Modern Law Magazine 16

The Business of Law

February 2015 | Issue 16 | ISSN 2050-5744 How to boost your income: Andy Poole explains one of the most effective ways to boost law firm income – if it is implemented properly.

Putting the business into law: Charles Metherell explores how firms and practitioners can embrace the business of law in 2015.

Modern Law Magazine | February 2015 | Issue 16

“Whilst there is still room for the traditional partnership model, it will be seen over the years as a bit of a dinosaur and a dying breed” George Bisnought

ANDREW MCEACHERN

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Welcome H

appy New Year and welcome to the first 2015 edition of Modern Law. Although the frivolities of Christmas may now seem like a distant memory for many of you, I hope you, like me, are looking forward to what this year has in store.

Whilst putting this issue of Modern Law together, one of the strongest sound bites echoing throughout the industry is that people are what really make a successful firm. This is a notion compounded by the Global Director of People and Development at Norton Rose Fulbright, Andrew McEachern, who I spoke to about the importance of great people across a global practice and the challenges associated with retaining that talent, as well as what makes a modern law firm (from page 13). Someone else to whom people are important is George Bisnought, the Managing Director of Execllo Law. George told me why combining entrepreneurs with the law is important and explained why Excello’s business model makes its lawyers so happy (from page 16).

The idea that people make a law firm is also carried through to our features in this issue, as David Simon outlines on page 46-47, as he discusses how to get the best out of young people when they enter the profession and outlines different training routes. Embracing the ‘business of law’ (an

Modern Law Magazine

idea close to my heart) is the focus for Charles Metherell, as he explores how firms and practitioners can embrace what is still a new idea for some on page 55.

With this issue of Modern Law, we have also put together a special Practice Management Supplement, which includes coverage on everything from finance to mergers and the specific challenges faced by legal Practice Managers.

As this issue arrives at your door, the third annual Modern Law Conference will be just about to take place. I hope you have all got your tickets and look forward to seeing you there, have a look at http://www.modernlawevents.co.uk/ for more information. I am also very excited to confirm that the details for this year’s Modern Law Awards have now been released. The ceremony will take place on Thursday 19th November 2015 at the ultra-exclusive Hurlingham Club in London. The nominations will be open in May so I urge you to keep an eye out for further details.

If you have any comments, ideas or feedback on this issue of Modern Law or for a future issue, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line on 01765 600909 or e-mail me via: charlotte.parkinson@charltongrant.co.uk

Charlotte

Charlotte Parkinson, Group Editor, Modern Law Magazine.

Issue 16 – February 2015 | ISSN 2050-5744

Project Director Kate McKittrick

Group Editor Charlotte Parkinson

Advertising Martin Smith

Accounts Director Karl Mason

Events Director Julia Todd

Design Richard Berry

Production Victoria Lang-Burns Modern Law Magazine is published

by Charlton Grant Ltd ©2015.

Contact t: 01765 600909 or e: info@modernlawmagazine.com Modern Law Events: www.modernlawevents.co.uk Modern Law Awards: www.modernlawawards.co.uk All material is copyrighted both written and illustrated. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. All images and information is collated from extensive research and along with advertisements is published in good faith. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this publication was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

ML // February 2015

04

CONTENTS 03-08 Intro & THE News

07 Edward Goldsmith talks news

The Conveyancing Association Chairman and Founding Partner at Goldsmith Williams takes a look back at the Housing Market in 2014 and outlines his predictions for 2015.

11-20 The INTERVIEWS 13 Interview with... Andrew McEachern

Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law spoke to the Global Director of People and Development at Norton Rose Fulbright, about the importance of great people across a global practice and what makes a modern law firm.

16 Interview with...George Bisnought

Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law, spoke to the Managing Director of Excello Law about combining entrepreneurs with the law and why traditional partnership models are fast becoming a dying breed in a fast-paced sector.

effective...

Caroline Wallace, Legal Services Board

23 New Year, New SRA matters

Matthew Williams, AmTrust Law

25 Profitability: the litmus test

Steve Arundale, NatWest/RBS

27 How to improve your margins in 2015 and beyond...

Stella Duncan, Legal Eye

27 Supply and demand…

Elliot Vigar, Veyo

29 Why implementing new ideas

Enid Rowlands, SRA Board

23

quickly is vital for law firms

Nick Hodges, Oyez Professional Services

29 Informed choices…

Noel Inge, CILEx

31 A collaborative culture

Lisa Middleton, mmadigital

31 Thinking like everyone else…

Michael George Davidson, Parabis Consumer Law Services

33 If you stand still, you will be left

23 Proportionate, targeted and

25 Thinking about ATE

behind…

21-39 The views

16

George Bull, Baker Tilly

37

33 The shop window…

Lisa Beale, Checkaprofessional.com

35 The new normal

Mark Montgomery, myhomemove

Editorial Columnists Andy Poole Legal Sector Partner Armstrong Watson

Derek Fitzpatrick Business Development Manager Clio

Lisa Beale Head Checkaprofessional.com

Noel Inge Managing Director CILEx Law School

Barry Talbot Managing Director Informance Ltd

Edward Goldsmith Partner Goldsmith Williams

Lisa Middleton Head of Marketing & Communication mmadigital

Professor Richard Moorhead Chair in Law & Professional Ethics University College London

Caroline Wallace Strategy Director Legal Services Board

Elliot Vigar Chief Executive Veyo

Mark Montgomery Customer Strategy & Marketing Director myhomemove

Richard Burcher Chairman Burcher Jennings

Charles Christian Editor-in-Chief The Legal IT Insider

Enid Rowlands Chair SRA Board

Martin Harris Technical Manager Lawlords

Stella Duncan Compliance Associate Legal Eye Ltd

Charles Metherell Managing Partner The Corre Partnership LLP

George Bull Chair of Professional Practices Group Baker Tilly Tax and Accounting Limited

Matthew Williams Head AmTrust Law

Darren Gower Marketing Director Eclipse Legal Systems

Gregory van Dyk Watson Managing Director Isokon Limited

David Simon Chairman Triton Global

Jo Hodges Head of Sales & Marketing Redbrick Solutions

Michael George Davidson Head of Business Development, Consumer Law Parabis

Steve Arundale Commercial Head of Professional Services & Financial Institutions, Sectors & Specialist Business RBS & NatWest Commercial & Private Banking

ML // February 2015

Nick Hodges Managing Director Oyez Professional Services Limited

Sucheet Amin Managing Director Aequitas Legal & Founder of inCase™

05

35 The elephant in the room…

Richard Burcher, Burcher Jennings

37 Under-applied or under-

53 Staying ahead of the competition: quantity or quality?

implemented?

Sucheet Amin, Aequitas Legal & inCase™

37 Preparing for the changes ahead…

Martin Harris, Lawlords

39 Don’t let 2015 be a Wash Out

Future Climate Info

55 Putting the business into law

41-55 The Features 43 Probate: The Myth of Accounts The buzzword used by many law firms is integration, usually without understanding what it means, and without properly evaluating the perceived benefits against the actual benefits, as Gregory van Dyk Watson explains.

In a fast paced sector, it can be a daunting task to try and decipher which of the wide variety of technology solutions available is the best one for the future success of your firm. Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law, spoke to Darren Gower, Marketing Director at Eclipse Legal Systems, to find out why the firm’s new endorsement from the Law Society makes them the provider of choice.

46 The next generation: a blank canvas

David Simon asks whether the number of training routes into the legal profession has begun to muddy the water for people wanting to enter the profession.

48 How to boost your income

Andy Poole explains one of the most effective ways to boost law firm income – if it is implemented properly.

priorities right

Better marketing systems, better time recording software or better matter management applications?

Of course, law firms and other legal service providers need all three sets of technology but given a limited budget to spend on IT, which should take the priority? Charles Christian reports.

59 Marketing and management: like pulling teeth?

Barry Talbot, Informance Limited

59 Document management options beyond the filing cabinet

Derek Fitzpatrick, Clio Jo Hodges, Redbrick Solutions

61 End-of-life should not be a way of life!

Darren Gower, Eclipse Legal Systems, part of Capita plc

62 5 minutes with...

Professor Richard Moorhead

62 Mullis & Peake LLP implements

The SRA will phase in their revised training scheme for legal practitioners from April 2015, but what do these changes really mean for the profession?

Charles Peter reports.

55

61 Negotiating the minefield

51 Training in the Modern World: Challenge or Opportunity?

46

58 Getting your IT procurement

45 The seal of approval

Charles Metherell explores how firms and practitioners can embrace the business of law in 2015.

57-62 IT Crowd

Integration

In the legal sector, there is an average of around 12.5 million searches per month in the UK. With results that feature on the first page receiving approximately 71% of the clicks, ranking well in the search engines is the most effective way to drive traffic and enquiries to your website.

David Haslam reports.

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Edward Goldsmith Talks News

07

Edward Goldsmith talks news The Conveyancing Association Chairman and Founding Partner at Goldsmith Williams takes a look back at the Housing Market in 2014 and outlines his predictions for 2015.

The result has been that the market is now experiencing steady growth – something it has not seen in years, and the sun is shining once again in the property world. Long may the good weather continue! The big question is of course, what exactly does 2015 hold in store for us?

A

lthough the fact has been widely acknowledged, it can do little harm to pay tribute once again to the tremendous year 2014 was for the UK property market. Somewhat of a wild rollercoaster ride – with its respective peaks and troughs – it has certainly been a thrill to be on board and watch our sector bounce back with as much vivacity as ever.

To take you back to this time last year, UK property professionals and homeowner-hopefuls alike were tentatively dipping their toes into what was then the largely untouched pool of Help to Buy (H2B).

While it took some warming to, H2B soon injected new life into the housing sector – helping those looking to buy a home to secure the loan they needed to do so with greater ease and therefore freeing up the market. This was, in fact, so successful that it was subsequently found necessary to introduce new legislation – in the form of changes to MMR rules that came into force in April – designed to temper the potential H2B wave some claimed to have spotted on the horizon.

While we can endeavor to predict the twists and turns our sector will be taking over the next 12 months, it is important to remember that part of the beauty of the UK property market is that it is wonderfully unpredictable, which is what makes it so incredibly exciting. It is, after all, this constant evolution which makes it one of the most profitable of its kind anywhere in the world.

We will, however, do our best to paint a picture of what the landscape is likely to look like as we start the New Year.

The undoubtedly good news is that people across the UK should continue to get their slice of the property pie and to eat it too. Here’s why…

Bring on 2015…

Despite the forthcoming General Election and the threat of interest rate rises, the next 12 months are shaping up to be exciting for the UK property market and housing market predictions for next year remain buoyant, according

to data from conveyancing specialists and members of the Conveyancing Association, Convey Law.

The data, which has been accrued over the last eight years, supports the fact that the UK housing market is very seasonal, demarcated by peaks and troughs throughout the year. In a “normal” year, transactions begin to gather pace in January, eventually coming to a peak in March, April and May. This is followed by a lull over the summer months of June, July and August, due to this being the holiday season. This then tends to be followed by a short resurgence in September and October. Towards the end of the year, in November and December, transactions often begin to decrease (by 75% and 50% respectively), compared to the overall monthly average, in the lead up to Christmas.

However in 2015, this pattern is likely to be disrupted. Significant events, such as the General Elections and large-scale sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup, will inevitably have an impact.

This is, of course, in addition to the effect established government initiatives such as the Help to Buy scheme have on the property market, as well as the introduction of new ones such as the changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), announced by

‘First time buyers will have a little bit more money in their pockets to enter the housing market with more confidence and more quickly’ ML // February 2015

08

Edward Goldsmith Talks News

‘2015 will be a relatively difficult year for the housing market because of the general election and uncertainty over interest rates and certainly won’t see the level of growth we have grown accustomed to over the last 12 months’ the Chancellor in the 2014 Autumn Statement, will continue to have.

Help to Buy We’ve touched upon it already and it is by now well known and loved.

The Help to Buy scheme helped to stimulate the housing market in 201314 and is in-part responsible for the pickup we have seen not only in this sector but also others related to it, such as for example, construction.

Indeed, the government run scheme – which offers home-buyers loans of up to 95% on mortgages – helped to stimulate higher than normal transaction completion figures at the start of 2014, which continued throughout much of the year. And it’s not going to stop there.

This positive activity looks set to continue in 2015, with the scheme due to run for the entire year, continuing to assist first time buyers and individuals looking to move house in raising the deposits required to facilitate their property transactions.

SDLT The stamp duty changes that came into effect in December 2014 will begin to have an impact on the housing market at the very start of 2015.

This will directly affect properties under £500,000, in some cases halving the amount of stamp duty that was previously payable. This effectively means that first time buyers will have a little bit more money in their pockets to enter the housing market with more confidence and more quickly at the start of 2015, which is of course never bad news!

2015 General Elections The General Elections in April and May 2015 will have a significant impact on the housing market next year. Many experts believe that the housing market may be

ML // February 2015

subdued at the start of 2015, with the General Election looming on the horizon.

It is interesting to note that most voters do not actually believe that their financial situation will change as a result of any new government (i.e. this is not why they are holding out). Traditionally a General Election does bring uncertainty and property transactions do decline in the lead up to these, only picking up again once the excitement is over and the dust has settled.

As a result of this, instructions in April and May will slow as a result of a General Election, which may impact on the March and spring transaction figures in general however this is not something to worry about. A resurgence should take place in the summer and this will more than likely make up for the General Election “malaise”.

place over the year.

Having said this, a rise is actually unlikely and we do not believe that this will happen in the next 12 months. Why? The economy needs to continue to grow and any rise in interest rates will curtail growth.

