into latest regulations changes rocking the legal sector.

So, what are you waiting for? Register for your FREE ticket now via legalex.co.uk

What is your conveyancing service worth?

The results of an unscientific conveyancing pricing poll

During a Law Society webinar presented by Scott Simmons and myself on 16 May 2012 called “Win, Price, Do and Repeat“ (link available on down loads page of www.bigyellowpenguin.co.uk), Scott and I asked a few poll questions- you know the kind of thing to get a bit of interaction and make sure that the delegates were awake.

We asked delegates to confirm what they would be prepared to pay to receive a good service for a conveyancing transaction, when selling a property valued at £650,000.

The survey identified that: -

13.8% of people would pay up to £1000

33.8% up to £2000

35.4% up to £3000

7.7% up to £4000

9.2% more than £4000

The results of the survey got me thinking. Was this a one off? Was the audience skewed by virtue of the fact that they were entirely an audience of lawyers?

I decided to repeat the question using a LinkedIn poll. Now, I do not profess for one moment to be a pollster, and for those of you who know LinkedIn, you will know the polls are limited to four questions.

Therefore, I posed the following question on LinkedIn and asked my contact base to vote, like and share.

The question was: -

“What are you prepared to pay for the sale of a house priced at £650,000. Your requirements are a great service from the lawyer. Cost excludes VAT.”

The results from the 158 people who participated were as follows: -

22% up to £1000

49% up to £2000

18% up to £3000

11%. up to and above £4000

As LinkedIn only allows you to pose four questions in a poll, I could not differentiate between those that would pay up to £4000 and those that would pay above that figure.

When I looked at the profiles of the people who voted in the various categories, there were some interesting observations.

They were based all around the UK. In fact, one Scot even sneaked in!

In the up to £1000 category, some of the votes were cast by heads of conveyancing departments, law firm founders, law firm partners, conveyancing managers, and others working in the conveyancing space.

The same was true in the category of up to £2000. Although this was by far the greatest response to the poll.

In the up to £3000, again Managing Directors of law firms featured as did partners and trainee solicitors.

In the up to and above £4000 sector, they were once again experienced conveyancers, marketers, project management experts, property management director, law firm owners, conveyancers PAs, and HR professionals. There was one head of conveyancing at a large regional law firm.

I thought I would then take a look at what some law firms charge for conveyancing.

I chose decent mid-size law firms. You would undoubtedly recognise the names, and in the main were in the 150-350 employees in size.

Again, I was searching for a price for the sale of a £650,000 property.

I duly scoured the internet and had a look at some of the pricing information that was on some law firms’ sites tucked away.

For those firms that offered an automated conveyancing calculator service, I punched my details into their systems and got e mailed quotes returned.

To spare any blushes, I will not actually name the firms concerned. The prices were revealing/ depressing (delete as appropriate)

1. Large Southeast firm with national reach £995

2. Large regional Midlands firm £1350.

3. Large East of England regional law firm £1695

4. Mid-size Buckinghamshire based law firm £1150

5. Large East Midlands law firm £1250

6. Mid-size Merseyside firm £1195

7. Mid-size East Anglia firm £1100

One firm which offered one of the lowest prices invited me to put in my “discount code” as part of the quote process. I therefore was left with the impression I was overpaying as I had not got a code…I also assume their price was even lower.

One Home counties firm, rather interestingly, offered on their website a “fast turnaround conveyancing service.” I thought this was a great idea. I was invited to use an e mail address created especially for this service. The response to the e mail I sent was “mailbox unavailable.” Maybe I was supposed to send a letter or call in. I did neither.

One of the responders to the poll (who had indicated that they were the head of a conveyancing department) felt the right price was £4000 or above, but actually had a figure displayed on their firm’s website of £1500. So, what does this completely unscientific poll

actually tell us? My takeaways are: -

• People will pay different prices for the same service. Perhaps there should be no surprise there.

• 100% of law firms I contacted using website calculators do not seek to charge more than £2000.

• Value was left on the table, in that 78% of those who responded would pay up to £2000 and above.

• The follow-ups from my visit to the law firms’ websites were sporadic. Interestingly enough, one of the most professional follow-ups, was from the firm that was charging the least. Perhaps, they find that they are very good at following up because they have to win more work. I don’t know. I did receive a few automated emails asking if I wanted to proceed. I did receive one or two calls.

• Lawyers do not value what they do very highly and certainly much lower than some people are prepared to pay.

• Hiding behind automated excel calculators may be an efficient way of getting quotes out to people. However, in 78% of cases value is being left on the table. You could charge more.

When most law firms talk about “putting the client at the centre of everything we do “, I don’t quite understand why these calculators even exist? What is wrong with having a chat with a person, building rapport and then once you have done so, increasing your price so that you fall into the up to £3000 or £4000 and above bracket. Your lawyers can make the same amount of money but do not have to work as hard.

It won’t appear on websites that the firm’s strategy is to “act for high net worth (HNW) individuals”- but it will feature in most firms’ strategy plans. How does this marry up with offering conveyancing at less than £2000…can’t the HNW you are after, afford more, or is your positioning totally wrong? Could you be losing work as you are too cheap? I would not use a firm quoting £995.

