Modern Law Magazine - Issue 8

The Business of Law

September 2013 | Issue 08 | ISSN 2050-5744 Martin Griffiths asks the level of interest by the sector in law firm M&A is matched by an ability to create and manage a merger process Lucy Scott-Moncrieff talks about the need for lawyers to embrace opportunities in the sector and to infuse a culture of equality for women and minorities in all firms.

Alex Mills, Apprentice ‘contestant’ and now Dynamo Legal owner tells Modern Law how he intends to disrupt the market.

Modern Law Magazine | September 2013 | Issue 08

“Law firms are going to have to be able to provide their legal services in a way which is slicker, faster...which gives clients exactly what they want, when they want it, at the speed they want it” Simon Gibson, SGI Legal

Nick Fluck

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Introduction

03

Welcome I

this issue and I urge you to read it thoroughly.

n the last issue of Modern Law I asked if Lord Sugar would take an ABS business plan as an idea on his TV series, The Apprentice. Lord Sugar didn’t put contestant Alex Mills into the final but that didn’t stop Mills from launching Dynamo Legal, a self-titled ‘superbrand’ for consumers and a marketing tool for lawyers.

In a week where the Legal Services Board has posed the idea of a single legal services regulator (page 17), and called for an end to the spat between The Law Society and the SRA, we have also spoken to Nick Fluck, President of The Law Society (page 10) and the Immediate Past-President, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (page 54) about the responsibilities and focus of the organisation for its members in the radically changed legal sector. Both inform members that there is plenty of support and advice for members should they ask for it at The Law Society through its growing law firm management section.

His interview with Modern Law (page 58) included some mixed messages, namely that Mills sees ‘branding’ and ‘reputation’ as two separate matters. He believes Dynamo Legal is different because it has ‘consumer marketing experts on board... this is what drives the business; the main cause for us entering the market is because we are experts in marketing’. In my humble opinion, marketing is also branding. Yet branding is more than a logo; it’s about the culture, deliverability and reputation of a business – the customer experience and the ability for customers to equate a particular service and level of service with a brand.

As I write this, I am just about to head to the Modern Law Awards 20131 to be held at The Dorchester hotel, London.

The shortlist of finalists is a daunting one for judges to meander but I am assured that the winners have been chosen and we’re set to celebrate some of the most innovative and change-embracing lawyers and non-lawyers the industry has seen in recent years. For those readers who couldn’t make the event, please visit the website for the full list of winners and our judges (who we would like to thank for all their support) and full coverage will feature in the next issue of Modern Law!

Dynamo Legal is one of many (despite the variances) trying to disrupt the legal services market by offering customer / marketing experience and skills to law firms. But, as some of our columnists attest, there is a need to relate what firms see as their brand experience to the real experience of customers. Customer feedback and interaction with new and existing customers is an essential task, which so many firms are getting right but still many more are failing to action or put the data collected to good use. We have some fantastic advice and feedback from all of our columnists in

Modern Law Magazine Project Director Kate McKittrick

Chief Editor Emma Waddingham

Accounts Director Karl Mason

Group Editor Charlotte Parkinson

As ever, if you have any feedback, opinion or ideas for Modern Law, please contact me via email, at: emma.waddingham@charltongrant.co.uk

Emma Waddingham, Chief Editor 1. www.modernlawawards.co.uk

Issue 08 – September 2013 | ISSN 2050-5744 Head of Events Julia Todd

Advertising/Head of Sales Rachael Pearson Production Lindsey Thomson-Heley

Modern Law Magazine is published

by Charlton Grant Ltd ©2013.