The Governor of the Bank of England now has new powers to curb lender borrowing, which is a far more effective way of slowing down the housing market, as opposed to rising interest rates which slows the greater UK economy.

Unlike the last 12 months, it is important to note that we are entering into a period now where the “long” is very much the name of the game.

It is no longer about quick wins, jump-starting or injection, it is about maintaining growth and momentum over time. In line with this, despite the threat of the ever imminent increase to interest rates, forecasts predict that over the next five years prices are due to grow by between 20 and 30%, depending on the area.

Rugby World Cup Large sporting events, royal occasions and natural disasters, such as the volcanic ash scenario or extreme bad weather, all have an impact on the property market.

This year will see the Rugby World Cup come to England and Wales in September and October. Now while the Rugby World Cup is not likely to have the same impact as the Football World Cup, for a period of six weeks, transactions are expected to slow down. This suggests that we may see a busy end to the year as activity in November and December compensates for the early Autumn slow-down.

Interest rates A rise in interest rates in 2015 would almost certainly have a massive impact on the property market, affecting the amount of money that potential purchasers have available to them on a monthly basis, the cost of lending and therefore (ultimately) the number of property transactions we see taking

The verdict Those offering a conservative estimate for growth in 2015, estimate prices will increase at a rate of 5%. A more bullish estimate is as much 6.5%. Either way – this is positive and reflects the wider market sentiment.

While the outlook clearly remains positive, 2015 will be a relatively difficult year for the housing market because of the General Election and uncertainty over interest rates and certainly won’t see the level of growth we have grown accustomed to over the last 12 months.

In fact, we should expect transaction numbers to remain similar to those in 2014 (of course, in themselves a vast improvement on previous years), evening out the playing field for further growth in 2016 and beyond.

Edward Goldsmith is Chairman of the Conveyancing Association and Founding Partner at Goldsmith Williams.

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Modern Law Advert - Issue 8.indd 1

06/06/2014 11:08

Interview with... Andrew McEachern

13

Interview with...

Andrew McEachern Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law spoke to the Global Director of People and Development at Norton Rose Fulbright, about the importance of great people across a global practice and what makes a modern law firm.

Q A

What does a typical day look like in your role at Norton Rose Fulbright?

One of the best things about my job is that there isn’t a typical day in a sense that I don’t tend to come in and do the same thing. There is a diverse spread of different activities that I have on my plate and it does tend to fluctuate depending on whether or not I am on the road. If I am away in another office then my day tends to be filled with meeting people and talking to groups of partners and colleagues about different initiatives, as well as running training programmes. When I am in the office in London, the day will be different and I usually meet with colleagues to discuss specific issues or initiatives. We are currently focussing on a review of various job/position descriptions to align all the different regions around the world, with a view to use the same titles for some roles and the same language in order to come to a common understanding of what we would like people to be doing. The variety of programmes and initiatives that we are running, as well as the challenges which need to be addressed, ensure it is always a very exciting and varied role and I am extremely lucky to have that.

Q A

How difficult is it to establish a culture, given the size and international scale of the firm and how important is a solid and transferable culture to overall success?

Starting with the later, a transferable culture is hugely important and organisations need to have a common culture. We are lucky as a global legal practice that all of the regions come from a

very similar starting place in terms of their culture. One of the things we were very keen to do as the organisation grew was to retain the familiarity and commonality around how people view issues and deal with clients. When we focussed on growing the business, unlike other law firms, we didn’t just go for being in similar businesses, we looked at the cultural fit as well. The corporate world is sadly littered with mergers and acquisitions where the business and pure economics drove the decisions, rather than considering the people element. Culture is hugely important and it is not that difficult where people are coming from the same starting point but different countries do, naturally, tend to look at things through different lenses.

Making sure we have a common view in terms of how we want to respond to the challenges is important and we are making excellent progress in that area. Last summer we had our Global Annual Partners Conference in Los Angeles, over 1000 Partners attended and it was remarkable walking round that they all seemed to have a very similar view and outlook on what was important, how they viewed clients and how they did things. We are lucky that we have a very solid starting point.

Q A

What are the biggest challenges and threats the firm faces today and how are these challenges managed?

I think that the profession is going to go through more major change in the next 5-10 years than perhaps it has done in the last hundred years. The challenges are partly around the commoditisable nature of some of the work that larger firms are providing which has meant that there are more new entrants to the market than there would have been in the past.

There have also been some re-entrants, such as the Big Four Accountancy firms who have began to move back into the legal space. Longer term, I suspect the market will be shaken further by an organisation that may not provide legal services at all at the moment, such as Google. Clients are looking for the provision of legal services in a different way and we are in the middle of assessing what the world might look like in 2020 and beyond, which involves taking into consideration how we might need to structure ourselves and our business. It is a very exciting time to be in the profession, I suspect some in the profession are burying their heads in the sand, thinking and hoping that things won’t change, whereas others are relishing that change and thinking about change before it crashes on top of us.

‘One of the things we were very keen to do as the organisation grew was to retain the familiarity and commonality around how people view issues and deal with clients’ ML // February 2015

14

Interview with... Andrew McEachern

Q

In October this year, Norton Rose Fulbright began offering trainees the opportunity to take secondments to Johannesburg. Why are initiatives such as this important?

It is very attractive for trainees around the world, when they are joining a global legal practice, to realise that very early on in their careers, they do have an opportunity to spend 6 months or so in another office. We currently have a significant number of offices where trainees can take secondments and Johannesburg was the latest addition to that list, before which we had added Sydney and Melbourne. Secondly, they are a good way of establishing and transferring a common culture. People build networks in other offices and understand how business is done and how clients respond in other parts of the world. That experience will stay with them for the rest of their careers and having worked in Australia, Hong Kong, China and Brazil, I have always been very much in favour of helping people to go and live and experience another part of the world if they are willing and able to.

A

Q A

How important is it to hire, develop and retain talent and how are Norton Rose Fulbright doing this?

I run various training programmes for Partners and one of the questions I pose in these sessions is ‘What are our most important assets?’. The first answer is ‘People’ and the second one is our ‘Brand’. It is always interesting when I ask that question to see what Partners come up with and whilst most will highlight people and brand, some others such as ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Systems’ do come up. In terms of people though, those we are able to attract, hire, develop and retain is hugely important, the right people are your most important asset. We look at people management across a whole range of different aspects, from what our employee value proposition is, to what our marketing and messaging is on campus and

making sure they integrate and have as successful a career as they can, as quickly as they can. People who work in our sector are very focussed on practising the law and not necessarily thinking about people as being really important assets and talent that they need to nurture and develop, which is something we have been working very hard on over the last 3-4 years. We have a Partner Development Curriculum as well as an Associate Development Curriculum and a Business Services Development Curriculum, so that when people join the organisation, no matter where or at what level they join, there is an ongoing development programme for them.

Q

Does Norton Rose Fulbright actively recruit young talent and is there enough diversity in potential training routes/options for young people thinking of a career in the legal sector?

Yes, we do. The legal sector in the UK is undergoing a change with the SRA reconsidering how people become lawyers and different training options. The traditional route of doing the LPC, a training contract and then becoming qualified is being reconsidered. We are always looking to recruit the best no matter what their background is. Roughly, 50% of our intakes have done a law degree and 50% have not done a law degree. We believe that

A

‘The corporate world is sadly littered with mergers and acquisitions where the business and pure economics drove the decisions, rather than considering the people element’ ML // February 2015

Interview with... Andrew McEachern

Andrew McEachern Andrew McEachern is Global Director of People and Development and is based in London. He joined the practice in April 2009.

Andrew is responsible for ensuring that we hire, develop and retain the best talent in all the markets in which we operate.

Andrew has both a legal and human resources background.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1987 and worked for a number of years in private practice in London and Australia as well as in-house at Royal Dutch Shell.

From 1996-1999 Andrew was the head of the legal department for the Shell companies of north east Asia, based first in Hong Kong and then Beijing.

Before joining the practice Andrew spent nine years at Goldman Sachs International in various HR roles, latterly as the chief operating officer of the human capital management function for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and India.

‘Some in the profession are burying their heads in the sand, thinking and hoping that things won’t change, whereas others are relishing that change and thinking about change before it crashes on top of us’ kind of diversity is very helpful, we like hiring people who come from different backgrounds and who have had different life experiences before getting on the legal track.

Q

What are the core values within Norton Rose Fulbright in terms of ethos and approach to market and how are these realised?

15

‘ The profession is going to go through more major change in the next 5-10 years than perhaps it has done in the last hundred years’

A

Our business principals: quality, unity and integrity were formalised in 2009. We are looking for quality in what we provide, how we provide it and who provides it. We are seeking unity in that we want to be seen as a single firm with a common culture, across 55 offices and 7,000+ people. The integrity piece is really critical, we want to make sure we not only do the right thing but in the right way. In terms of our strategy for recruiting, we are conscious that we need to look at how people want to join organisations now. Our social media and digital offerings need to be high calibre.

The way people used to be recruited 30 years ago has changed and we are alive to that as a global legal practice.

It is certainly exciting and is at times a bit daunting as the world moves very quickly. As I look around our global practice, it is evident that in different countries, the way in which people are attracted varies. In the UK as an example, the students still tend to lean towards wanting a corporate brochure, which they can take away and turn the pages of. By contrast, paper marketing in Canada is non-existent. We need to make sure that as a firm, whenever anyone ‘touches’ the organisation, that we are putting out a consistent message and we continue to work on this.

Q A

How does the Senior Management team manage innovation versus sustainable growth, particularly in merger situations?

I don’t think that innovation and sustainable growth are mutually exclusive. We are a sectorfocused business, we are not and never will try to be all things to all people or a practice which provides more services to more people in more places. Ours is not a geographical growth driven business model. We need to be where our clients need us to be. Innovation in terms of what and how we provide those services rightly continues to be a focus for us and always should be.

Last summer I was given a badge by a colleague in one of our offices with a red circle and line through it and the words “Because we have always done it that

way” in the middle. Innovation can be in relation to how things have traditionally been done internally or how the external market does things. Over the years, we have thought about and done things in a way that’s different to others in the market and that’s important – we have tended not to follow the pack. Some highlights of this include; developing and implementing our sector focus over twelve years ago, which has served our clients very well. Entering the Australian, Canadian and African markets were ground-breaking moves. Finally, on the people side, our 2009 Flex programme of not letting people go but rather putting people on a 4 day working week and paying them 85% of their salary was a different approach for the legal sector. Again, our people and our clients appreciated the innovation.

Q A

What, in your eyes, makes a modern law firm?

We aspire to be a successful global brand with excellent lawyers in their fields. We want to be profitable, ambitious, cooperative and considerate. Those things are all equally important, there are some areas of our profession where there is more emphasis on profit and ambition and less of an emphasis on consideration and cooperation but they are a core part of what we believe we are as a firm and what we want to continue to be. A modern law firm invests in its people, takes its clients seriously and given how much time we all spend in the workplace, it’s important that we have fun in the process. Being somewhere where you can have a laugh, take your job seriously but not necessarily take yourself seriously all of the time is important and it makes for a nicer and more productive place to work.

ML // February 2015

16

Interview with... George Bisnought

Interview with...

George Bisnought Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law, spoke to the Managing Director of Excello Law about combining entrepreneurs with the law and why traditional partnership models are fast becoming a dying breed in a fast-paced sector.

Q A

Why did you establish Excello Law in 2009 and what makes the business stand out?

Excello Law was established as a direct result of my personal experiences: first, as a practising solicitor and secondly, as a client of legal services, whilst working in industry. I therefore had the privilege of seeing the profession from both sides. After analysing the legal services market, I recognised that it was time to rethink the law firm structure to create a new model which offered businesses direct access to exceptional partner level commercial lawyers.

These lawyers would be free from the pricing and political pressures normally associated with working in traditional practice, so that they were able to focus on their clients’ business needs and meet the ever increasing demand for competitive pricing models that offer certainty and value. By removing unnecessary overheads and complex management structures, Excello Law positions the lawyer and the client at the centre of its service matrix.

For lawyers, Excello Law offers a transparent and refreshing proposition - a collaborative working environment, fairer financial reward, control and flexibility over their work and career path coupled with unparalleled administrative and marketing support.

We’ve created a vibrant and innovative commercial law firm from the ground up, focused entirely on the needs and aspirations of our lawyers and clients rather than a hierarchy of partners.

This has proved to be a very successful formula and it’s a real compliment to see existing firms and new entrants now trying to imitate our model.

ML // February 2015

Q A

How are the continuing changes to the legal sector shaping Excello Law and what are the biggest challenges the business faces today?

The Legal Services Act and advances in technology means that we are now operating in a diverse and competitive space. New entrants and fresh thinking are creating new challenges. However, I am a firm believer that all challenges create great opportunities for the brave. Our structure has enabled us to be nimble.

What I enjoy about Excello Law is that we remain extremely adaptive to the changing market because we’ve made a conscious decision to move away from the traditional pyramid structure.

This means we are more efficient and can make decisions for the benefit of our lawyers and clients. One of our biggest challenges is with respect to recruitment. We are very passionate about what we do and guard closely our reputation. We therefore only make offers to exceptional lawyers and thus find that we turn away more people than we make offers to. How people perceive us is another issue, although this is changing dramatically. We have had to work hard to change lawyers’ perception

of our standing in the profession. Clients however see the benefits straight away.