One of the other questions that was asked during our Law Society webinar was: -

“Which of these statements is closest to the truth?

1. We have a pricing strategy and policy that is consistently applied

2. Individual matters are priced by individuals on a best-efforts basis”

You may or may not be surprised to know that the results were: -

1. 40%

2. 60%

For “best efforts,” I suspect you could replace it with “make it up as we go along.”

How about this for an action plan: -

1. The management review the charges that the conveyancing department are currently using.

a) Have a full and frank discussion about why these figures exist, how they came to be and whether they are high enough. When someone says (and they will) …” That these are the market rates for conveyancing” ask them where this so-called market is? What are the figures based on? In many cases it will boil down to “this is what we think the competitors charge.”

b) Accept that the price people are prepared to pay is not the same.

c) Our/the client’s perception of what is value is not the same.

d) Value is not rational. Why do people queue up outside shops at midnight to get the latest iPhone?

e) Value is contextual. You will pay more depending on your circumstances. It could be that this is urgent.

f) Stop chasing the lower end of the market. If your competitors want to have a race to the bottom let them.

g) How about your firm adopting a mentality of being a price setter in your area rather than a price follower? I did find one firm (small firm in a large town) that advertised on its website that its charges were £3500 to 3750. Take a bow…. (Sorry said I would not divulge names).

h) Pricing should be taken away from those who are not terribly good at it.

i) Incentivise staff to sell at a higher price.

2. Recalculate the price table you

have. Regard these figures as bottom-line walkaway charges. The bare minimum that can charged.

3. Abolish low self-esteem. Law firms need to become more confident. There are enough quality customers and opportunities. Do not get in the mentality of selling a commodity. Do not capitulate when customers say they will not pay a price given. Be prepared to lose clients. Bad clients drive out good clients.

4. Have conversations with prospects and help them understand the value that you provide. Help your lawyers understand their worth.

5. Train your people to have conversations with prospects. Engaging conversations, about the prospects, reasons for moving, the location they are moving too, schools, pubs, and local restaurants. This is where rapport is built and then ask for the business.

6. Do not assume that every prospect is ringing around half a dozen firms. They are not. If the prospect has been recommended by a friend or are an existing client, then they have affectively been pre-sold.

To quote John Chisholm, a Melbourne based friend of mine who works with many Australian law firms... “Before you can charge a premium price you first have to believe, internally, that you are worth it. There is great nobility in being paid to what you are worth.”

Amen to that!

Shaun Jardine Big Yellow Penguin www.bigyellowpenguin.co.uk

SIF - SPG response to the SRA

have to be under the powers of the SRA to do so. Accordingly, whilst the SRA cannot be bound by what it has agreed to do for an extension of one year, it will make it extremely difficult for the SRA to argue that such an arrangement should not continue in the future.

4. The SPG welcomes and broadly accepts the SRA comments under the:

“Case for Future Consumer Protection”.

This is a response on behalf of the Sole Practitioners Group to the request set out in the SRA discussion paper for any views we may have in response to the issues highlighted in that paper.

1. The SPG welcomes the SRA confirmation of the announcement of 4 July 2022 that SIF cover would continue until September 2023 on the basis of the SRA agreeing to underwrite the potential liabilities of SIF Ltd to a maximum of £6 million, on the basis that in the unlikely event of this undertaking been called on the SRA would recoup those funds through an indemnity contribution from the profession.

2. Whilst the SRA’s agreement to do that cannot render the SRA morally or legally bound by that arrangement as a precedent for the future, in practical terms the fact that the SRA have agreed to provide that indemnity, reflects the broad terms of the arrangement agreed and proposed in principle by the profession through the Law Society.

3. This proposal is to the effect that the SIF indemnity structure should continue but that if additional funds are required to support it, then the profession would be prepared to pay those funds. On the basis that this indemnity would continue to be provided on a statutory basis, the recoupment would

5. These comments confirm that the SRA has reviewed its initial analysis prior to the 2021/22 consultation in the light of other available evidence about potential consumer detriment, including “consumer research commissioned by the SRA and others”. It is unfortunate that there was no consumer research before the 2021/22 and the reference to research commissioned in addition to the SRA by “others” is noted. We are not aware of any other consumer research commissioned except that provided by the SPG, to which we presume the reference is intended to be made.

6. The law provides for negligence claims to be effective after six years if certain criteria are met. There can therefore be no argument for making a distinction between pre six year claims and post six year claims. Any insurance cover in the normal sense would continue over that whole period of entitlement regardless of when a claim was brought.

7. It is agreed that the number of claims may be small but the impact both on former client claimants and of course on the solicitors against whom a claim is made will be significant. It is hoped that there will be no difficulty about the Board deciding that some form of protection should be maintained.

8. The real question to be addressed at this point is under the heading of:

“Options for Providing Future Consumer Protection”.

9. The three potential proposals appear to be as follows.

a) The retention of the current SIF scheme operated by SIF Ltd

b) An indemnity scheme within the SRA, which the SRA says it takes the view is likely to be more cost-effective than the retention of SIF Ltd

c) A discretionary arrangement similar to the compensation fund thereby effectively incorporating claims into the existing compensation fund.