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 // September 2013

04

Contents

07

CONTENTS 03-09 Intro & THE News 07 Martin Griffiths talks news

10-11 The INTERVIEWS

20 Economic improvement & the

zombie firm

Steve Arundale, RBS & Natwest

21 The veil of ‘innovation’

Charles Christian, The Orange Rag

10 Interview with...

21 Putting strategy back in

Nick Fluck, The Law Society

Charlotte Parkinson speaks to the newly inaugurated President of the Law Society; Nick Fluck, to find out his vision for The Law Society and how it is maintaining a proactive approach in a difficult climate.

pole position

17

Charles Metherell, The Corre Partnership LLP

23 Lacking direction?

Nicol Garwood, Out There Marketing

23 Putting the customer first

13-37 The views

Tony Brown, Pellys RJP Solicitors

15 If you’re in hot water, admit it!

25 Refining client care at the Bar

17 A blueprint for reform

25 Servicing new needs

19 Feedback is priceless

Mike Haley, SRA

Legal Services Board

David Bott, Bott & Co

proven systems

Tony Klejnow, Linetime

20 Customer satisfaction

Jo Hodges, Redbrick Solutions

Catherine Bailey, Bar Marketing Jeff Dawson, Elite Insurance Company Ltd

23

27 Stifling risk

19 On the hunt for

Matthew Williams, AmTrust Financial Services

27 Mutual partnership

Jonathan Gulliford, Thomson Reuters

28 The career route of choice

Noel Inge, CILEx Law School

Editorial Columnists Alan Nesbit Managing Partner Nesbit Law Group Allan Carton Managing Director Inpractice Antony Smith Director Legal Project Management Barry Talbot Managing Director Informance Limited Catherine Bailey Managing Director Bar Marketing Charles Christian Editor in chief The Orange Rag Charles Metherell Managing Partner The Corre Partnership LLP (On behalf of Prime Professions Ltd)

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Colin Taylor Director and Head of Risk Management Services Prime Risk Solutions David Bott Managing Partner Bott & Co Dez Derry CEO mmadigital Dolores Evelyn Sales Director Eclipse Legal Systems Eddie Goldsmith Partner Goldsmith Williams Guy Hewetson Partner Hewetson Shah Jeff Dawson Director of Sales Elite Insurance

Jitendra Valera Chief Marketing Officer Advanced Legal

Nick Hodges Group Marketing Director Oyezstraker

Jo Hodges Managing Director Redbrick Solutions

Nicol Garwood Founder Out There Marketing

Jonathan Gulliford Consultant Thomson Reuters

Noel Inge Managing Director ILEX Tutorial College

Lisa Beale Head Checkaprofessional.com

Paul Wilkinson Managing Director Lawclient Ltd

Martin Griffiths Consultant Jepson Holt Consulting

Robin Marcus Associate Legal Eye Ltd

Matthew Williams Head of AmTrust Law AmTrust Financial Services

Sajid Hussain Managing Director Outspire Group

Mike Haley Director of Supervision Solicitors Regulation Authority

Simon Goldhill Principal Simon Goldhill Consulting

Steven Arundale Head of Professionals Sectors, Commercial Banking RBS & Natwest Sue Nash Founder Omnia Legal Software Ltd Tim Springham CEO Tikit Tony Brown Chief Executive Pellys RJP Solicitors Tony Klejnow Managing Director Linetime Trevor Gilbert Chairman and CEO TRG Group (Trevor Gilbert & Associates)

Contents

28 If only the public knew...

Eddie Goldsmith, Goldsmith Williams Solicitors

49 Proving ability, building trust

31 M&A: consolidating data

Barry Talbot, Informance

31 Ahead of the curve

Dez Derry, mmadigital

32 ABS: phase two

Dolores Evelyn, Eclipse Legal Systems Jitendra Valera, Advanced Legal

33 An uphill struggle

Simon Goldhill, Simon Goldhill Consulting

35 Hooked on bad marketing?

Tim Springham, Tikit

36 Advocating apprenticeships

Allan Carton, Inpractice UK Robin Marcus, Legal Eye

37 Get your research right!

Nick Hodges, Oyez Professional Services Limited

41 Apprenticeships revisited

The costly route into law and the need for wider skills in new legal entities has led to a revisit of the apprenticeship scheme – this time for the legal services sector in England and Wales. It’s gaining in authority and popularity by senior lawyers and employees, as Modern Law finds out.

45 Trust me, I’m an expert

All businesses need to adapt and thrive. The wealth of technological innovation offers fantastic solutions if utilised properly, to combat other, more horizontal pressures such as legislative reform, as Trevor Gilbert reports.