When I first started Excello Law, we were seeing much younger candidates, maybe generation Y. Now we are seeing a lot more senior candidates, such as equity partners to senior/managing partners. With recent law firm causalities and fire-sales dressed up as mergers, these partners are telling us that the traditional law firm model is not working and as one equity partner working in the City said to me it is a “high risk financial model”, which he wanted to leave “before it was too late”. Lawyers are beginning to wake up to the benefits of working with us and to the tenuous nature of the traditional private practice model. As a result of this type of sentiment, we are now recruiting leading lawyers from the City and large regional law firms, with strong followings.

Q A

Why is the combination of entrepreneurs and lawyers such an important one in the modern legal services market?

Entrepreneurs are prepared to take more risks. It is in our training as lawyers to be more risk averse when handling our clients’ matters. Perhaps this explains

‘Excello Law is...built around the brightest and best legal talent offering ambitious and successful lawyers a compelling opportunity to work in a more dynamic, forward-thinking and flexible environment’

Interview with... George Bisnought

17

‘The lawyers we recruit are entrepreneurial in mind-set and can empathise with our clients’

George Bisnought George qualified as a commercial dispute resolution solicitor in 1991 with Clarks Legal.

George then “cut his teeth” in business by managing a portfolio of businesses as Commercial and Legal Director for a Private Equity Company based in Mayfair, London.

After stints as General Counsel/ Legal Director in the Telecoms and IT industries, during the “Dot-Com” boom George, influenced by his experiences in both private practice and industry, decided to start up his own law firm Excello Law.

ML // February 2015

18

Interview with... George Bisnought

‘Whilst there is still room for the traditional partnership model, it will be seen over the years as a bit of a dinosaur and a dying breed’ the reason why growth is greater in those firms run by non-lawyers or those businesses/firms within which a non-lawyer is involved. We have an entrepreneur on our advisory team, Victoria Vaksman. Victoria started two businesses, the first was floated on the NASDAQ and the second sold to a FTSE 100 company. It’s very refreshing therefore to have an entrepreneur among the team and I would recommend it to everyone. It does help us to make decisions more quickly, as lawyers sometimes have a tendency to want to evaluate every angle before making a decision. By then the opportunity may be lost.

Q A

How does Excello Law support businesses that are growing rapidly, particularly during merger situations and following external/internal investment?

Our structure enables us to provide a onestop shop to businesses via our team of expert commercial lawyers who work in a collaborative way. We have a great deal of expertise in building teams from differing practice areas to support our clients through what can be quite stressful stages of the life cycle of a business. This also includes access to external investors, which can be equity or loan based, so we are well equipped to help our clients expand and grow.

Our average PQE is 19.2 years and so our lawyers have extensive experience of helping businesses. Further, the lawyers we recruit are entrepreneurial in mind-set and can empathise with our clients.

Q A

Aside from the obvious benefits of reduced overheads, what are the benefits of operating as a Virtual Law firm?

My goal from day one was to build a law firm which could deliver legal services in a more progressive and modern way. We have therefore listened to the two most important groups i.e. clients and lawyers, to help us shape our proposition. Our clients love us because Excello Law offers unrestricted access to some of the UK’s leading commercial lawyers who deliver the highest level of service at competitive prices. Our lawyers are not driven by inflexible internal firm diktats about hourly rates, fee arrangements, targets, what is a suitable client or routes to promotion. These demands are all things that drive a culture which is ultimately contrary to the client’s best interests and as lawyers we all know this! Lawyers will discuss these issues privately amongst themselves but it is not something aired publicly. At Excello Law, we have therefore stripped away these barriers, enabling our lawyers to have a more open and transparent discussion

with our clients. As a result, our lawyers are genuinely happier. They are freed from the office politics and have true flexibility in how and when they choose to work. We have offices where our lawyers can hot-desk, collaborate with their colleagues and hold meetings. Lawyers are also supported by an incomparable infrastructure, which includes the support of our solicitor support and liaison team. They have access to PR and marketing support and also earn more than their counterparts in private practice.

Excello Law is therefore built around the brightest and best legal talent offering ambitious and successful lawyers a compelling opportunity to work in a more dynamic, forward-thinking and flexible environment.

Q A

What are your top business tips for law firms and practitioners that they should be aware of now and moving into 2015?

Run your firm as you would a business: (i) Great client service is vital. When I qualified as a solicitor, the idea that the “customer was always right” was an anathema! Clients are however becoming more sophisticated and as a result more demanding and rightly so. Find the time to re-engage with your existing clients and not just whilst you are undertaking a piece of work for them. Discuss opportunities for cross-selling. It is far easier to generate additional income this way, rather than trying to win new business; (ii) pay close regard to your cash flow – remember “turnover is vanity and profit is sanity”; (iii) look for efficiencies – constantly review your business processes and be critical in asking why you do things the way you do. Can that process be improved, thereby saving cost and time?; (iv) think technology – how are you using technology in your business and consider what is available to you in the marketplace? Technology is changing industries at a pace and it would be naïve to think it will not affect the legal profession. Used correctly, efficiencies and cost savings can be made; (v) finally, be audacious occasionally and think big. If you think of your business only in terms of where you are today, then don’t be surprised if that’s exactly where you are tomorrow.

Indeed, with increased competition, you may actually find you’ve fallen behind your competitors.

Q A

The legal sector is still undergoing a cultural shift – how should firms be prioritising and integrating business needs into their strategic plans for 2015 and beyond?

There is a great deal of pressure involved in running a law firm. Clients are demanding more for less, creating pressure on fees. Technology

‘Firms... should be looking at more innovative ways of delivering legal services’

ML // February 2015

Interview with... George Bisnought

19

‘IT investment can be painful if not thought through.

Any such investment must therefore make business sense’ is becoming an enabler. There is greater competition between firms.

Regulation is also a factor, which places heavy demands on your time.

There are also various pressures from within the firm, which stem from an ineffective partnership model. Firms therefore need to look closely at their overheads and where they can reduce costs. They also should be looking at more innovative ways of delivering legal services e.g. by the use of technology, outsourcing and/or through developing their network of introducers and alliances.

Q

The liberalisation of the legal services market has led to considerable consolidation in the legal market. Do you expect this to continue and is there still room for traditional partnership models in the sector?

We will continue to see consolidation in the legal market as firms strive to become more competitive and others will have no choice but to merge in order to survive. As one partner of a major law firm which had recently merged with a great deal of positive spin in the legal press put it to me “one man’s merger is another man’s takeover!” The market will therefore remain disruptive. Business clients are also becoming more sophisticated about charging structures and we are constantly being approached by in-house general counsel, who are very keen to understand our value proposition and how we can work with them to deliver quality support but more cost effectively than the traditional law firm model. I believe there will, as a result, be greater pressure on firms to adapt. Therefore, whilst there is still room for the traditional partnership model, it will be seen over the years as a bit of a dinosaur and a dying breed.

A

Q

How has innovation, particularly technology, changed the legal sector, for clients and practitioners?

A

Technology has a large part to play in our profession but I do not believe we are quite there yet on harnessing the true power of technology. The debate on the application of A.I. (artificial intelligence) is something that excites me. It is amazing to think that within our lifetime, the average desktop computer will have the same processing power as the human brain.

If this is correct, then the impact on the way we deliver legal services today will be immense. Excello Law intends to be at the forefront driving change, using technology to enable our lawyers to work smarter and making legal services more accessible and cost effective for our clients. Over recent years, we have also seen a growth in the number of IT providers to the legal profession offering for example a myriad of case management systems, CRM, BI, cloud solutions, Apps and voice recognition software. There is a great deal of choice. However choosing the right technology for your business can pay dividends, enabling firms to reduce their overheads, cut out inefficiencies and remain competitive. Change for change sake is not however, being advocated. IT investment can be painful if not thought through. Any such investment must therefore make business sense and take account of the firm’s current and future objectives.

Q A

therefore in active discussions with many talented lawyers both at home and internationally who wish to be a part of the Excello Law story and drive change. We will continue to attract the best lawyers, the best client work and further enhance our reputation in the sectors within which we operate.

Our vision therefore is to create a legal services provider synonymous with excellence, innovation, integrity and outstanding service. Excello means to excel or to go beyond the expectations of others. To excel is therefore in our DNA and requires the ability to question convention rather than blindly follow it. It takes a special type of person to boldly step forward when others are stepping back and it is this quality, which sets Excello Law apart.

It is about pushing boundaries and leaving your mark in a positive way, so watch this space.

What does the future hold for Excello Law?

Since establishing Excello Law in 2009, we have gone from strength to strength. We have seen our business and brand grow significantly year after year and we expect this trend to continue.

The momentum is with us. We have recently opened offices in London, Liverpool and Leeds and have plans for other locations in 2015. We are also focused on growing our presence internationally, following the opening of Excello Law Sweden. We are

ML // February 2015

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The Views

21-39

The Views

21

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The Views

Proportionate, targeted and effective...

S

ince its creation, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has often been told by legal services providers that the cost of regulation is excessive and is an unnecessary burden. To establish the facts behind these complaints, the LSB launched a new project in October 2014, to gather evidence on the real-world cost of regulation to individual practitioners and firms. As part of this work, the LSB is conducting research to assess the nature of any regulatory burden with a view to identifying any areas where there may be scope for reform.

So far, the LSB has undertaken a wide-ranging survey to gather legal services providers’ views on the costs which regulation imposes on them and their businesses. We received an overwhelming response. Nearly a thousand providers of legal services completed the survey by the time it closed on 28 November.

We are now analysing the data and will be following up the survey with a series of more in-depth interviews with individual legal services providers and entities who have volunteered to take part.

The second strand of the project, which is already underway, sets out to explore the cost of the approved regulators (for example, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bar Standards Board, Council for Licensed Conveyancers etc.) and of the LSB itself. This exercise includes a benchmarking analysis of the regulatory and non-regulatory functions of the approved regulators, which are funded by practising certificate fees (PCF). The research will explore and analyse how the approved regulators use money raised by the PCF and any other income to cover regulatory and wider “permitted purpose” representative costs. The LSB is also examining how the LSB allocates its own costs, which are paid for through the levy on all approved regulators.

Taken together, the results of both strands of work should give the LSB, and the sector more widely, a better understanding of regulatory costs in legal services provision, and - more significantly- a better evidence base for the impact of those costs, helping to ensure that regulation is proportionate, targeted and effective.

None of this would be possible without the assistance we have received from all who participated in the initial survey and who are taking part in the follow up interviews. The LSB is very conscious of the fact that completing the survey was demanding both in terms of time and effort and is very grateful to all who participated. This first-hand evidence will provide a solid platform from which to identify the costs of regulation, contributing, ultimately, to the further reduction of unnecessary regulatory burdens on legal services providers.

For more information on this project please see: www. legalservicesboard.org.uk/Projects/Reviewing_the_cost_ of_regulation/index.htm

23

New Year, New SRA matters

A

s we embark on 2015, the concept of “New Year, New You” certainly rings true at the SRA.

On 1 January I took over as Chair of the Board; the first lay chair.

This is an exciting prospect for me - an opportunity to make a real difference, to listen to your views, and to share our new thinking. Since becoming Chair, I have had many absorbing and enlightening conversations about the sector and the SRA’s programme of change.

Talking to a partner in a major law firm, we both agreed on how important the profession is at every level. While City firms attract revenue and prestige, smaller firms play a significant role in their local communities. We recognised that many small firms face huge burdens, and there was a responsibility to ensure regulation was not overly onerous.

As the regulator, we are committed to doing more for the small-firm sector, to get the balance between proportionate regulation and consumer protection right.

We have made a start with our dedicated helpline and webpages, but we know we need to do more.

Another conversation gave me a real insight into the challenges experienced by individual solicitors. An inhouse solicitor told me she was being pushed to work in a way that did not fit with the professional values to which she felt she should subscribe. She was not part of a big team and felt very much alone.

I know that our Ethics Guidance helpline often take calls from in-house solicitors expressing similar concerns, and they can advise on the best way forward. We will be engaging and consulting with in-house solicitors in the spring to build a better understanding of their needs and how we can work with them.

Listening to your views and experiences is central to our work and I’m keen that, over the coming months, we extend our conversations as widely as possible.

Not only conversations about regulatory reform and the priorities set out in our Corporate Strategy 2014-17 – including the development of more diverse pathways into the profession and a radical simplification of our handbook - but conversations that get to the very heart of the professional values that must be at the heart of all solicitors’ practice.

Come and join us, if you can, at one of the workshops we are arranging with local law societies in England and Wales.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Enid Rowlands, Chair of the SRA Board.

Caroline Wallace, Strategy Director, Legal Services Board.

ML // February 2015

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The Views

Q: ‘My corporate client has a mediation coming up. Should we be thinking about its ATE policy?

A: ‘Yes.’

M

ediation and other forms of ADR are significant steps in any dispute resolution process, providing an opportunity to resolve claims on terms parties can ‘live with’ and avoiding the ‘gamble’ inherent in leaving the matter to a judge or arbitrator. If a commercial ATE policy is in place, it may be helpful to have the following in mind.

Positivity - Insurers are generally keen to see mediations and ADR take place, and willing to provide what support/ assistance is needed to assist an insured in achieving a successful outcome.

Policy provisions – The policy will almost certainly provide that the insurer should be notified of offers made or received. It is also likely to include provisions requiring notification of any mediation, and to enable the insurer to be present, or to be contactable by phone/email whilst it is taking place.