10. Firstly, it can be said that if a decision is made to continue protection, then there is no justification, in the light of the agreement of the profession to support the arrangement, to limit it to a discretionary scheme. The public will not understand why it should be so limited and the profession have paid a large sum of money into SIF Ltd to provide the continued protection, which will have the subsidiary benefit of providing the factor of certainty as to cover and protection which is all-important to the profession. The SPG anticipate that the vast majority of your future consultees will be against any proposed compensation arrangement.

11. That leaves options A and B, the choice between which really seems to come down to the proportionality of cost of funding for the two respective arrangements.

12. In respect of option A - the continuance of SIF Ltd - the costs are available as far as can be ascertained. The SPG argues that these costs have not been properly interpreted from the original Willis Towers Watson report in arriving at a figure of £2 million plus per annum. That figure did not take into account investment income from the current £30 million of funds which must average out at least £500,000.

13. More importantly, the Willis Towers Watson report was written before it was appreciated that the profession would be prepared to support the SIF Ltd with any shortfall that it might suffer. It was the then need to provide appropriate reserves within the SIF Ltd which required the application of the Willis Towers figures. If those reserves are not needed the contribution required will reduce dramatically.

14. What is not clear at the moment is Firstly the response to the financial report produced by Honeycomb in respect of the Willis Towers Watson report as to the parameters upon which the existing WTW report was based.

Secondly the availability of any comparative figures between the option of continuing SIF Ltd, on the one hand, and the cost of bringing it under the SRA preferred option of a new consumer protection arrangement within the SRA, on the other hand.

15. The original SRA preferred option of closing

the fund was written without consumer research. It will be again unfortunate if any further decision was made only on an assumption that the new consumer protection arrangement within the SRA would be more cost-effective and at a cost more proportionate to the benefits of the protection provided.

16. In the case of either scheme it must be clear that the existing funds of SIF Ltd will be ring fenced in connection with the indemnity scheme.

17. In the case of a scheme brought in house to be managed by the SRA, it appears that, as with the current compensation fund scheme, its administration will be subcontracted out to a third-party and therefore bringing the scheme in house to the SRA would be tantamount to continuing the scheme through SIF Ltd.

18. It is appreciated that it could be argued that there may be economies of scale, but the existing compensation fund scheme, operated on a discretionary basis, and the proposed indemnity scheme, operated on an indemnity basis, would be operated on completely separate principles. To link the administration of the two would cause potential confusion and lack of confidence in the indemnity scheme particularly in the ring fencing of the funds available from SIF Ltd. Any financial appraisal of the two proposals needs to take this factor into account.

19. The profession is obviously concerned at the existing failures by the SRA to firstly obtain consumer input into its original preferred option to close SIF Ltd and secondly the unexplained differences between the WTW report and its costs and that of the Honeycomb report. SPG members believe the profession would not wish to see the arrangement which has so far worked, without any significant diminution of the existing fund, to be changed on the basis of an assumption, without the best possible assessment of the benefits of a change set against the disadvantages.

20. The SPG is sure that everyone will agree that there are opportunities within SIF Ltd to save costs, particularly if the company is going forward into the long-term future with indemnity from the profession, rather than operating on an imminent closure basis. The profession has confidence in the existing arrangement which has given its clients and

its members protection and would not wish to see a significant change for the sake of change based on an assumption that a new arrangement would be significantly preferable.

21. Accordingly, it is entirely agreed that any further consultation must be on the basis that such assessment is one which can be accepted by the representatives of the profession, before it is circulated for the members of the profession and others to make a meaningful response.

22. It may be that in the preparation of such an analysis the right answer will become so obvious that there can be a clear recommendation to the profession and those concerned of a preferred, and indeed agreed, way forward for the post six year run-off indemnity.

23. On the assumption that the Board confirm the need to go forward on an indemnity basis, all parties are now at a position where the decision must be based on facts, which need to be ascertained and agreed as far as possible, and not on political or personal preferences.

24. The SRA will have received representations about the potential conflict-of-interest which may arise from the SRA’s involvement in running what is and indemnity fund based on a contract between the client and the solicitor as opposed to running a discretionary fund based on the need to support clients who have not been covered. In this case all clients will have been covered by their contractual arrangement with their previous solicitor.

25. In those circumstances there could well be a

situation where the settlement of a claim under the direct in-house control of the SRA conflicts with an issue in which the SRA are involved as regulator. There should be no risk of any such conflict-of-interest in the SRA’s position as regulator and any cost factors should not be used as an argument to take that risk.

Other issues

Protection for large corporate claimants

26. On the basis that the profession is arguing that the fund should not be akin to the compensation fund, there is no argument for excluding claims by large corporate claimants. Any indemnity claim will be limited to the amount of insurance which is normally £2 million. The existing fund presumably does not cover any top up insurance.

Claimant’s costs

27. On the basis this is an indemnity arrangement, costs would have to be dealt with in the normal way with SIF Ltd or its agents settling matters with the minimum of expenditure on costs.