47 A strange new world

Charlotte Parkinson speaks to three leading providers of marketing solutions for law firms; Conscious Solutions, Jellyfish Creative and mmadigital, to gauge their views on how and why law firms should be adopting marketing as a key concept in the new legal market.

Moncrieff, The Law Society

54

Emma Waddingham speaks to the Director of Scomo about her immediate –past presidency of The Law Society, the momentous change to the legal sector that occurred during her incumbency and her continued role addressing equality and diversity issues in legal practice.

56 Interview with...Simon Gibson,

39-51 The Features

The legal profession has been slow to accept the ‘new normal’ in the workplace – especially the use of personal devices to help employees access, share and manage workflow anytime, anyplace.

Sajid Hussain explains why lawyers can now be confident their systems and data are protected if used on personal devices and stored in the Cloud.

54 Interview with...Lucy Scott-

36 What do your clients expect of you?

If there were to be a return to selfregulation, gaining the trust of prospective clients and reaching them on a platform they understand would have to be top of the marketing agenda, as Lisa Beale explains.

53-62 BUSiNESS MANAGEMENT

Ian Hunter, Jellyfish

35 A trigger for change

49

51 The new normal

33 The path to change

05

SGI Legal

Charlotte Parkinson speaks to Simon Gibson, Managing Partner of the newlylaunched ABS, SGI Legal, about its plans for growth and his views on the evolving world of personal injury.

58 Interview with...Alex Mills,

Dynamo Legal

Charlotte Parkinson speaks to the former Apprentice candidate about his plans for the newly developed legal brand, Dynamo Legal and finds out what sets the brand apart from the rest.

58

61 An agile approach

Modern Law, speaks to Dolores Evelyn, Eclipse Legal Systems about how an agile approach to running a law firm, whether a niche firm or a full service entity, is fast becoming the solution to the challenges presented in the modern legal arena.

62 Implementation, training & skills

Anthony Smith, Legal Project Management

62 Creating a superb client experience

A timely high-street firm case study from Eclipse Legal Systems

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Martin talks news

07

Martin Griffiths TALKS News Look across all the legal sector newswires over recent weeks you’ll see at least one item in the top five headlines announcing a merger or suspected acquisition. The recent ‘will they, won’t they merge’ news surrounding Pannone and Slater & Gordon, is just one example. As the market evolves, the interest in merger opportunities for law firms is only increasing but is the interest real and are firms equipped to manage the reality of the merger process? Martin Griffiths reports.

H

ardly a month goes by without news of either another law firm merger or of a merger discussion between two firms that’s being embarked upon or abandoned.

In fact, merger activity is making a significant contribution to the growth in revenue of the UK Top 100 law firms.

According to a recent report from Deloitte, the accountancy and advisory firm, those firms saw a double digit increase in fee income in the three months (to the end of July); the first time in five years, with half of the increase being contributed to by mergers.

But in reality, has the legal services ‘big bang’ yet resulted in the widely predicted consolidation of the sector? Have law firm mergers been as prolific as expected? Over 70% of firms are believed to have engaged in merger discussions of one sort or another,1 yet fewer than 20% of firms have undertaken a merger or acquisition in the last 12 months.2

Catalysts There are a number of factors driving firms to review their businesses and leading them to consider changing their shape and size. These factors include: • competition from new entrants into the legal market; • consolidation: some sectors are becoming dominated by big players leaving smaller firms at risk of being squeezed out of the market; • finance: the availability of finance from banks has become tighter and with low interest rates law firms no longer have an income stream from account balances; • professional indemnity insurance - smaller firms are finding that their options for obtaining cover are reducing each year; • succession: many smaller firms have no succession plan to enable the equity partners to retire and often find that more junior partners do not wish to become owners; • the economy: the recession has undermined the business of many firms, particularly, until this year, those relying on residential property work. Commercial firms are only able to achieve growth by expanding in international markets; • regulatory and funding changes: reforms to public funding for criminal and family law risk making these areas of work unviable for private practice firms and regulatory changes are impacting on the business model of personal injury practices, and; • regulatory and compliance regime: managing risk and compliance has become more complex and costly, placing a disproportionately heavy burden on smaller firms.