Preparation – Liaising with insurers in agreeing a mediation ‘strategy’ may be expressly provided for or otherwise a sensible step. A pre-mediation review can be a useful opportunity to take stock of what the client wants from the claim, what they might reasonably expect to achieve if it goes on, and a cost benefit analysis. That analysis will involve consideration of the ATE premium (often staged to allow for settlement) and any CFA success fee. To facilitate a ‘good’ settlement, lawyers and insurers may be prepared to compromise on returns, in line with each other and the claimant. Discussion on whether this is the case, and/or agreement ‘in principle’ prior to mediation has the advantage of avoiding uncertainty and ‘same side discussion’ on the day.

Disclosing the policy – Another preparation point may be to consider the pros and cons of disclosing the policy.

Disclosure is likely to require insurer consent. That consent could be limited: e.g. to disclosure of the existence of the policy and level of cover only. On the plus side, disclosure could illustrate not only that the insured does not run an adverse cost risk, but also that an independent third party has ‘bought into’ the claim. On the down side, it could be perceived as providing the opponent with useful information on case economics, and likely returns at a given point. Disclosure of the level of premium can prove a distraction and is often better avoided.

Each case has its nuances, but an informed ‘team’ approach from an early stage can maximise the opportunity.

Matthew Williams, Head of AmTrust Law. If you have any further questions regarding this or would like to discuss further with AmTrust, please visit our LinkedIn Forum: www.linkedin.com/company/amtrust-law

25

Profitability: the litmus test

R

ecent legal benchmarking surveys and indeed an early review of our own customer performance suggests that legal firms are experiencing a steady improvement in performance.

We are witnessing revenue growth of between 5% and 10% across the majority of SME sized legal firms with a corresponding increase in profits, some of which is being retained to rebuild capital levels.

So at a headline level all appears well but when you get into the detail you may conclude that some fundamental challenges remain. This is because at fee earner level revenue has remained virtually unchanged and net profit margin is also static.

This suggests that firms are simply employing more people to service increased work levels, resulting in a heavier overhead cost. The majority are not looking to introduce more efficient working processes that would improve fee earner productivity via surplus or newly created capacity and in turn deliver an improving profit margin.

If a fixed fee service is what clients want then they will demand more of it and undoubtedly a firms larger and regular clients will then look to challenge the price. This will erode margin and fundamentally profitability. To cope with this shift in business rules, firms must become lean and efficient, not simply throw people at the problem.

Against the back cloth of a kinder business climate how many firms are examining operational process and are driving for greater efficiency to ensure sustainable profits in the future? How many firms have looked at effeciency across their business and across individual departments?

The latest benchmarking data would suggest that not enough firms are doing this and from my experience many are simply too busy to even consider the subject.

Whilst an improving economy and business levels will support inefficient firms for a while, they should examine their financial stability for the longer term and possibly stress test their current business model against business levels seen during the recession. This would serve as a reasonable litmus test in terms of a firms ability to meet challenges that could lie ahead in future years.

The 2015 NatWest Benchmarking report will be published in March and next time I will let you know how you can get your free copy.

Steve Arundale, Commercial Head of Professional Services, Sectors & Specialist Business, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, Commercial & Private Banking.

ML // February 2015

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The Views

How to improve your margins in 2015 and beyond...

How should Law firms be looking to manage their margins - do too many firms adopt the ‘Near enough is good enough’ approach?

P

ricing and good margins are crucial to a firm’s stability and long term success in an increasingly competitive market place, fundamentally altered by the Legal Services Act 2007.

The 2014 Annual Law Firms Survey concluded that most UK firms have increased fee income and profits in the last year but fees and gross profit per chargeable hour has fallen- an indication of pricing pressures.

Profitability margins have shrunk in the difficult economic climate since 2008 and, coupled with the decrease in investment returns, in 2015 it is essential for many firms to rethink the lack of precision in managing margins and the ‘Near enough is good enough’ approach. No longer can they afford to have poor pricing management as different competitors enter the market and ABS firms emerge, with pressure being exerted by clients for firms to discount fees whilst delivering improved value and service. They need to make strategic choices that will reinforce their position in the market place and put them in a position to succeed.

To increase profitability, firms must analyse and understand precisely what margins are generated by all their practice areas and their client base whilst also keeping an eye on their competitors.

It requires a disciplined focus and structure and a considered use of resources to optimise profitability.

Indeed, there is now a trend for the appointment of a ‘Pricing Manager’ as it is recognised that increased expertise in this area is essential.

Firms need to make efforts to analyse, reduce and control pricing to maximise margins. One option is to consider using different and alternative resources for their practice support. Outsourcing is rapidly evolving - from IT services to sales and marketing, training and compliance. Not only may this reduce costs producing greater margins but it will also allow greater flexibility, can be tailored to the firm’s specific needs and the firm will benefit from the expertise of professionals with in depth knowledge and experience.

‘Near enough is good enough’ should no longer be the adopted mantra - margin improvement is key to success going forward in 2015.

Stella Duncan, Compliance Consultant, Legal Eye.

27

Supply and demand...

What impact could an increase in Artificial Intelligence and advancing technology have on the legal sector, in terms of vastly improved efficiency?

M

any who look at the legal sector fall into the trap that they base it from their own perspective, and generalise the subsequent view accordingly.

The trouble is that generalisation of any type of industry fails to recognise that individual sub sections of that industry have very unique characteristics.

Whilst the grocery market is dominated by a few very large retailers, there are a multitude of small and medium size firms that have their own unique positions.

So it is with the legal sector, and the bespoke technological advances, that the large firms will adopt over the coming years, that will have little or no significance to the sole partner operation. Where we need to focus our attention then, is the points where technology becomes a commodity for the rest of the legal sector, where a firm can ‘browse’ a catalogue of services, and where the price to them is not based on the cost of development, but on consumption.

During the last decade, the shift of technology has been to online processing. So applications that were once downloaded in their entirety, can now sit in any number of ‘virtual’ or ‘cloud’ environments to be accessed as and when required. Whereas the former were predominantly paid for by a substantial up-front fee, the use of online services has allowed a ‘pay as you go’ model to flourish.

This ‘IT as a service’ approach to innovation for the smaller enterprise shows no sign of slowing, and allows greater investment and diversification by the technology firms. Services will be driven by combined demand across the industry, rather than individual ideas, and solutions, such as Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has always been the Holy Grail of IT development, a machine thinking for itself.

In reality though it has to rely on the availability of two things to become ‘intelligent’; ready access to data, and the development of reasoning algorithms. Whilst the new online model provides ample access to data, development of the algorithms which drive the efficient processing of that data is still a complicated and expensive activity. This is where the accumulated noise from legal firms, through their service providers, will start to generate enough demand to warrant the effort.

It’s all just a matter of demand and supply really, the technology is already there!

Elliott Vigar, CEO, Veyo, the comprehensive conveyancing portal.

Noel Inge, Managing Director, CILEx Law School.

ML // February 2015

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The Views

Why implementing new ideas quickly is vital for law firms

S

potting valuable new ideas and implementing them quickly is vital for any successful business.

However one of the reasons that law firms fail is by not grasping the nettle quickly enough to make changes when needed, which can lead to a slow and painful decline of the firm.

As George Pattern said “A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.”

Why is it so difficult for law firms to implement new ideas?

Most firms put a lot of time into creating and perfecting their business models. So when things get tough, the natural reaction is to ‘wait and see’ rather than acting quickly and making changes. There is always the chance that the new competitor will flounder, or that a new technology will fail to get the acceptance of businesses or consumers. And surely it’s better to avoid the ‘bleeding edge’ of technology? Witness the recent demise of google glass, once predicted as one of the next big things in internet technology, now quietly dropped as lacking meaningful applications.

There are many reasons why ideas don’t get off the starting block and many of these have to do with avoiding risk.

Implementing new ideas in business is often thought to be risky; naturally many people do not wish to back taking risks that might make them look bad if they fail. This is especially true in law firms where the professionalism of the brand could be seen to be threatened.

However this inbuilt conservatism can work against firms.

Simple ideas end up not being implemented due to fear of change or vested interests. Technology has progressed way beyond the bleeding edge, and what was once expensive and slow to deploy is now available in the Cloud probably charged monthly as ‘software as a solution’. Speech recognition for instance, once gaining the reputation as a technology ‘problem child’, is now part of our everyday lives (who uses Sirius or Cortana?) and can dramatically reduce the cost of transcribing, releasing staff to more productive work.

Fortunately attitudes are changing, and the best firms know that there is nothing gained by leaving the best ideas on the drawing board gathering dust. As the old business maxim says “If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten” and that’s probably even more relevant for law firms now, than for almost any other type of business.

Nick Hodges, Managing Director, Oyez Professional Services.

29

Informed choices...

T

he choices facing new entrants to the legal services industry’s workforce are becoming increasingly complex. The established routes of law degree or GDL and LPC followed by a training contract, or the BPTC and pupillage are being challenged by new paths such as apprenticeships and CILEx’s Graduate Fast Track Diploma.

Multiple training routes are clouded by confusion because students and employers are often understandably unclear about eventual destinations, costs, timelines and status of outcome. For example, a legal apprentice under the current scheme could start working life as a junior paralegal, but might eventually qualify as a Chartered Legal Executive, or a solicitor. It is equally possible that the individual might decide to remain as a paralegal but perhaps become an ‘authorised person’ for the purposes of exercising practice rights in say, probate matters.

The multiplicity of training routes is further complicated by both the continuing review of legal education following the publication of the report on legal education and training, and the attempts by some law schools to steal a march on the whole process by repackaging their current programmes to fit in with the legal training zeitgeist.

More change is being heralded by the government’s review of apprenticeships. The trailblazer project will result in amendments to the current scheme. Three distinct legal apprenticeships routes will be created: paralegal, Chartered Legal Executive and solicitor.

Under the trailblazer scheme, those completing the paralegal apprenticeship are expected to be able to count what they have learned as a credit towards the first stage of qualification as a Chartered Legal Executive.

The paralegal apprenticeship will be offered at Level 3, the outcome at the end of the apprenticeship being a technician level paralegal.

While CILEx is increasingly challenging the notion that training to become a lawyer demands a law a degree, the attraction of a university education remains strong. While this is understandable- indeed laudable - it has resulted in some students studying for degrees when in fact they would be better suited to achieving professional status through another route.

A quick comparison of the costs is illuminating: the total cost to become a Chartered Legal Executive including courses through CILEx Law School’s distance learning programme is less than £8,000. Put another way, not as expensive as spending a single year at university.

While it is still a case of caveat emptor when choosing a training route, hopefully apprenticeships and the increasing status of Chartered Legal Executive will give employers and those thinking about a legal career the opportunity to make a more informed choice in the future..

Noel Inge, Managing Director, CILEx Law School.

ML // February 2015

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The Views

31

A collaborative culture…

Thinking like everyone else…

How can/should law firms seek to develop a collaborative culture to improve overall brand strength?

Is “innovation” fast becoming a word that is being overused and under-applied in the sector?

C

ollaboration and content sharing has been cited as one of 2015’s key digital trends. What does this mean in practice and specifically for law firms?

Brand is a word that’s been around for a long time, as has content marketing under many names, including brand journalism. But how do you create brand journalism, brand ambassadors and develop brand strength through a collaborative culture?

The starting point is to look inside your organisation. What do your employees think of your business, your offer and indeed your brand? Your team should be the focal point for developing collaboration to improve brand strength.

Employees who have a stake in the business, not necessarily financial, but one that signifies ‘we’re all in it together’ are your brand ambassadors in the making. Involving your team in your brand identity and communications builds a sense of togetherness, partnership and collaboration.

Trust and respect are key to this. Do you trust your employees to use social media accounts and be linked to your firm? This has been a recent talking point as the Facebook at Work platform was announced. Many businesses, particularly those trusted with sensitive information like law firms, are jittery about it. My view is that you’ve trusted your staff to have conversations and send emails for years, what’s the difference? Using social media internally and externally can offer many advantages.

If you have relevant processes and protocols in place, a collaborative culture can be created or nurtured based on an action such as allowing social media access and encouraging its responsible use. Having used Yammer for internal communications and the likes of Twitter and LinkedIn for external, the benefits to a business’ brand can be vast. Your brand ambassadors are sat in your offices.

Asking for their opinion, taking their ideas on board, being responsive and being clear in expectations are the key ingredients to creating a collaborative culture inside and outside of the firm. This can lead to better recruitment, new clients and retained customers.

Engaged employees are happy to talk about their company and ‘sell’ its services in a way that is genuine, organic and trustworthy. These relationships are actively built everyday by law firms with key partners for content sharing, event involvement and word of mouth referrals. Make the effort to create this internally too and a collaborative culture is born with natural brand ambassadors that can help your firm to shine inside and out.

Lisa Middleton, Head of Marketing & Communications, mmadigital @mmadigitaluk | @Lisa_Middleton_

W

hen it comes to innovation actions most certainly speak louder than words. It’s a buzz word and the focus of much debate. One thing is clear, however, those who can, do! Those who can’t, just keep talking about it. (Myself excluded, of course).

Innovation requires so much more than discussion.

Innovation is cultural. It comes from having the ability to think not just one but two steps ahead of the rest. It is not about being a “me too” organisation and deciding eventually to catch up with today’s technology and processes. It’s about re-inventing, re-engineering and pioneering to turn creative thought leadership and theory into practice.

Above all, a strong and unified leadership is essential; you need a team that can lead from the front to ensure barriers to internal/external change are reduced.

Significant investment is also often required, as is a brave mentality that dares to be different!