Recovering claim payments

28. On the basis that this scheme continues to be an indemnity, any excess under the original policy which is normally modest (in the hundreds of pounds) should be recovered from the solicitor who is liable. This should not cause much difficulty to solicitors in respect of demands for payments of policy excess.

Clive Sutton Honorary Secretary SPG On behalf of the Sole Practitioners Group

How To Protect Your Law Firm

From The Economic Impact of Inflation and Rising Wage Costs

The economic outlook is changing quickly, and not for the better.

With rising costs and wage increase demands from staff, and the potential impact of the cost of living crisis on the ability of some clients to pay lawyers’ fees, law firm owners need to act quickly to protect their current levels of fee income and profits, and ensure they can continue to thrive regardless of external issues.

Here are 3 Critical Steps to take in the next few weeks:

1. PROTECT

It’s essential to protect your firm from the increasing economic pressures of higher running costs, wage inflation, and the cost of living crisis that will impact the ability of some clients to pay your fees.

This means assessing whether you have the right client-generation systems in place to attract enquiries from high-paying clients in profitable areas of your firm and then to convert those enquiries without having to lower your fees. What’s already working that you could do more of? Or what worked in the past that you could do again?

It also means ensuring that the work you do for your clients remains profitable despite your rising costs. Raising your fees could be one option to maintain profitability, but other measures like increasing the productivity and efficiency of your team could be alternative solutions.

2. PIVOT

The next step is to decide where you need to change direction or strategy to ensure

continuity of both current fee income and profit levels and to support future profitable growth.

Even if you already have good client and profit-generating strategies in place, you will undoubtedly need to adapt or update them to make sure they continue to work throughout the coming period of economic uncertainty.

How will your clients’ needs change during the coming months, and how can you adapt your marketing and delivery of your services to meet those needs?

3. PLAN

Once you’ve considered the above issues, it’s time to put together a specific plan setting out the steps you need to take. Your plan should clearly identify the order of priority for the areas you need to protect, and the areas where you need to pivot. Start with what will give you the

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

biggest result in the shortest time – for example, raising your fees, or improving your conversion rates for new enquiries.

The key to success in this fast changing economic climate is to act quickly – a good offence is the best form of defence.

We recommend a ‘3 Step Accelerator’ planning process which enables you to quickly identify the most vulnerable areas of your law firm, and the biggest opportunities for profitable growth. This means you can avoid being overwhelmed or spending time on the wrong things and instead focus on what’s most important and what will bring the biggest results in the shortest time. If you'd like help to create your plan using this process then join our free online webinar by registering here:

Michelle Peters (The Business Instructor) is a former practising solicitor and the creator of the Profitable Practice Programme for sole practitioners and small firm owners who want more clients and to increase their profits without working more hours. In addition to working privately with lawyer clients, Michelle frequently runs webinars and workshops to help lawyers identify what is slowing them down from having more of their ideal clients and higher profits, and what to do about it.

Michelle is also the author of the No.1 Best-Selling Book

‘The Client Magnet Strategy for Lawyers’ which is available on Amazon, or you can download the first four chapters FREE here: www.thebusinessinstructor.com/book

Relationships remain key in the age of technology

Personal relationships are still the heartbeat of business success, despite the increasing use of technology. Personal relationships convey how we value one another. Personal relationships enable us to have empathy with one another’s situations.

In his seminal book, “How to win friends and influence people,” Dale Carnegie wrote

If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.

Business relationships then are as much about understanding the challenges we all face in our daily encounters.

The search industry has seen significant changes in recent years. Massive consolidation has seen so many of the traditional search companies swallowed up into larger corporates. We have to find ways of differentiating our service offerings, building that trust in client relationships, and delivering services which conveyancers feel add value to their business.

Don’t get me wrong, consolidation has brought with it huge advances in technology and customer experience. Gone are the days of endlessly calling suppliers to order reports, collating them manually, printing off reams of paper and hand delivering the search to the office…. and good riddance too! With the exception of local authority searches, most of the reports are now available same day, with many returned in minutes.

The delivery platforms are slicker, smarter, more intuitive and spot potential risks that might need to be accounted for, and errors in search requests. But some of this technological advancement has come at the expense of good, old-fashioned customer service. The personal touch.

Do we rely on technology too much? Are chat bots, apps and portals what our clients really want and need? What happens when things go wrong? People need reassurance, they need to be able to pick up the phone, or send an email, and feel as though somebody is taking a personal interest in resolving their issue rather than “chat” to a faceless bot or send messages via portals.

I recently won back a client from a rival supplier. When I asked what it was that brought them back to us they said that they felt as though they were a number, rather than a client. It was the personal touch that was missing from their communications; they didn’t feel as though they ever spoke to the same person twice. There wasn’t a familiar voice at the end of phone when things went wrong (as things inevitably do in conveyancing!).

In our experience 90% of orders go through with little to no intervention required. But that 10% is where relationships are made and broken. This is where knowledge, experience, and expertise really make a difference. Recognising that the conveyancer is almost certainly under pressure, whether it be from the client, agent or the other side, and being able to take that weight off and deal with the issue through to completion is a critical part of the business relationship.