“The one specific regulatory complexity which crops up time and time again, relates to the successor practice rules which often creates insurmountable difficulties for smaller practices” These factors would be expected to pave the way for increased merger activity, so why is the volume of transactions significantly lower than the volume of discussions?

From the conversation we have with law firms across the country it is clear that merger discussions are at least as prolific as the surveys suggest. The reason that so many go

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stand out Marketing | Publishing | PR | Design | Event Management

T 01765 600909

Martin talks news off the rails is that they either should not have started in the first place or have not been dealt with in the right way.

Unclear motivation A common failing is to start on a discussion without having a clear objective and strategy - after all merger is not a strategy in its own right, it’s just a way of executing a strategy.

A firm may lack attributes in its business and be looking to add new skills by merging. Alternatively, it may just need to be much bigger to compete in a market. It may see an opportunity to achieve economies in back office and compliance cost by merging or, the firm may even need rescuing. Any one of these reasons is valid but too many firms fail to undertake this elementary groundwork before starting discussions.

Doing it for the wrong reasons A small firm in a consolidating market might need to merge in order to survive. It may be their only option but a larger firm will (simply because it has greater resources) have more options it can consider and have more room for maneuver. It may not need a merger to get where it wants to. Discussions could prove to be too complex, time consuming and ultimately too risky before they fail.

Selling the business can seem an easier option than solving its strategic challenges. A common reason, often given by small firms, is that junior partners don’t wish to become owners.

It is hardly surprising that if they don’t want to own then no one will want to buy the firm. The right thing to do might be to solve the issue for the junior partners rather than having a fruitless merger search.

Unrealistic expectations The days when law firms were thought of as having an asset described as ‘goodwill’ which someone would then buy, are long gone. Too many partners go into a merger discussion expecting to realise a capital value, only to back out when it’s clear that’s not going to happen.

Many owners of law firms still fail to recognise that the drawings they were once used to are no longer sustainable. They are unwilling to accept their post-merger earnings will be lower than before.

Too many initial discussions are doomed due to the high levels of borrowing and under-capitalisation of one or other party.

09

“Few partners have the skills or resources to evaluate and process a successful deal. Without outside facilitation, many discussions drag on and simply run out of steam” Which firm is the right firm to chose?

Many discussions start by chance; one senior partner knows another and begins a chat on the golf course, for example. As a result, little or no thought is given to the basic compatibility of the firms in question.

For example, personalities of all the partners, types of work or the finances of each firm.

Commonly, firms do not spend enough time at the outset seeking to identify the right potential merger firms to talk to. They will frequently only start talking to the firms they know (or think they do). Even in a small market, it’s unlikely that a law firm will know all their competitors or understand all of them. Without proper market research to identify who is out there and who might fit, there is a great risk of wasting time on the wrong approaches.

The wrong process Too often, law firms do not enter a merger discussion in the right way.

After an initial conversation, the firms we observe admit that, without help, they don’t know what to talk about. They don’t have an agenda for discussion or an agreed process to take negotiations forward. There is rarely an agreed decision-making process in one or both firms.

Negotiating a merger is a timeconsuming and costly business. Few partners have the skills or resources to evaluate and process a successful deal. Without outside facilitation, many discussions drag on and simply run out of steam - resulting in a costly waste of time for both firms involved.

Regulators, Investors & Business Models It is well known that ABS licensing got off to a very slow start but while more ABSs are now being approved by the SRA, there is no indication their existence has a specific impact in encouraging, or hindering, law firm mergers.

Similarly, while there have been some high profile investors in the legal services market, their interest so far has only been in certain sectors. ABSs

and investors may be stimulating competition but no more, or less, than that from many innovative law firms.

The one specific regulatory complexity which crops up time and time again, relates to the successor practice rules which often creates insurmountable difficulties for smaller practices.

What can firms do?

Around 40% of firms think there is a good or almost definite chance of a merger. So how can they increase the chances of their discussions being successful?

Our key suggestions are: • have a clear strategy and understand why you want to merge; • engage outside help; • research the market and the potential merger target; • have a clear process, and; • agree who will be responsible for different aspects of the discussion.