The late Steve Jobs famously said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” He was right and the UK legal sector is a great example of this. A high proportion of law firms look to their competitors first when deciding upon future strategy, often choosing to replicate their lead to ensure benchmarking is achieved. However, innovation is about creating genuine USPs (unique selling propositions) that actually make a difference to clients whether they are B2B, B2B2C or direct consumers.

So often, we read market intelligence and consumer data indicating that customers find it hard to differentiate between law firms; only a small proportion can name a single law brand despite the vast sums invested in media and marketing campaigns.

As recent winners of a Financial Times innovation award, we appreciate the challenges of innovation within the legal sector. Margins are often tight, investment is not always readily available and time is never easy to find to contemplate change!

Over-used? Perhaps! Under-applied? For sure! However, one thing remains certain – those who are able genuinely to differentiate themselves and add real value to their customers will navigate and consolidate their position as market leaders.

“If you’re thinking like everyone else, then you aren’t thinking.”

Michael George Davidson, Head of Business Development, Parabis Consumer Law Services.

ML // February 2015

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The Views

If you stand still, you will be left behind...

The shop window...

Is ‘innovation’ fast becoming a word that is being overused and under-applied in the sector?

I

W

hichever way you look at it, innovation matters.

For professional services, two principal forces are at work. First, commoditisation. Over time, highprice high-value services become lowprice low-value. Second, innovation which ensures that a firm always has new high-price high-value services to meet its clients’ needs.

Innovation need not be ground-breaking, but if you do nothing then you end up competing on price. In that environment, low-price competitors win. However, there is a real risk that you will continue to use the same people to provide the same services, so that a previously successful service becomes unprofitable with a team which is potentially underutilised, perhaps demoralised and who may even leave the firm.

At the very least, you should constantly manage your services to meet evolving client needs. This need not require ground-breaking innovation: tweaks, improvements and upgrades to existing services may often be all that is required. At the other end of the spectrum, innovation may bring forward completely new ideas for the benefit of clients and the firm. This requires courage, rigorous analysis and determination - in no particular order.

Innovation is not limited to what is provided, but extends to the way the service is provided as well.

If you stand still, you will be left behind. Consider the example of residential conveyancing. The overall service – transferring ownership of a property from one person to another – has not changed in living memory. But innovation to take advantage of other changes means that the way this is achieved has changed out of all recognition for most transactions.

Major innovations support new business models. So new entrants to the sector are constantly looking for new business models to deliver great, innovative ideas.

As a small example, the reform of the separate business rule will foster lawyer-backed one-stop shops featuring new links between services, opening up a new era of convenience for clients and competition between firms. While the Law Society are keen to emphasise that the innovation and new working methods fostered by these revisions will aid competition between lawyers and accountants, it will also foster much greater completion between law firms.

Whether you do anything about innovation is up to you.

But if you don’t take it seriously, you can be sure that other firms will.

George Bull, Chair of Professional Practices Group, Baker Tilly.

33

Removing the ability to choose practice management software suppliers! t is reported in a recent survey, carried out by the Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA), that 236 out of 237 senior representatives of over 200 law firms surveyed, said they were opposed to the Law Society’s proposal to have one, or a very small number of preferred suppliers of case and practice management software to the legal profession.

The law has many different areas of practice, along with specialist firms and diverse cases, so understandably, as with most things in life; the simple ‘one size fits all’ scenario is not appealing to all. Surely as with all businesses, choosing who to do business with and who to purchase hardware/software from is down to the individual requirements, costs and relevance.

If, however the reasons behind producing a list of preferred suppliers are due to concerns surrounding quality, or the need to set criteria to create a set standard, then this may be welcomed, providing there is still a wide choice, to fit all the different sizes of firms and the message is delivered correctly.

We are all consumers and the ability to choose is important. Most people are more than capable of making a choice when armed with the right information and much needed facts and this is no different.

Looking around, we as consumers have choices in almost all walks of life, but if there is no information to help us choose one firm, product, or service from another, we are not making our own informed choice. When this happens, it can mean that we buy into something that doesn’t suit our needs, which can more than often lead to disappointment, dissatisfaction and complaints.

As a nation, we are growing wise to the fact that owning a website and being on the internet is crucial for a business, however, these are put together by or instructions are given to the designer by the company selling their own services. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of how dressing a shop window can be inviting to lure in prospective clients, but the question most are demanding an answer to is: “What will my experience be with this firm and how do they treat their customers?”

One size does not fit all, no two firms are the same, so providing information and choice is healthy and crucial.

Visit our site to see how other service providers are confident about providing clients with a choice: www.Checkaprofessional.com or call us on Free phone 0800 093 8414 Lisa Beale, Head of Checkaprofessional.com

ML // February 2015

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The Views

The new normal What impact could an increase in Artificial Intelligence and advancing technology have on the legal sector, in terms of vastly improved efficiency?

F

or some years Futurologists, Commentators and Consultants have forecast the demise of the traditional law firm, to largely sceptical audiences. No market change has greater potential to change the way that law is practiced and managed over the coming years than the current (and future) generations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) products.

In the short term, the potential for impact is arguably greatest within volume legal services, an area where myhomemove and others have innovated with technology for over 10 years. There is huge excitement at the latest developments in AI and the potential they have to reduce risk, improve efficiency and support great service through data which is richer and more readily available.

One challenge to the rate at which this change takes place will be the considerable investment needed to make best use of the technology; but ABS’s and enlightened Managing Partners will see it for what it is: a tool to support expert legal advice and personal service, rather than (necessarily) a competitor to it.

One example is the technology that has existed for decades to define and automatically identify complex keywords, phrases and identifiers on incoming mail, documents and email and allow them to be flagged or filtered. Current versions of these technologies can actively learn, based on feedback, to continuously become better at their ‘jobs’; identifying and extracting the key data needed for decision making and compliance and flagging a decreasing number of ‘unknown’ scenarios for guidance from expert staff.

In the conveyancing sector, the impact of this technology will ultimately be to add capacity to a market that suffered a severe skills shortage in 2014. It will also challenge traditional career progression routes, as some of the activities that junior staff in firms used to cut their teeth on will no longer exist, so more structured training will be essential.

It seems inevitable that as higher volume legal services firms adopt and adapt these technologies, the potential for them to become mainstream in other areas of law increases.

Success in the legal sector is increasingly about service as much as the law. AI can’t currently create the blend of emotional intelligence and legal expertise needed for a trusted, personal service, but it can certainly make it easier for those dealing with customers to deliver it.

Mark Montgomery, Customer Strategy & Marketing Director, myhomemove.

35

The elephant in the room…

Pricing in 2015 and beyond: how should law firms be looking to manage their margins, do too many firms adopt the ‘near enough is good enough’ approach?

A

t its’ most simplistic, making a profit in business is an exercise in selling goods and services for more than they cost to produce.

Similarly, in order to increase profits, we reduce production costs and/or increase prices.

For at least the last 20 years and since 2008 in particular, the profession’s exclusive focus has been on cost reduction. Initially, it was driven by firms themselves, often crudely executed by means of strategies such as redundancies and a substantial reduction in what was regarded as discretionary expenditure such as marketing and business development.

In more recent times, clients have driven those cost reductions, insisting on evidence of increased efficiencies and reduced production costs, through initiatives such as legal process outsourcing.

The elephant in the room that has had no attention whatsoever is the pricing part of the profit equation.

Not surprisingly, during the very difficult years between 2008 and 2012, a mindset evolved which has left many firms philosophically resigned to the notion that price increases are something that belonged to another era.

This toxic mindset is exemplified by comments such as “the market determines what we can charge and no one else is increasing prices so we can’t” or, “I raised it with client X and I got a lecture about how things are still tough etc”.

There is a huge risk in this because failure to manage margins means that the firm has a complete failure to understand why they seem to be going backwards.

Paradoxically, most firms continue to have a myopic focus on the top line rather than the bottom line. We don’t run businesses to generate revenue. We run businesses to generate a profit. Topline revenue is simply the means to that end.

It is not all that long ago that most firms would regard themselves as doing particularly poorly if the margins were less than 40%. Now, many regard 25% to 35% as pretty good. There are many that would be thrilled with even 25%. Has no one noticed that these figures are acting in the wrong direction?

The only remedy is for the firms to start becoming a great deal more informed and effective around their pricing capability.

Richard Burcher, Chairman, Burcher Jennings.

ML // February 2015

Conveyancing Version Now Released

The Views

37

Under-applied or underimplemented?

Preparing for the changes ahead...

Is “innovation” fast becoming a work that is being overused and under-applied in the sector?

The Jackson committee published J-Codes in September, but how could their implementation impact litigators and the costs that they recover?

I

nnovation and legal services are certainly a “relationship” that has had a lot of attention in recent years and rightly so. We must remind ourselves that the legal sector has really had to “catch up” with other industries where innovation has been inherent in its growth.

Innovation has been thrust upon many following the introduction of the legal services reforms including ABSs, LASPO and legal aid cuts to name but a few. And I feel as though that is a challenge. Being forced to innovate can be disastrous as the genuine “idea” wasn’t found from market research, consumer engagement or a particular strategy.

The need to innovate can drive the need to do something ad-hoc and that can create the wrong outcome.

Innovation is best used when the challenge/problem is identified as worth investing time and money to find a solution.

It is worth pointing out that “innovation” is just doing something differently to achieve a better outcome. Typically people associate innovation with technology. It doesn’t necessarily need to be solved by the use of technology but with the huge advancements in this area, it would be sensible to seriously consider it.

Whether innovation is being “under-applied” is really subject to the particular legal sector. I do think that a legal service with a “process” element to it such as conveyancing; personal injury; employment; are ripe for innovation and I’ve seen plenty of examples where legal practices have taken innovation to a new level, yielding high efficiency and better profits for sure.

On the other hand, we as a sector are guilty of procrastination. Lawyers by their training and nature digest everything and take time to make a decision. I’m not saying that is not a worthy exercise but that can create barriers and stifle innovation. Innovation requires an element of trial and error to find the perfect solution. If it hasn’t been done before (either generally or specifically for an individual practice) then you can’t call it innovation.

On balance, I wouldn’t say that innovation is “underapplied”… more that it is “under-implemented”.

Sucheet Amin – Managing Director Aequitas Legal & Founder of inCase™

A

s most litigators are already aware, The Jackson Reforms Steering Committee was set the task of developing a new modelform Bill of Costs which increases transparency and provides consistency in terms of how costs are presented to the Courts of England and Wales. This has led to the development of a coding system called EW-UTBMS J-Code-set (The J-Codes) designed to bring timerecording and preparation of Bills into the 21st Century.

J-Codes area set of UTBMS codes are adapted for use at three different levels; Phase, Task and Activity. The introduction of the system will require litigators to record their time using a series of unique codes which require each Litigator to input the relevant task and activity code into the time recording system to show what work is being done and how the work is being done. The Phases are in line with the Precedent H headings enabling litigators to accurately record the time expended phase by phase. This makes the task of preparing Budgets, keeping within them and accurately preparing Bills all the more manageable for litigators and their Costs Draftsman.

Use of J-Codes will in effect standardise costs information and improve a party’s ability to present, analyse and justify costs incurred within litigation.

This all sounds hugely positive, however, implementation will not come without adaptation and some discord.

Law firms will have to implement J-Codes internally, extensive training will be required and in some cases, firms will need to invest in systems that may prove rather expensive when set against dwindling profit margins.

The Civil Litigation J-Code Set Overview and Guidelines does contain some ‘Implementation Notes’ but clearly, litigators and the firms within which they operate, need to be preparing for the changes ahead.

As with any technological development, there will undoubtedly be those that struggle to adapt. Stories of Solicitors scratching ’10 units’ with a quill pen and judging recoverable costs with reference to a file’s weight in pounds and ounces spring to mind. There is an argument to suggest that the changes favour larger firms better placed to adapt than their smaller, less resourced counterparts, however, provided the correct advice is sought and minds remain open, the introduction of a more efficient system must surely be welcomed.

Martin Harris, Technical Manager & Accredited Workplace Mediator, Lawlords.

ML // February 2015

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The Views

39

Don’t let 2015 be a wash out Last winter, the UK witnessed an unprecedented pattern of intense storms, delivering the worst period of rainfall for 248 years. This resulted in serious and devastating damage to properties and infrastructure across the country.

A

s our climate continues to change, there is a real risk of last year’s weather catastrophe repeating itself. Of the 5.2m properties in the UK, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs estimates that 1.4m of these are at risk from flooding with sea levels predicted to rise again by 11-16cm in the coming years, the outlook for these properties is bleak.

The Government’s Autumn Statement delivered the welcome news of a £2.3bn cash injection into restoring and enhancing the network of flood defences across the UK. In addition, Flood Re is being introduced to assist homeowners with accessing affordable flood insurance.

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The Views

41-55

The Features

41

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The Features

43

Probate: The Myth of Accounts Integration

The buzzword used by many law firms is integration, usually without understanding what it means, and without properly evaluating the perceived benefits against the actual benefits, as Gregory van Dyk Watson explains.

T

here are many areas of legal work in which software integration is beneficial, particularly when buying specialist software from different sources.

It is clearly useful to have a specialist case management system that can extract data from your practice management system, and merge the output to Microsoft Word or to your email system. It is also fundamental to be able to enter your basic client details once only into your practice management system (PMS), where you would conduct your client identity and money laundering checks, without having to enter this data a second time into your case management system.

Client monies into and out of the firm belong to the domain of the client account ledger of your practice management system. Your cashier or accounts department ensures that the total of your client accounts always matches the total of client funds in the bank account. This reconciliation is fundamental.

Feasible or fantasy?