Whether it’s a query on a report back which requires clarification, or chasing up an expedited service. It's about trusting that the job is going to get done right, first time. The challenge when introducing technology is that you take a step back from that personal touch. You risk losing the experience and expertise provided by the people when you are over-reliant on the technology. At Geodesys we have people who have been with us since the start, 25 years (and counting!), no amount of technology will replace their understanding and expertise. They are an integral part of our account management and customer service offering. They know the search industry inside out. The key is getting the right combination of technology and people.

Going back to Dale Carnegie’s quote; the organisations who can empathise with the clients, and understand how to respond, will be the best at winning friends and influencing others.

Kay Toon is an Account Manager at Geodesys

Snuggle up autumn is here

We all enjoyed the summer with the sunny weather and light clothing. The air was bright, and life was generally brighter. Autumn is here and the days start to get shorter. Time to put away the summer clothing, shoes and accessories and bring out the light jackets and raincoats. The stress level can always be reduced by being prepared. As we usher in the new season, it is wise to remember that you bring out the slightly heavier clothing, you should put away the light clothing of the summer to avoid clutter.

Remember to take care of yourself.

• The GPs are sending out flu jab invitations so take it to reduce your chances of getting the flu and taking time off work.

• Create me time and spend time with yourself to get to know yourself better. Its OK to slow down and give yourself time. Set aside few minutes a day to do nothing… it’s something to loOK forward to.

• Snuggle up by the TV and watch favourite shows or read a boOK. You work hard, its OK to relax

• As we lose daylight, we will need more vitamin D. So take vitamin supplements to boost your immune system.

• Regular hand washing is one of the positive things out of Covid. Continue with regular hand washing to keep virus away. Drink plenty of water and eat healthy food to help prevent sickness

• Take advantage of the weather as it gets darker earlier, go to bed early and sleep a little longer to allow your body to rejuvenate. You will feel better and able to face the next day and its challenges.

• Keep busy, think ahead, and make plans for things you would like to do. Don’t just hibernate

• Gentle exercise and movement throughout the day is good. Take the stirs instead of lift at work, walk home from station to get off the bus two stops before your stop and walk the rest of the way. If working from home, take a walk in the garden or rake the garden. The movement is good for the body.

• Get ready for winter and ensure your home is ready too. Check and service your heating and hot water, get your winter clothes ready and pack away the summer clothes.

• Remember it’s a circle of life, when you get used to the routine, becomes easier and you start to do things without thinking about it. The key it to building in rest and enjoyment of your life. The value of your life depends on how you choose to live it.

Book Review

By The Secret Barrister

I have already read “The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken,” and “Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies,” so I was very much looking forward to reading this book.

I have to say, I was not disappointed. We pick up from the author’s previous books and where they left off, but this time we are taken on a journey of the experience of the author, and their entry into the profession.

What follows is an acutely familiar tail of an individual seeking to become a Barrister from a non-traditional background. We learn more about our author, via their experiences both up to and during the application process, to their eventual pupillage, in what is alluded to as one of the more progressive Chambers.

There are cringe worthy moments, and moments of sheer hilarity. I found myself thinking “thank goodness it’s not just me,” with the various cock-ups that they make during the application process both at interviews, mixers, and mini-pupillages. What is clear is there are those for whom the process is normal, they

come from backgrounds where they consider themselves as equals, or already have relatives in the profession, and then there are those who do not (the author). Competition for a pupillage is fierce, and nepotism is rife.

When the author does secure that elusive, precious pupillage, you feel happy for them that lady justice finally gave them a break.

From a pupil master (sorry, “pupil supervisor”) who has a healthy dose of cynicism and indifference, to the clerks to whom you cannot say no, you get a sense of what life is like both as a pupil, and a junior barrister in a criminal Chambers.

There are many hilarious stories from which I could quote, but suffice to say, highlights included the case regarding the elderly gentleman with the prosthetic limb and the lady of the night, the case with the roast chicken, and the case with the hard of hearing Judge (“Very Good. Hobble Wobble”).

These anecdotes are peppered with a more serious side, namely a description of life at the sharp end of the criminal justice system. In the book, there is clear disdain for Magistrates, and from the cases referred to and their decisions, which is not surprising. What is clear, is that the

Magistrates are in disarray, the process seeming like that of a cattle market, where there is no time for preparation, and the Crown Court seems to operate more like a conveyor belt, or even a lottery, where your ticket may or may not come up for trial that day. You are left feeling as though the administration of justice is not really working and that there is a sense of “wading through treacle” or “herding cats.”

There are then the moral dilemmas a Barrister must face. The successful application and release of a criminal who then goes on to commit murder. You read about how they feel afterwards, upon becoming aware of what has happened, and how they respond. You are left questioning; how would you deal with that? The message is clear, the justice system is broken. By the end of the book, after having read a letter from the author to their younger, more idealistic self, you realise just how broken it is, and pray that you never have a reason to rely upon that system.

An insightful, poignant book that sheds light on life at the criminal bar, yielding a great deal of sympathy for the barristers who are striking at the time of writing. Well worth a read.

Zoe Tranter. SPG Executive Committee member

“STORIES OF CRIME, GUILT, AND THE LOSS OF INNOCENCE.”