Engaging external advisors to help is likely to result in a firm having the right conversations, getting the job done more quickly and containing cost.

Finding the right advisor, understanding what they can do for you (i.e. whether they are simply a broker, can facilitate the discussion, can research the market) – who can do that at a reasonable, proportionate cost - is vital.

A merger is not the right thing to do for every firm but interest in it will not diminish. Having the right discussions, for the right reasons, at the right cost - with hopefully the right outcome - just takes some careful thought and planning.

Martin Griffiths is a Consultant at Jepson Holt Consulting.

The writer is grateful to Phil Jepson, chairman of Jepson Holt, and Viv Williams, CEO of 360 Legal Group, for their assistance in the preparation of this article.

1. Deloitte/Winmark Member Survey 2012 2. http://www.otterburn.co.uk/_assets/ mergersurveyreport.pdf

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Interview

Interview with...Nick Fluck Charlotte Parkinson speaks to the newly inaugurated President of the Law Society; Nick Fluck, to find out his vision for The Law Society and how it is maintaining a proactive approach in a difficult climate.

Q

How would you respond to the comments made by Otto Thoresen, Director-General of the ABI, to The Law Society’s ‘Don’t get mugged’ campaign, where he called it ‘a gross error of judgment’?

A

Rather than consider the ‘Don’t Get Mugged’ campaign a gross error of judgement, we believe it communicated an important ongoing message to consumers. We wanted to make a clear message: see your solicitor, don’t accept the insurers’ first offer and don’t deal with claims management companies. If you pursue your claim with the help of a solicitor, you will get what you are genuinely entitled to.

Q

With legal spend the last thing on the mind of the public and UK business at the moment, are lawyers doing enough to offer affordable, accessible legal services for the new era and what is The Law Society doing to help?

A

Many law firms are restructuring the way they offer legal advice so that clients can instruct them under a limited or partial retainer and therefore pay less. Unbundling, as this process is known, will help clients who cannot afford to instruct a solicitor on the basis of a traditional retainer but need advice on one or a number of aspects of their case. The case remains client-led so the solicitor does not necessarily accept service of documents, send out correspondence in the firm’s name or otherwise communicate with third parties, incur additional case-related costs and go on the court record. In addition to advising solicitors on unbundling, The Law Society has fought to guarantee access to justice through extensive discussions with the Government over legal aid. In April, the government’s proposals were to deny client choice and bulked together huge geographic areas in a way that would

ML // September 2013

have seriously limited access to legal advice. Now, the government’s revised proposals (following lengthy discussions with The Law Society) have choice at the heart of the system, more appropriate criminal justice areas and, crucially, no longer include price competition. ABS and external funding could also have an impact on access to justice. Additional investment can allow firms to expand and deliver services more efficiently and in a more affordable way. Access to justice is served when more clients can afford expert legal advice.

Q

What has been the response of the general public to awareness campaigns so far? Has recent advertising in train stations, etc. helped? Has it increased new traffic to the Find a Solicitor website? Will The Law Society increase its marketing spend on promoting the value of legal services in the next 12 months?

A

This year’s ‘Don’t Get Mugged’ campaign provided over 70 million opportunities to see our hard-hitting advertising, emphasising the value of advice from a solicitor. Last year, our ‘Ask a Solicitor’ campaign appeared online over 25 million times. Our marketing budgets are much more limited than the likes of Coca-Cola or Direct Line, so our adverts need to be eye-catching and memorable. We will continue to run publicity campaigns that help raise the profession’s profile with the public and potential clients.

Q

What do you see as the role of The Law Society moving forward – how modern and current is The Law Society? What about its roles in the regions and Wales?

A

The legal marketplace is changing fast and, as the national representative body, we are well placed to help our members meet both the opportunities and challenges. From successfully

lobbying the Government to change its legal aid proposals; to challenging misconceptions about ABS in foreign jurisdictions and working with city firms to help them protect themselves against cyber attack; we work closely with and represent the interests of all our members across England and Wales. Our ability to stay close to the market is due in no small part to the excellent relations fostered with our members by our regional managers in England and our team in Wales.