The issue that I wish to address is the attempt to integrate your probate

client accounts with your PMS client ledger. Integration between the two would mean the ability to make a single entry posting into both client accounts. Is it feasible or fantasy?

when one beneficiary wants the money for the BT shares, while the others want to keep the shares? How will your cashier keep track of these distinctions in the PMS client account?

Your cashier is primarily concerned with money in and money out of your client account, with only marginal concern with the actual breakdown and analysis of the funds received. What those funds represent are relatively easily managed by the practitioners of the various departments.

Your cashier is not fundamentally concerned with these distinctions, but you will need to record and track the financial breakdown of each transaction - ideally in a dedicated probate accounting system that allows you the flexibility that is not available in the firm’s accounting system.

By contrast, your probate team will want to know the detail of each transaction.

What is the breakdown of a cheque or transfer from the stockbroker? How many shares have been sold? What was the value of the individual shares? Some of them might have been allocated to a specific beneficiary. Were any dividends included in the transfer? And at which income tax rate?

Proper management It is redundant for your practice management system to contain a click and pick list of probate registries or funeral directors or a list of stock exchange shares with correct SEDOL and ISIN numbers. Or even to maintain a profit and loss account for each of 30 plus properties owned by the deceased for example, some with mortgages, and some lease owned, each with various charges against the property. These features are of little relevance to the other departments in the firm. Your PMS client account is not designed for the financial complexity that is an intrinsic part of estate administration.

How will the probate team treat the breakdown of a single transfer from the bank into the firm’s client account, when that single transfer might represent more than one bank account?

It might well include an element of interest. How will they deal with the distinction between pre and post death income in the firm’s client account, especially when the statement arrives from the bank three weeks later?

Inheritance tax is due on pre-death income, whereas income tax is due on that same pre-death income, plus postdeath income.

Where will you record the value of the various stocks and shares prior to any sale by the stockbroker, and prior to any money having been received by the firm? How will you deal with values

‘There is a plethora of detail that you will need to record in your probate accounting system that has no place in your firm’s client account, and which is of minimal concern to your cashier’

There is a plethora of detail that you will need to record in your probate accounting system that has no place in your Practice Management System client account, and which is of minimal concern to your cashier.

Considering these issues, it is clear that in order to properly manage your deceased estates, you will need a dedicated probate accounting system.

You will of course need to reconcile the totals of the two client accounts from time to time, but trying to integrate the two makes no sense whatsoever. Any such attempt belongs to the realm of IT mythology.

Gregory van Dyk Watson is Managing Director of Isokon Limited.

ML // February 2015

The Features

45

The seal of approval In a fast paced sector, it can be a daunting task to try and decipher which of the wide variety of technology solutions available is the best one for the future success of your firm. Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law, spoke to Darren Gower, Marketing Director at Eclipse Legal Systems, to find out why the firm’s new endorsement from the Law Society makes them the provider of choice.

A

s the legal sector continues to evolve and modernise, it is now more important than ever to ensure your IT solutions fully support the running of your firm as a business, but also that they improve your clients’ experience. Driving efficiency, reducing costs and streamlining the day-to-day functionalities which come with running a law firm are just some of the buzz-words that are often thrown around the legal technology space. The ‘what’s’, ‘when’s’ and ‘how’s’ are just some of the factors that can add to confusion when considering which solution is right for your firm. In the modern legal services sector, the range of technology solutions available has begun to muddy the water for those looking to implement the best and most sustainable system.

The next step The move for law firms to implement the latest and most effective technology is an almost inevitable transition. And if you haven’t already, selecting and investing in the right systems for your practice and following the call of existing and future clients in a world that is ‘always on’, are now a necessary factor in the running of a law firm. However, prior to implementing a new solution, or replacing outdated legacy systems, it would be wise to consider the following: • How easy is it to implement the new solution and does it fit in line with your current workflow methods and infrastructure?

• How easy is it to configure and change the system in line with your future needs?

• How do the costs of implementing the new systems weigh up against the benefits? It is important to consider the ongoing and developmental costs in terms of both time and money.

• Is the system low maintenance, enabling you to benefit without recruiting specialist IT staff?

• Will the solution increase productivity and how?

• Is the new system secure and does it comply with current industry standards, for example those around cyber security?

• Will the solution improve efficiencies within the firm? How will this be measured and does the proposed solution have a track record of driving revenue growth for its users?

Darren Gower

Charlotte Parkinson

A viable solution...

An effective way to ensure the systems you choose are secure and reliable is to look for an accreditation or endorsement, such as the Law Society’s recent endorsement of Eclipse Proclaim’s Practice Management System (PMS).

An accreditation such as this will only be awarded if the system has achieved the highest standards and passed a rigorous auditing and assessment period. Looking out for an endorsement will give you peace of mind when thinking about service levels, resilience and the overall commercial benefits provided by the solution, prior to implementation.

In a crowded marketplace, looking for an independently accredited provider will ensure that you reap the benefits from what should be a carefully considered investment.

Darren Gower, Eclipse Legal Systems, comments: “Your firm’s case and practice management software systems are a fundamental part of your business. The best system will enable your firm to grow and reap the rewards of smarter working, less waste, and better client service options. Selecting a solution that has been independently assessed and endorsed is vital - it removes the risk of making such an investment and provides you with the confidence that the solution chosen is one that has a history of enabling law firms to improve their performance.”

Proclaim® is the only Practice e v Ha Management Software solution Endorsed by the Law Society. you heard? CALL 01274 704 100 www.eclipselegal.co.uk/lawsociety lawsociety@eclipselegal.co.uk

46

The Features

The next generation: a blank canvas David Simon asks whether the number of training routes into the legal profession has begun to muddy the water for people wanting to enter the profession.

I

first started working in a law firm in 1971, when there were three principal methods of entry. At that time the Solicitors profession was tiny. In the intervening years, I have observed the changes in regulation (and expectations) and noted how particular fashions in law training have come and gone.

We now have a numerically massive legal sector and have been forced by economic pressures to find new ways of bringing on the lawyers of the future (particularly when we are under pressure to have an eye on the diversity of our profession).

In order to address the issue of whether the number of training routes into the legal profession has begun to muddy the water for trainees, therefore, I have relied on the views of a number of our young people: a Legal Apprentice, a Paralegal and a Trainee Solicitor. They have all made informed decisions as to what route they should take to get into law and their comments are highlighted in the box on page 47.

Just to remind ourselves, the current options include the following:

Law graduate route: 1. Study a 3 year Law undergraduate degree (or alternative but then do law conversion course (1year)).

2. Complete a 1 year Legal Practice Course.

3. Complete a 2 year training contract.

Result: qualify as solicitor.

CILEx route: Practical experience in a law firm coupled with: 1. CILEx Level 3 Professional Diploma in Law and Practice (10 units in total, usually over 2 years).

2. CILEx Level 6 Diploma in Law. Result: qualify as Chartered Legal Executive.

Hybrid route: 1. Study a 3 year Law degree (or alternative but then do law conversion course (1year)).

2. Complete a 1 year Legal Practice Course.

3. Join CILEx as a Graduate member. Complete 5 years in a legal role with 1 year as a graduate member.

Result 1: qualify as Chartered Legal Executive.

Possible result 2: once qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive, it is possible to apply to the SRA to qualify as a solicitor.

However, the exemption is at the discretion of the SRA and this may be dependant on having completed the LPC.

ML // February 2015

‘We now have a numerically massive legal sector and have been forced by economic pressures to find new ways of bringing on the lawyers of the future’

The Features

47

‘It has been heart-breaking to me as an interested bystander to see a steady procession of would-be lawyers coming out of university and law school, burdened with debt and seeing the long-anticipated Training Contract disappearing like a mirage’ David Simon Former Managing Partner. Currently Chairman: Triton Global Limited David had many years in law firm management prior to becoming Managing Partner of Robin Simon when that firm was founded in 2003, having for over twenty years prior to that been Head of Professional Indemnity at two national law firms.

In a professional career stretching over four decades, David has acted in the defence of professionals of every discipline other than medical. In recent years he has tended to concentrate more on the defence of claims against the legal profession and he believes that his years as a partner in a leading national law firm has given him an insight into how to approach some of the practical issues that arise for the modern law firm. His recent cases have had a particular emphasis on claims involving trusts, settled land and taxation. An exception was Holbeck Hall Hotel v Scarborough BC, which remains a leading case on the law of nuisance.

Muddying the waters?

For years now it has been heart-breaking to me as an interested bystander to see a steady procession of wouldbe lawyers coming out of university and law school, burdened with debt and seeing the long-anticipated Training Contract disappearing like a mirage. The alternatives that are now available have to be better than creating a disillusioned generation. When I spoke to these new entrants, the enthusiasm for what they had embarked on was palpable!

This broadening of the entry to our profession is not just socially and economically attractive. There are benefits for firms as well in being able to mould their young professionals from an early stage so that they acquire all the skills which are required for their specific type of practice.

Today’s intake arrives with little or no experience of working in an office environment and therefore few ingrained bad habits. My view is that employing ‘blank canvases’ in this way allows the firm to shape its future workforce to its own ethos and practice standards. Centralisation of training is not required.

David Simon is Chairman at Triton Global Ltd.

Case studies

1

Our Apprentice told me about being a student member of CILEx and that she had had just undertaken her first exam in Introduction to Law and Practice. She was already benefitting from working alongside experienced solicitors and being able to study for her exams while being paid a salary. I asked her what she would recommend to 18 year olds leaving Education now. She summed it up: “I believe that for 18 year olds leaving college now it is quicker, easier and cheaper to qualify through CILEx. With CILEx you get both the experience and qualifications needed to become a successful lawyer, without incurring thousands in Student Loans only to be then faced with the difficulty of trying to secure a training contract”.

2

Our 21 year old paralegal told me that a car accident had disrupted her studies and had put back the possibility of university by at least two years. Discovering the alternative ‘CILEx’ route into the legal profession opened doors for her, which were otherwise closed at the time. In her own words: “I have been studying to become a chartered legal executive through a mixture of both legal study and practical experience since September 2011. I am currently on the ‘home stretch’ with only 2 more modules remaining. I have not incurred any student debt whatsoever in the process as all course fees have been paid by employers, and I have also received a salary. I have also been able to adopt a flexible and tailormade approach to studying”.

3

The Graduate Trainee I spoke to had gone down the university route and joined the scrum of law graduates in search of a training contract. He joined a large firm in a paralegal role and went through the internal applications process for a training contract three times, without success, despite positive comments from the partners he worked for. “I had little knowledge of any alternative routes to qualification and was told about the CILEx route through a friend of a friend. On review of the options available I realised that this was the route I should take.

I completed a business plan and obtained the internal funding for this. I am currently in the final months of the qualifying work and hope to qualify in the Spring. I have in excess of 5 years’ experience in legal work and I wish I had known about this route to qualification earlier. I have no doubt that a CILEx graduate with 4 years work experience would be more valuable to an employer than a graduate that is straight out of university and has none”.

ML // February 2015

48

The Features

How to boost your income Andy Poole explains one of the most effective ways to boost law firm income – if it is implemented properly.

I

was recently asked to present a training session on cross-selling to a law firm client of mine. I’ve deliberately not used that terminology at the beginning of this article as I don’t think the term cross-selling helps lawyers at all, as I will explain shortly, but the concept should.

In order to generate work for the firm as a whole when clients instruct a particular fee earner or department, three things are required.

• The fee earner should have their radar on – another term I don’t like but it fits here; • There must be knowledge; and • There must be trust.

Radar Essentially, this means that fee earners must be aware of their client and their client’s needs. To do this, and to provide the best service regardless, fee earners should take time to get to know their clients, to understand their issues and their objectives. Good open questions will permit this. Taking this approach also helps to generate a huge amount of good feeling from the client and generates repeat business for the fee earner and also referrals and recommendations. When a fee earner totally understands a client, they are in a very powerful position to advise on solutions. Part of the solution may need to be provided by another fee earner or department.

Knowledge Knowledge is required in three areas – of the client; of the services the firm provides; and of other people in the firm.

How can such knowledge be built?

Knowledge of the client is generated by the radar approach described above, but also, particularly of a key client, by arranging regular meetings with them. Internal sessions are vital

ML // February 2015

‘If a fee earner has delivered a good result for a client, or has won new work for the firm; then it should be celebrated within the firm and the details circulated’ for generating knowledge of the services the firm provides and also of the people within the firm. Sessions, such as those I presented for the law firm client referred to above, will help fee earners to understand the importance; to understand how to go about it; and to gain the confidence.

Additional, totally internal, sessions are arguably more valuable. Update

presentations from one department to others on hot topics will help the firm as a whole to understand how colleagues can help their clients. Inter-department brainstorming sessions of particular key clients also help. It takes time and effort to gather the key people to such meetings, but it can be extremely worthwhile. Many firms will have key recurring clients that provide repeat instructions to certain departments.

The Features

49

‘The term cross-selling doesn’t help. It can appear as selling if a fee earner methodically runs down a list of questions that are clearly designed to part the punter from their hard earned cash’ They will at some point require other legal services and they may or may not raise that need with the firm. They may even go elsewhere because of a lack of perceived expertise for the other requirement from their usual firm.

That situation can be avoided by the main contact fee earner’s knowledge of the client being passed to other fee earners in other departments. A discussion of the issues and objectives of the client will more often than not elicit ideas and suggestions of how the law firm can help the client to achieve their objectives or solve their problems. If the fee earner then contacts the client to run through the issue and the proposal, a favourable response should be received. Even if the client decides not to proceed with the proposal, it will have sowed a seed and will build confidence in both the fee earner and the firm as a whole.