SRA’s Guidance on Sexual Misconduct

Last month saw the publication by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of guidance concerning sexual misconduct. This guidance has been produced following wide ranging consultation with law firms, the public and professional representative groups and has taken account of the relevant parts of recent court judgements.

According to the SRA, the number of complaints about sexual misconduct at law firms has risen significantly since it first issued a warning notice about non-disclosure agreements in March 2018. Since then there have been 251 reports relating to potential sexual misconduct, compared with just 30 in the preceding five years, and as of 1 September 2022 it has 117 ongoing investigations.

Sexual misconduct was much in the legal news a couple of years ago, and eventually resulted in a substantial costs award against the SRA in the case of Ryan Beckwith v SRA [2020] EWHC 3231.

Sexual misconduct

Sexual misconduct is defined in the guidance as “sexual behaviour which raises a regulatory issue”. Fortunately for those who have met their spouses or life partners as colleagues at work, the guidance states that “consensual sexual relationships between colleagues will not, without more, be investigated or sanctioned”, although “a person must not abuse their professional position to initiate or pursue an improper sexual or emotional relationship or encounter with a client, a colleague or anyone else “.

Thus the concerns are more to do with unwanted sexualised comments or behaviour, or using an imbalance of professional position to pursue improper sexual or emotional encounters. This is highlighted by Example 1 in the guidance which looks at unwanted sexual attention in the workplace and which highlights situations that might occur including comments which the perpetrator regards as simply flirting, banter or even complimentary but which the recipient finds to be offensive or derogatory. It may even involve comments made to, or overheard by, third parties and recognises that the words or actions in question might be “simply awkward, clumsy and unwise”.

Indeed, the seriousness of the conduct in question is something that the guidance specifically addresses. Thus where the SRA receives a complaint about unwanted comments or touching and there is evidence of a sexual motivation, then the misconduct becomes more serious. The example given in the guidance is that someone being overly friendly and putting an arm around someone’s waist might be objectionable to an individual but is not necessarily serious enough for regulatory action to be taken. However, intentionally touching the bottom or breast would clearly be more sexualised and therefore more serious. The SRA sets out a series of criteria relevant to an assessment of gravity, which includes whether:

● physical contact was involved;

● contact was accompanied by sexualised language;

● there was any element of violence, exploitation, threats, malice, coercion, pressure, manipulation, victimisation, harassment, discrimination, intimidation, influence, breach of privacy or bullying; ● the conduct was repeated;

● the perpetrator should have been aware that their conduct was unwelcome; and ● the conduct was spontaneous or planned.

However, the overall seriousness of the sexual misconduct will always be determined in the light of all the circumstances of the matter.

Proximity to practice

An issue which inevitably arises, and which the SRA has attempted to address in the guidance using a number of illustrative examples, is as to how far a solicitor's regulatory obligations apply to both their professional and private lives. This is referred to in the guidance as “proximity to practice” which effectively means that “the closer any behaviour is to an individual's professional practice the more likely it is that the conduct might impact on or call into question the integrity of the individual or the wider trust in the profession - and therefore more likely the need for regulatory action”.

Thus, where a complaint is made about a regulated person, but their professional status has no relevance to the incident itself, then the complaint is unlikely to be investigated. An example of

USER By Duncan Finlyson

this would be where inappropriate sexualised comments or gestures were made to the complainant at a family party by someone who just happened to be a solicitor but there was no real link to their professional practice. On the other hand, a complaint might be so serious that even if it arises from a private setting the SRA would consider bringing proceedings, for example because the behaviour complained of offends public trust and confidence, irrespective of context.

This is an approach that was endorsed in the Beckwith case where the court concluded at paragraph 58 that regulators must exercise their powers proportionately, and that cases must be conducted with proper regard to the need for those subject to such proceedings to be able to defend themselves without incurring excessive costs. The clear conclusion was that for events in a solicitor’s private life to be subject to disciplinary measures there must be a clear link to the professional regulations which, in this case, had not been so.

COLP reporting

So, where does this leave the hard-pressed COLP in attempting to judge if there has been a serious breach of the SRA’s regulations at a work event, or even instead at a social event involving one or more of their colleagues? So open is this latest guidance it is difficult to say, but it is clear that the SRA will continue to take the view that situations that are likely to be judged to be distasteful or involving poor behaviour rather than those resulting in a criminal charge should be seen to potentially amount to such.

The SRA’s Guidance on Sexual Misconduct can be found at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/ guidance/sexual-misconduct/

Duncan Finlyson is a director of Infolegal, which provides guidance on this issue, including templates and policies tailored for sole practitioner users. For more information go to www.infolegal.co.uk

The Online Court

Over the last five years or so, there has been a move by the judiciary to move towards an online court. Within my area of law, Civil Litigation, this is generally taken to mean that cases with a monetary value of under £25,000, which would currently be allocated to small clams, fast track, or multi-track, would be dealt with on paper. There would be no automatic right to a hearing, and claims and responses would be filed on paper and determined by a Judge without a hearing. There have also been suggestions that some could be dealt with electronically via an artificial intelligence (AI) computer algorithm..