Q

Is there any difference in the way in which The Law Society would approach high street and big city firms – following the Jackson reforms and post-LASPO implementation?

A

We represent the whole profession. The Jackson reforms and LASPO have enabled us to engage effectively with both claimant and defendant firms. This means that, as the national representative body

Interview for solicitors, we have been able to effectively represent the interests of all our members. Whether defendant or claimant, we are always seeking to support access to justice in all our work.

Q A

What role do you see the SRA playing in the legal arena moving forward?

Good regulation is good for the profession. It is crucial that high standards are maintained and that those who fail to meet those standards are regulated in an effective but proportionate manner. Yet it’s also important that regulatory structures are not perceived internationally to compromise the independence of the profession. This affects the attractiveness and competitiveness of England and Wales as a centre for legal services.

Currently, much of the SRA’s work attempts a ‘one-size fits all’ approach which leads to significant burdens and bureaucracy for firms. Another key issue is the expensiveness of regulation. We need greater clarity about responsibilities and accountabilities for regulation and oversight.

Q

What are your concerns about regulation in the new era, especially in terms of customer care and ensuring it is easy for people to understand which regulator they need to complain to?

A

The Legal Ombudsman provides a single point for clients to turn to in the rare instances they are not happy with the service they have received. The Legal Ombudsman will inform the relevant regulator of any conduct issues that arise from a complaint, so clients would not normally need to contact a regulator directly. Those regulated by the SRA must highlight this on their website and headed paper. The new system of regulation is client focused and should ensure good outcomes for clients.

Q A

Are you concerned over the regulation of insurer / law firm joint ventures or encouraged by the partnerships?

Firms that have been granted an ABS licence are under the same duties as non-ABS law firms and there is no ethical difference between them. They are also required to have a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, whose role is to ensure that the firm meets its ethical obligations and who

11

“Good regulation is good for the profession. It is crucial that high standards are maintained and that those who fail to meet those standards are regulated in an effective but proportionate manner” is personally answerable to the SRA. Entity-based regulation means that a firm as a whole, including its non-lawyer staff, will be regulated by the SRA. Sanctions on those who fail to adhere to the ethical code or fall short of the regulatory standards are tough.

Q A

What do you hope to see happen / see more of in legal services in terms of business structure / customer care and leadership?

The legal sector in the UK is changing to allow for more innovation, bigger business and greater efficiency. ABS is not the right model for all firms but it allows some to change their business model in a way that brings forth change.

Customer care and good management are also key issues for firms of all sizes. It has been interesting to see, for example, how many of the measures that firms can take to reduce their carbon footprint are also steps toward better practice management – having a better grip on costs, processes and suppliers. Cutting carbon emissions also requires closer communication between firms, employees and clients.

It is no coincidence that the best managed firms often also have the best approach to managing their environmental impact.

Q

How do you intend to accomplish your mandate that you will ‘finish [your] year in office with more people knowing what solicitors really do’?

A

One of the key priorities of my presidential year is to promote solicitors, really drilling home the point that using a qualified legal professional is always worth it. Take for example will writing. It’s crucial that consumers are able to distinguish between those that are unregulated, uninsured and untrained, and our

members’ practices that specialise in this area and offer a quality service.

Our newest accreditation, the Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme, will help make the point that using unregulated will-writers is a risk not worth taking. It will also highlight the breadth of training that enables solicitors to consider the full range of issues that may affect their clients and advise on all options including tax and family law matters.

Q

What role will The Law Society play in the UK’s relationship with Europe going forward?

Are the regions as equally represented in opportunities in Europe as well as London, especially considering the vast majority of ABSs and next generation legal services providers aren’t registered / based in London?

A

UK membership of the EU has brought significant benefits to solicitors, law firms and their clients, most particularly through the ability to trade, provide services and establish across the EU and to seek effective redress to cross-border legal issues. We believe these benefits are worth protecting and for that reason we are closely monitoring and engaging in the debate around the UK’s relationship with the European Union. We are also participating in the Balance of Competences review, in relation to those topics that are of most interest to solicitors such as the internal market, environment, civil justice, criminal justice, taxation, trade and investment, and employment.