As well as responding to known situations as described above, many fee earners appreciate the standardisation of questions to ask and suggestions to make in particular circumstances. This is entirely possible for certain services.

For example if a firm is acting in a divorce matter, a standard question could be to ask whether the client’s will needs to be updated.

In order to generate such standard questions, interdepartment head meetings can be held to describe how they each act for clients in certain circumstances and the other department heads can then suggest hooks, that could lead to them also providing assistance to the client.

Standardising includes standard take on forms, standard questions during the process and standard completion meeting checklists. Standardising allows you to be organised, but the trick is not to let it appear that it is a tickbox exercise. The client needs to feel that they are simply receiving a good service, with their interests at heart. If the fee earner knows or feels that a particular question isn’t appropriate, then they shouldn’t ask it.

Trust The client needs to trust their lawyer and the lawyer needs to trust their colleagues. Trust from the client is built from acting in their best interests and listening to them.

Trust in colleagues is built by a variety of measures including office social activities; department update sessions; and publicising success stories. If a fee earner has delivered a good result for a client, or has won new work for the firm; then it should be celebrated within the firm and the details circulated.

Of course, as well as knowledge and trust, some will always need a gentle nudge to help the firm and their colleagues.

Having incentive schemes and targets included within the appraisal process can help with that. If targets and rewards are to be used, then there needs to be a system to record inter-department solutions provided to clients.

Cross-selling I don’t like selling. I don’t like people selling to me. I can therefore quite understand why fee earners do not respond well when asked to cross-sell. I can also understand why clients would not want to ‘buy’ if they feel that they are being sold to.

That is where the term cross-selling doesn’t help. It can appear as selling if a fee earner methodically runs down a list of questions that are clearly designed to part the punter from their hard-earned cash. It can also appear as selling if a fee earner immediately provides a solution to every one of the client’s issues as soon as they have mentioned them.

A far better approach is to ask open questions. Listen to the answers, take notes, summarise at appropriate points, replay the issues back to the client at the end and then deliberate as the trusted adviser before either suggesting matters to take further, or agreeing to think about it and then following up over the next few days with a combined solution to all of the issues. If presented as a package, of which the client can clearly see benefits, they are more likely to agree to the solution. The fee earner will also have given the client excellent service and as a result the fee income in other departments will grow.

So, I don’t like cross-selling, but I do like the concept. The trouble is, I’ve not quite managed to generate alternative terminology that I’m happy with either. I would prefer to look at it as simply providing the client with a good service.

Cross-selling – Providing a good service.

Andy Poole, Legal Sector Partner, Armstrong Watson.

Andy focuses exclusively on advising lawyers and heads the specialist legal sector team at the top 30 UK accounting firm, Armstrong Watson. Andy covers all 15 of the firm’s offices and advises law firms throughout the country.

ML // February 2015

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To find out how you can benefit from our expertise in targeted legal training please contact Noel Inge on 01234 844325 or n.inge@cilexlawschool.ac.uk.

CILEx Law School, College House, Manor Drive, Kempston, Bedford MK42 7AB www.cilexlawschool.ac.uk

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The Features

51

Training in the Modern World: Challenge or Opportunity?

The SRA will phase in their revised training scheme for legal practitioners from April 2015, but what do these changes really mean for the profession? Charles Peter reports.

W

hen I qualified as a solicitor in 1986, the perceived wisdom about training was that as long as you completed 48 hours of CPD in any three year period you were fine. Being new, I asked a few questions. Did it matter what I did the CPD in? Once I’d signed in and got the notes, was it obligatory for me to stay all day? Did I get lunch? The answer to the first two questions was “no” and “yes” to the last question.

As time went by the rules changed: you had to do 16 CPD hours every year ending in October. I suspected that the reason for the change was that every third year in October, there were no solicitors available in the country as they were all being “trained”. The majority of solicitors I knew all did the same thing at these lectures: turned up late, got their written material, hung around until the enormous lunch was over and disappeared straight afterwards. Of course, this was not the way it was supposed to be but I’m willing to bet that many people reading this will know exactly what I mean.

Far from the truth...

So, the SRA have decided to make a change and as usual have been very clever about it. The propaganda so far seems to leave most solicitors thinking that they don’t have to do any more

training ever again. This is far from the truth. Whilst relaxing the manner in which we learn, the SRA appear to be washing their hands of their regulatory responsibility and passing it over to the solicitor. “Solicitors should discuss their training with their employer” is what they tell us, leaving the question unanswered as to who, ultimately, is responsible for managing all this.

Organising solicitors is like juggling sand: a rather dry gritty and hopeless affair. The SRA tell us that it won’t necessarily be the responsibility of the COLP but secretly, of course, the buck will eventually stop there. Let’s not forget the insurance industry: once they find out that solicitors are in charge of their own learning, who knows what will happen to premiums.

Where will this leave the profession in the new world? I think this change is a wonderful opportunity for the profession to join the new world of internet learning and the opportunities that this can bring. Most things these days revolve around the internet.

Go to any restaurant and count how many people are on their phones.

It might not be something all of us embrace, but there is no escaping its importance. Let’s face it, you can almost do anything on the internet now from buying baby clothes to arranging funerals.

Imagine for a moment that you could be kept up to date with a brief synopsis delivered to your phone of what’s

happening in your area of law. Follow that up with some expert commentary and when things are a little bedded in, a short podcast/webinar to explain how the changes are working. All these things, delivered to your computer or phone over the internet, when you’re ready. It will also tell you what you’ve done, thus keeping a proper record.

Long lasting implications...

Educational researches tell us that this is the best way to learn rather than sit in a stuffy hotel room, which is either too hot or too cold for six hours.

Online learning is best done in chunks available when the user wants it: not the other way round.

So what are we losing by the changes? A system where anyone can do any course they like and simply tick a box as long as they do 16 hours.

A system which requires them to lose 16 hours of fee earning work and we are also losing an opportunity to eat enormous amounts of calories that we all know will kill us in time. And what are we gaining? The ability to learn what we need when we want, in a way which is both affordable and flexible, utilising modern technology.

The new scheme is supposed to start from April allowing firms to opt in if they wish. It becomes mandatory from November 2016.

Charles Peter is Founder and Managing Director of Datalaw.

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Ground Floor, Festival House, Jessop Avenue, Services are provided within the context of: personal injury; employment injury; stress and chronic Cheltenham, GL50 3SH Phone: 01242 263 715 absence management; clinical negligence; Neuro-psychology and chronic pain. We have particular Fax: 01242 528 299 Email: customerservice@hughkochassociates.co.uk expertise in assessing the psychological effects of cosmetic surgery. Adults and children are seen within four to six weeks of instructionat any of our 120 clinics across the UK, and the report provided within Web: www.hughkochassociates.co.uk two weeks. The ‘Find the Expert’ facility on our web site allows three experts to be located immediately.

ML // February 2015

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The Features

53

Staying ahead of the competition: quantity or quality?

In the legal sector, there is an average of around 12.5 million searches per month in the UK. With results that feature on the first page receiving approximately 71% of the clicks, ranking well in the search engines is the most effective way to drive traffic and enquiries to your website. David Haslam reports.

S

earch Engine Optimisation (SEO) at its most pure is the method of ensuring a domain features highly amongst the search engine results page (SERP) through natural means. As with any marketing strategy, SEO depends on a deep understanding of your audience and targeting your efforts accordingly. When formulating your overall marketing strategy a firm’s SEO objectives should always be considered.

What specific services do you offer and how do your customers find it? It is vital that you perform your keyword research before jumping into an SEO campaign, ensure that the relevant search volume is there for the keyword phrases that you will be targeting and optimise your website accordingly.

A balancing act Once you know the keywords your audience are searching for, you can build a strategy. In many ways SEO is a balancing act between appeasing the search engines and appealing to your customers. Ensure that your site is structured in a manner that makes it easy to crawl by Google’s spiders by appropriately using titles and header tags. Most importantly, remember that your website is made for people, not Google. With updates such as Hummingbird, Google’s understanding of the English language has greatly improved. This means that you do not need to spam your content with keywords, keep them in mind, but writing

good content means that they should appear naturally.

Once your onsite SEO is in order you can start adding authority to your site. Google historically judged authority based upon the number of links pointing towards your website and would adjust the SERPs accordingly. As a result, unscrupulous SEO practitioners constructed websites whose sole purpose was to host hundreds of links; Google subsequently released numerous updates to stop unnatural link building attempts. Now the focus is on quality rather than quantity. When performing your outreach, only target quality sites, provide good value content and constantly review your backlink profile, habitually removing or disavowing any links that are holding you back.

A combination of the rise of mobile devices and Google’s Pigeon update means that local SEO is becoming more accurate and increasingly more important, especially if your customer base is local. When optimising your site for local, ensure that the design is responsive, set up a Google My Business page and do your upmost to ensure that your name, address and phone number is consistent throughout your directory listings.

This will help Google recognise your business and feature it in local results.

Natural Links When planning a wider marketing campaign, be aware that it has the potential to benefit your SEO. By increasing engagement with consumers, you are more likely to build a natural links and grow your domain’s authority.

When you execute online campaigns it is

important to remove any obstacles to a conversion. Don’t point people towards your homepage by default. Sending people to an appropriate landing page can not only increase your conversation rate but your rankings. Google uses user experience as a ranking factor so an easy to navigate website is more likely to feature well in the SERPs. As with any marketing strategy, the ability to measure a campaign’s success is vital to calculate and improve your ROI. By utilising tools such as Google Analytics you are able to track the increase of organic traffic. By setting up goals and event tracking you can identify your most effective web pages and concentrate your efforts to ensure that they receive more traffic.

Now that your website is optimised and is appearing well in the SERPs the next step is staying there. There are two main reasons not to rest on your laurels. Google updates their search algorithm frequently, refining what they consider to be best practice and causing fluctuations in the SERPs. The other reason is simple; it’s highly likely that your competitors are executing their own SEO strategies and are trying to occupy the top spots of the results pages. You have to continually build and improve your onsite and offsite profiles to stay ahead of the competition.

Our biggest advice for SEO though is to be patient. There are no quick fixes anymore and any shortcuts that you take are likely to backfire and have a detrimental effect on your rankings and traffic.

David Haslam is Head of Account Management at Smart Traffic Ltd.

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The Features

55

Putting the business into law Charles Metherell explores how firms and practitioners can embrace the business of law in 2015.

I

n order to embrace the business of law, there has to be an acceptance of the need to run a law firm like a business and to ensure that in so doing there is real buy in to the need to adapt to the changing requirements of a firm’s clients, their funders, the regulator, their insurers and their members and staff.

1. Clients Asking and listening are key. A common criticism is that practitioners take insufficient time to understand their clients’ business. How can a business sell a service or product if they do not understand their clients’ requirements? How can a business develop their understanding without a carefully planned, implemented and managed client relationship programme?

2. Funders Funders are asking more detailed questions and want to have a deeper understanding of a law firm’s business to protect their security and make their own decisions about funding requirements. They want to know that the law firm is being well managed from a financial management perspective, like other businesses they fund. A common criticism is that this is often an area of weakness and that greater focus and often support needs to be applied. Firms need to be clear about the financial management information they need to manage the business and to share with the funder.

3. Regulator Gone are the days when risk failed to appear on a law firm’s agenda. It is interesting to compare and contrast

the requirements of the FCA with those of the SRA and to learn how comparable sized businesses in other sectors manage the regulatory obligations imposed upon them.

Unless law firms embrace risk management in its many guises there is the potential for SRA involvement which in itself has a cost and can be high risk in terms of its financial impact on the firm.

4. Insurance PII is one of a law firm’s major overheads. Help is at hand to enable firms to manage their risk exposure, which may ultimately lead to a reduction in premium. A law firm, like any other business can benefit from a regulatory health check from time to time. The savings that could be made and comfort that follows are both invaluable. The knock on effect for the

‘There is considerable risk in allowing HR issues to be insufficiently managed. Law firms are a people business’

business should not be underestimated in terms of the importance placed on it by the other major stakeholders in the law firm business, most notably funders and the regulator.

5. Members and staff Running a law firm, like all business, requires reward and performance issues to be dealt with effectively.

What other business would tolerate underperformance and unacceptable behavioural issues which impact on a firm’s profitability and wellbeing? There is considerable risk in allowing HR issues to be insufficiently managed. Law firms are a people business. The hidden cost of losing fee earners and staff and subsequent recruitment can turn out to be exorbitant and a considerable drain on profitability.

May 2015 be the year in which managers in law firms commit wholeheartedly to running their law firms like businesses.

Charles Metherell, Managing Partner, The Corre Partnership LLP.

ML // February 2015

Our projects to date total an assessment of WIP profile approaching ÂŁ100 million in all areas of legal service, with industry recognised expertise in personal injury due diligence Zoe Holland, Managing Director, Zebra LC

RISK | VALUE | OPPORTUNITY

General Enquiries

0161 635 0213 enquiries@zebralc.co.uk

Zebra LC is a management and technical due diligence consulting firm, committed to innovation in legal services. We are a trusted advisor to law firms and key legal sector stakeholders including banks, funders, investors and insurers.

Confidential Enquiries

Zoe Holland Managing Director zoeholland@zebralc.co.uk

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Our advice and specialist reports are often the starting point for business improvement, funding options, M&A, private equity investment, business risk evaluation and strategic planning.

We are nationally renowned for WIP due diligence and valued for our advisory role within some of the legal sector’s highest profile deals.