There are currently two main online pilots in operation, the Online Civil Claims pilot (7/08/2017 - 30/11/2023 and the Damages Claims Online Pilot (28/05/2021 - 30/04/2024). The latter has now been made compulsory from 4/04/2024.

During the Covid pandemic, courts were forced to change the way they operated, and this is speeding up the implementation process. Court hearings were held via telephone conference or CVP/ video conference. In line with this, hearing/ trial bundles and authorities’ bundles were often provided electronically rather than on paper.

This way of working had undoubted benefits in some areas. As a Solicitor Advocate, I do most of our advocacy. Previously I could be in court in London one day, and Newcastle the following day, which involved considerable travel and overnight accommodation. However, in a virtual world, I could do both cases from the comfort of my office, or even my home. Some days I have done a hearing in the morning and another in the afternoon, in different courts saving travel time. In addition,

where the court would accept electronic bundles, there was a considerable saving in time, materials, shipping, and consequent carbon emissions.

One of the first cases where this all came together was at the beginning of Covid lockdown.

I had a case in the Court of Appeal, which was to be conducted via video conference. We contacted the court to ask how they wanted the bundles, and how many sets they required. Each set comprised 5 A4 lever arch files. The court asked us to provide an electronic ‘test’ bundle for the Judges to try out. We use a bundling system which enables us to provide fully hyperlinked and indexed electronic bundles, so these were provided to the court. About a week later, we were pleased to hear from the court that the Judges were happy to proceed with just electronic bundles and nothing was required on paper.

While CVP/video conference is a reasonable

substitute for an in-person hearing, I do not believe that it is ever going to be as good as being in the same room or court if it is being used for a trial. On the other hand, video conference is far better than telephone conference. I have taken part in probably 60 or so telephone conferences since the covid lockdown, and it is very difficult to ‘read’ the Judge or your opponent when you cannot see their faces or body language.

A key disadvantage for litigants without legal representation, especially those with accessibility needs, is that the difficulties they can face in participating. For instance, users without high-speed internet service or computers face significant hurdles when trying to access the courts online.

However, If the ‘powers that be’ have their way, in Civil Litigation, we will soon be embarking on testing for the new online court.

Law Society President’s Charity Gala Dinner

I attended the Law Society's Immediate Past President, I. Stephanie Boyce’s Charity dinner on 15 September 2022. Our Chair of the SubCommittee for Marketing, Sukhjit Ahluwalia also attended with me.

The Charity Gala Dinner was to raise proceeds for the charities I. Stephanie Boyce has supported during her time in office as President - LawCare, The Sutton Trust and the Access to Justice Foundation.

The Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin made a wonderful and moving tribute to the Late Queen Elizabeth II. This was followed by a period of reflection and silence.

Christina Blacklaws hosted the event, which was very enjoyable. A magician entertained us during the reception - still cannot work out the trick he did! The food was delicious, the keynote speaker

Jeremy Snape, former England cricketer was excellent as were the other speakers. The music was also good.

Sukhjit and I met up with the new Law Society Chief Executive, Ian Jeffrey as well as other interesting people such as Christina Blacklaws, Amir Ali OBE, Joanna Hughes, Craig Dade, and others.

I. Stephanie has informed us that each of her nominated charities will be receiving at least £20,000 each from the event which is good news.

Family relationship DNA testing as we emerge from a period of darkness…

Dr Neil Sullivan

After a few years of unprecedented change, we are hopefully on the path to repairing society and a semblance of normality. So, rather than our usual in depth article on a “DNA testing” subject we thought it would be a good idea to discuss some of the causes and changes relevant to the professional services sector.

We must first offer some context by discussing firstly the effect of Covid-19 and then secondly, the war in Ukraine. The stresses caused by these events have caused heightened anxiety in the population and of course, significant changes in behaviour which are exacerbated by the use of social media channels. Tolerance and respect have taken a back seat as people seek Maslow’s “Safety and Security” and as a means of self protection, can react irrationally and poorly. Whilst there are still strong memories of the pandemic we have learnt to deal with its consequences and are growing from it. The real impediment to regaining normality is now the situation in Ukraine.

To put this into context, there have been 15 pandemics since the Black Death (1331-1353) and which recorded at least 100,000 deaths. The Black Death for example, wiped out over 30% of the population. The death toll due to Covid-19 in the UK has been smaller than some other pandemics, due to better public health measures and more rapid communications. The government must take some credit for their prompt action in the early days of the pandemic, when we simply did not know what kind of virus we were dealing with. Lockdown caused a precipitous drop in demand across all sectors and of course then necessitated a substantial government intervention.

In economic terms and from historical data, the effect of pandemics (in general) is to modestly

reduce the natural rate of inflation, with actual recovery thereafter taking decades rather than a few years. In the UK the loss of life has been predominantly in the older population although we await to see the unknown effects of long covid on the wider population. Pandemic “survivors” may well be seeking to consolidate their personal security for example by risk aversion, retention of wealth, more modest investments and frugal behaviour.