IT Crowd

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IT Crowd

ML // February 2015

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IT Crowd

GETTING YOUR IT PROCUREMENT PRIORITIES RIGHT Our resident IT guru Charles Christian writes…

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etter marketing systems, better time recording software or better matter management applications? Of course, law firms and other legal service providers need all three sets of technology but given a limited budget to spend on IT, which should take the priority?

For some organisations, this will be a no-brainer because, for example, they have no modern marketing system or else have an elderly time recording application that is falling to pieces and can no longer deliver the goods. However, for those firms who are not in a fire-sale, must-have situation, getting your procurement priorities right, when faced with a range of “nice-to-have” IT options, is more problematic.

However one approach is to stand the question on its head and look at what the ultimate objective is behind any IT purchase. We are going back to basics here but IT is not a solution in its own right, it is a tool to help the law firm achieve its broader business objectives. So, to take the example of marketing software, it doesn’t exist in a vacuum but in the context of a firm’s business development strategy – and that is going to include: which areas of legal practice are the most profitable, where does the firm have expertise, which areas of practice does it want or need to expand, as well as would it have the resources to cope with any major expansion.

A triple whammy…

In other words: it all depends upon information. The more information a firm’s management has at its disposal, the better equipped a firm is to take informed decisions – whereas unfortunately far too many firms limp by on hopes and wishful thinking.

Take time recording. Back in the days when the billable hour and time-based billing was the only way law firms operated, then having a better time recording system (that ensured you never overlooked any chargeable activities) was a great asset. More recently, with the advent of fixed fees for legal work (particularly volume case management work) and other forms of ABAs (alternative billing arrangements) you could be forgiven for thinking that the humble timesheet (whether paper or digital) was going the same way as sending little boys up chimneys to sweep out soot.

Far from it in fact the need for accurate time and activity data is probably now more important than ever before.

ML // February 2015

I did a series of video interviews on this topic late last year and the consensus was that most law firms are currently being hit by a triple-whammy when it comes to time recording. There is the time that for one reason never gets captured in the first place. (Which, incidentally, is why the latest systems offer “passive” time recording that can highlight gaps in the timesheet and suggest what activities were taking place. For example, you sent 27 emails relating to Matter X this week, should they be billed?)

‘It really does all come down to information, and the holistic approach to these types of IT procurement issues therefore needs to be: where are the blackholes in our information?’

Identifying the problems Secondly, there is the time the partner in charge of a matter inevitably writes-off before the bill is sent out – usually on the less-than-scientific basis that it’s probably more than the client will wear. And, finally, there is the amount that gets knocked off the bill when it, also equally inevitably, is challenged by the client.

And here is the issue that unless a firm knows how much time was “really” spent on a matter (as distinct from paid for) it has no clear handle on how profitable that matter really was. And, if you don’t know how profitable your matters are, how can you plan a marketing campaign, as the last thing you want to be doing is generating more lossmaking new business. Which, incidentally, is what killed off a lot of cut-price conveyancing firms in the 1990s. Whether you are handling commercial work or bidding for fixedcontract volume work, if you can’t grasp the profit and loss position your firm is in trouble.

This issue also permeates through to things like matter management. How can you improve the legal business process, if you can’t identify the problems with the existing process such as, for example, having expensive lawyers carrying out routine administrative tasks that could be delegated to more junior staff?

It really does all come down to information, and the holistic approach to these types of IT procurement issues therefore needs to be: where are the blackholes in our information?

What data do we need, that we currently lack, to help us run the practice in an informed way? And which new IT systems can help us address these issues?

Charles Christian is IT Crowd Consultant Editor and Editorin-Chief of the Legal IT Insider.

IT Crowd

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Marketing and management: like pulling teeth?

Document management options beyond the filing cabinet.

Better marketing, better time recording or better matter management? Of course legal service providers need all three but given a limited budget, which should take the priority?

Do law firms really need specialist document management systems, or can they satisfy their needs with the functionality included in modern case and practice management systems?

A

s the question indicates, law firms should be on top of all three of these very important areas so suggesting that one of them is more important than the other two, is like saying you should have all your teeth extracted as it will prevent tooth ache in the future.

Limited budgets may be the deciding factor on which area is deemed to be the most important from a value to the firm point of view. However, what if it is possible, on a limited budget, to have all three of these areas managed by the same system? Modern technology has now reached a point where it can make a dramatic difference in how firms go about managing these critical areas of their business and the cost can be the same for developing a solution for all three KPIs as opposed to just one.

The issues above are the same for any law firm, no matter what transaction systems it is using to capture its data. It is how the analysis of the data is presented to the firm from the most senior level down to individual fee earners in any department - that a big difference can be made.

Having a set of template dashboards that sit on top of any data source will give anyone within the firm the ability to analyse their data and make decisions that improve how the firm is managed.

At Informance, we have examples of law firms using QlikView to manage all of their KPI’s without adding to the firm’s cost base, particularly as we can prove a rapid ROI on any investment in new technology. In all cases, just having time recorded on a daily basis by all fee earners and having this linked to their performance review at the end of the year is a good way to change behaviour. This in turn can lead to other business process changes that further increase the firm’s ability to improve profitability, as the increased level of time being recorded in a timeous manner can lead to a dramatic improvement in the management of WIP. Barry Talbot, Managing Director, Informance Limited.

A

good document management system allows you to search by keyword, type of document, client name, and other criteria.

You can keep track of things like different versions, who made which changes, and other activities around document creation and modification. If you’ve got a good one, you’d understand the utter pointlessness of owning a filing cabinet (or many filing cabinets)—and the joy of finding and accessing all your documents with ease.

But the thing is, having one program for document management, another for billing, and another for scheduling tasks may make things confusing and difficult to keep track of.

What if one program could do it all?

Well, it can. Just look at today’s bevy of multifunctional legal practice management (LPM) solutions. If you’re looking specifically at document management, many of these software options have comprehensive features that let you manage multiple case documents at the same time quite easily through your Internet browser. What’s even better is that they often offer a significant amount (or unlimited) storage space for your files.

If you already use services like Box and Dropbox to keep track of files for your practice, it would be useful for your LPM platform to integrate with these. (Some do.) Imagine having all the documents related to a case, including photos and videos, at your fingertips and available for your perusal whenever, wherever. With the right case or practice management system, this is already a reality for many law firms.

By exploring the sophisticated functions that many of these LPM solutions offer, it’s possible to minimize your firm’s expenses by centralising all your technological needs in one piece of software. All it takes is a little time and work to compare your options. If you’re looking at a specialist document management system, try this instead: make a checklist of tasks that you’d like to see from your document management system, and see which practice management systems already have these capabilities. You might just be surprised.

Derek Fitzpatrick is Business Development Manager & EMEA Account Executive at Clio, a cloud-based practice management solution for lawyers.

ML // February 2015

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IT Crowd

Negotiating the minefield What would your advice be to law firms looking for a starting point to review and upgrade their data security?

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ata security can be a minefield and many firms now employ specialists to ensure they are compliant and their data is safe. Data breaches could cost your firm dearly. For example: • Your reputation could be damaged if client data was leaked.

• Loss of your data could prevent the effective running of your firm.

• Failing to comply with data protection rules could result in legal action and a fine for your firm.

Last year there were a string of data breaches reported to the ICO by law firms and barristers chambers. This prompted the ICO to publish recommendations to law firms to help them keep the personal information they handle secure: • Keep paper records secure. Do not leave files in your car overnight and do lock information away when it is not in use.

• Consider data minimization techniques in order to ensure that you are only carrying information that is essential to the task in hand.

• Where possible, store personal information on an encrypted memory stick or portable device. If the information is properly encrypted it will be virtually impossible to access it, even if the device is lost or stolen.

• When sending personal information by email consider whether the information needs to be encrypted or password protected. Avoid the pitfalls of auto-complete by double checking to make sure the email address you are sending the information to is correct.

• Only keep information for as long as is necessary. You must delete or dispose of information securely if you no longer need it.

• If you are disposing of an old computer, or other device, make sure all of the information held on the device is permanently deleted before disposal.

It is crucial that firms know what data they hold and where so that they can plan effective defense strategies. The introduction of the COLP has helped in the sense that now there is a clear line of responsibility for these issues, but firms we have spoken to have expressed concern that they do not have enough guidance and the correct systems and procedures in place to support their responsibilities.

Redbrick Practice Management assists clients in securely storing their data complete with audit trails and automatic backups. We are also the only case management provider to have achieved the Legal Eye Quality Standard, demonstrating how seriously we take compliance and best practice!

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End-of-life should not be a way of life!

There have been more reports in recent weeks of legal IT vendors upsetting their law firm customers by endof-lifing their products. Of course no software product can be expected to last forever but what safeguards and assurances should prospective buyers be seeking from short-listed suppliers?

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uyers should be asking a very blunt question of shortlisted suppliers. Namely, “Have you ever ended support for any of your products, or forced clients to change to a new product?”

With systems as business-critical as practice and case management software, being told by your supplier that you must (with no choice in the matter!) change your system with them is a big issue. The software you are considering should have a track record of being continually updated and upgraded from its core, rather than being re-launched every so often as a ‘new product’ which you must move to.

That way, you enjoy the best ownership experience in that you are using a continually enhanced and improved system without having to relearn a different one when it’s time to take on board new features. New features should be added in to the system you use with no disruption to you - your experience therefore should remain familiar and convenient.

It is wrong to assume that your firm should resign itself to a reality where product step changes and end-oflife announcements are expected. That should not be the case if the developer of your system has created an environment where the core solution is continually enhanced - rather than binned and re-released!

It is rare for legal software providers to embrace this ‘continual enhancement’ way of managing software development (Eclipse of course does embrace this development ethos with our Proclaim solution).

So law firms must not be fooled or guided into a belief where end-of-lifing a software solution is an inevitable aspect of your investment. It is not. Your time is better spent on utilising your systems in the very best way possible - not on wasting resources on purchasing and relearning new products from vendors for whom end-oflife is a way of life.

www.redbricksolutions.co.uk 0845 166 2629 Jo Hodges, Head of Sales and Marketing, Redbrick Solutions.

Darren Gower, Marketing Director, Eclipse Legal Systems, part of Capita plc.

ML // February 2015

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5 minutes with...

5 minutes with... Professor Richard Moorhead

Q

Did you expect the legal services sector to change so drastically when you started working in it?

Q A

Who inspires you and why?

Of lawyers, Lord Mackay who tried Clementi’s ideas before Clementi and withstood risible arguments and Has it change drastically? rudeness with a humour and good grace I could never emulate. Of practising lawyers, Martyn Day (Leigh Day) is I don’t think so. The both idealistic, and the most authentic lawyer I know. changes we talk about now were gently beginning to occur, but the more Have you had a mentor? If so, what was the most fundamental changes are valuable piece of advice they gave you? yet to come. It’s not just technology, or competition, Yes. The best mentors ask you questions you should have but multi-disciplinarity, which asked yourself rather than advise but my favoured advice will bring profound change. is usually: “keep going” or “maybe tone it down a bit, Rich”?

A

Q A

Q A

What has been the key positive or negative impact of the liberalisation of legal services?

Liberalisation challenges professional complacency but cannot, on its own, do much to solve the access to justice problems, though the regulators cling to that hope. Innovation needs public spirited investment and entrepreneurialism.

Q A

If you were not in your current position, what would you be doing?

I’d be leading the research and development arm of the first legal equivalent of a university teaching hospital, part time, from a virtual office on the Cornwall coast, with the smell of baking bread wafting in from next door.

Richard Moorhead is Professor of Law and Professional Ethics and Director of the Centre for Ethics and Law at UCL.

Mullis & Peake LLP implements Proclaim Eclipse’s Proclaim Practice Management solution selected in 6-figure deal

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eading Essex law firm, Mullis & Peake LLP, has implemented the Proclaim Practice Management Software Solution from Eclipse Legal Systems.

Established in Romford, Essex, over 100 years ago Mullis & Peake LLP has grown into one of the area’s largest and most respected law firms Darren Gower employing over 50 staff.

Providing a full range of legal services to both private and corporate clients, the firm boasts an enviable reputation for high quality legal advice at cost effective rates. To further strengthen this position, Mullis & Peake LLP is implementing the Proclaim Practice Management Solution firm wide for all users.

The Proclaim Solution will be utilised across all work areas including Commercial, Property, Elderly Client, Family, Court of Protection and Employment. The Personal Injury

ML // February 2015

team will adopt Proclaim’s direct integration with the RTA (Road Traffic Accident) Portal.

As an integral part of the core Proclaim solution, Mullis & Peake LLP will also be taking the Proclaim New Business Enquiries and Compliance toolsets to provide seamless marketing, file opening, and ongoing adherence to SRA regulations. Prior to implementation of the Proclaim Credit Control Centre, Eclipse will conduct a data conversion from the firm’s incumbent financial management system.

Mullis & Peake LLP is also to benefit from seamless digital dictation functionality courtesy of Proclaim’s Big Hand integration tool.

Nick Sims, IT Manager at Mullis & Peake LLP, comments: “With the legal services sector becoming increasingly competitive, it is essential for us to stay ahead of the game and cement our proud reputation for superb client service by investing in technology. Proclaim, with its array of integrated client-centric toolsets, is the perfect platform for us to achieve this.”

For further information, please contact Darren Gower, Marketing Director at Eclipse Legal Systems, via; darren.gower@eclipselegal. co.uk or call 01274 704100.

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From new start-ups to industry heavyweights, Proclaim is the system of choice for forward-thinking law firms.

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