If we can now please be excused a comment on inflation, then pandemics are in general associated with a reduction in inflation, a more restricted labour force and this in turn leads to an increase in real wages. So having weathered the three or so waves of viral infection, we

might have expected to come out of it into a low inflation, cautious environment. A war is a significantly different event, unlike a pandemic, it is both the destruction of life and of capital (crops, land, building, machinery, factories) and is inherently a cause of inflationary increases. Whilst Ukraine bears the brunt of the economic damage, the inflationary effect in a global economy, reaches rapidly to other nations. It is now the Ukraine war, rather than the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, that is having the most significant effect upon our well-being. It is driving inflation and it is the source of national insecurity as people again seek safety and security.

As a company we played a significant role in outbreak testing for Covid-19 and during this rather intense time, as the government focussed on mitigation and containment, the demand for professional commissioned human identity DNA testing reduced significantly. Social services and solicitors were struggling to keep case work going and home working, in terms of client contact, was simply not the answer. However, the latent demand for DNA testing has now released and significant cost pressures are with us all (e.g. cost of living wage increases, rent, utilities).

Pressures on the legal aid system still exist and need attention if we are to mitigate this high inflation environment, hold down our costs and still (as a sector) provide great service to families.

There is a specific sector in family services that has been badly affected, by the war in

To put this into context, there have been 15 pandemics since the Black Death (1331-1353) and which recorded at least 100,000 deaths

Ukraine. Until Russia invaded, Ukraine was the centre of the surrogacy industry (estimated 25% market share) and of the countries that allow surrogacy, is the most permissive (with clear legal rules) and reasonably priced. It is estimated that before the war, around 2500 babies were born to Ukrainian surrogates per annum. Many surrogates and intended parents were trapped by the war and of course, the immediate reaction was for the Ukrainian surrogate to leave the country. Some made it, others have remained but have been moved to cities further West in Ukraine. Undoubtedly, the surrogacy clinics are struggling to function in this environment and this is compounded by desires to help the surrogate into a neighbouring country. This course of action may invalidate a surrogacy contract made under Ukrainian law where surrogates do not have parental rights over the children that they carry. Altruistic

surrogacy is allowed in the UK, but the birth mother is recorded as the legal parent at birth, until a parental order is made in order to change the parentage - a DNA test is required for this and around 400 of such orders are made each year. Other countries are less permissive regarding altruistic surrogacy and it may even be banned completely. We of course continue to advise our UK clients with DNA testing in this difficult situation.

Global inflationary pressures need to be brought under control and all economies will take a while to adjust. With sensible fiscal policy, predictions of an eventual lower inflationary environment next year seem robust. Post pandemic we see UK society evolving with a renewed evaluation of human connection, family and gainful employment, there is indeed a great deal to be positive about.

About the author:

Dr Neil Sullivan, BSc, MBA (DIC), LLM, PhD is General Manager of Complement Genomics Ltd (trading as Dadcheck®gold).

Complement Genomics Ltd (trading as Dadcheck®) is accredited by the Ministry of Justice as a body that may carry out parentage tests directed by the civil courts in England and Wales under section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969.

Please see: www.dadcheckgold.com Tel: 0191 543 6334 e-mail: sales@dadcheckgold.com

Overseas Bankruptcy Searches: Protecting PR’s and the Estate

Probate solicitors will be accustomed to dealing with beneficiaries in various instances, and it is important for the estate’s Personal Representatives (PR’s) that due diligence is carried out in all scenarios.

It is the PR’s responsibility to know and check the financial status of the beneficiaries before the estate is distributed.

Bankrupt beneficiaries, home or abroad, are more common than one might think. It is therefore important that the estate’s PR’s know which steps should be taken in order to protect themselves and the estate.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A BENEFICIARY IS BANKRUPT?

When an individual becomes bankrupt, in most jurisdictions across the world a ‘Trustee in Bankruptcy’ is established and ultimately the individual loses the ability to control their own assets.

A bankrupt beneficiary has the duty of informing their Trustee to any changes to their monetary and financial circumstances.

And although you would like to think that the beneficiary would inform all relevant parties, this may not always be the case, especially with beneficiaries residing abroad.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES FOR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES?

If a bankruptcy order is in place and the beneficiary did not notify either their Trustee or the estate’s PR’s, the money will have been distributed to the wrong person, a scenario which can have serious consequences. Those that do not follow the correct Probate distribution guidelines could face legal action.

For this reason, it is important that the appropriate checks are made beforehand.

HOW CAN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE’S PROTECT THEMSELVES?

Because the repercussions of distributing to a bankrupt individual are not worth the risk, the Solicitors Regulation Authority encourage solicitors to carry out due diligence for both

domestic and international beneficiaries.

Finders International provide a fast and easy ‘Overseas Bankruptcy Search’ service covering numerous jurisdictions worldwide, utilising various international insolvency databases and local research agents.

We also consistently maintain our understanding of the variations in foreign insolvency law, keeping up to date with changes across the world to insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings for individuals.

For further information on the ‘Overseas Bankruptcy Search’ service or any questions you may have regarding bankruptcy overseas, please contact Finders International’s Legal Support Services team:

USER Andrew Ritson: Andrew.ritson@findersinternational.co.uk

USER Roisin O’Farrell: Roisin.OFarrell@findersinternational.co.uk