The nature of the UK-EU relationship doesn’t only matter to London-based or large firms, as the benefits of cross-border transactions will be felt across the country. The EU also plays an important role in other areas of law, for example, we have significant concerns about the practical impact of the EU criminal justice measure opt-out.

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The views

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13-37

The Views

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Northern Base National Presence Follow us on

Forthcoming Seminars Parklane Plowden is one of the leading Civil and Family Law chambers in the north. We have a broad range of talented practitioners to cater for any case type, from junior barristers up to Queen’s Counsel.

We will be hosting two seminars in two locations, specifically aimed at solicitors practicing in these fields of law who want to remain at the forefront of the latest developments and ideas.

Annual Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Seminar Claims arising from Loss of Life - 6 CPD hours Topics will include:

Venue

Fatal Accidents “a practical approach to some difficult problems"

The Leeds Marriott

Inquests & Important Issues “a view from both side of the bench”, including insider views from a local coroner.

St James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

Living Claimants Facing Death “mesothelioma and other cancer cases”

Price

11th October 2013 8th November 2013

£80 per person

Legal Update “case law update 2013 and a review of the Jackson reforms so far”

9am - 5.30pm 9am - 5.30pm

£336 per table of 6

Group discounts available for three or more delegates.

Email: events@parklaneplowden.co.uk for details.

Family Law Grandstand Seminar A Free Seminar - 2 CPD hours Speakers

Venue

Jo Delahunty QC; a Legal 500 favourite who specialises in the most serious of child law cases, plus guest speaker Craig Flynn, a Registered Intermediary with the Ministry of Justice will talk on the following topics:

The Leeds Marriott

Jo Delahunty QC; Complex cases under the Family Modernisation Programme: how not to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Craig Flynn; The role of the Intermediary in Family Proceedings with deaf families.

4th October 2013 1pm - 4.20pm Starting with a buffet lunch served from 1pm

St James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne 14th November 2013 1pm - 4.20pm Starting with a buffet lunch served from 1pm To book your place, email: events@parklaneplowden.co.uk

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Email: clerks@parklaneplowden.co.uk

Web: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

The views

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If you’re in hot water, admit it!

Many legal firms are facing a perfect storm of testing economic conditions, legislative change and competitive pressure from ABSs. There have been sizable casualties and there will be more. As Mike Haley explains, those who find themselves in financial hot water need to confess or risk serious repercussions for the firm and for individuals who try to hide bad news.

T

he Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) recognised the risk that financial instability posed to our regulatory objectives (and to clients of legal services) in the Risk Outlook, published earlier this year. We set up a Financial Stability Taskforce to respond to the increase in the number of firms that we saw were struggling. Through the Taskforce we have been working closely with a number of firms to ensure partners and members keep the protection of client money and assets at the forefront of their minds, as they work to keep the firm afloat.

Putting clients first Some firms fail to acknowledge they are in serious financial trouble until it is too late. This causes problems for clients, employees and others. Sometimes it means we have to step in and close a firm. However, this is always a last resort - unless we suspect fraud or dishonesty, when we will always act robustly to protect the public. Our first responsibility is to protect clients’ interests. Very often this is best met by the firm, either trading through: a managed sale of parts or a take-over. In some circumstances an orderly wind-down is the best outcome.

Too often we have seen senior staff keep partners and creditors in the dark about the financial situation of the firm. This can have serious repercussions for the firm and potentially for those individuals who hide the bad news.

How does the land lie?

To further build our understanding of the impact of the current economic situation, we contacted over 2,000 practices requesting key financial information. The firms in the survey include those working in areas experiencing particular economic pressures, such as personal injury or legal aid. We also spoke to around 500 ‘high impact’ firms, whose failure would have a significant effect on our regulatory objectives.

We asked for key financial information such as net profit, total borrowings and highest and lowest bank balances for each of the last three months. This allowed us to make an assessment of firms we should prioritise for early engagement.

Over 80% of firms have so far provided the required information and we anticipate that most firms will have provided their data by the end of September. Of the firms that responded, around 50% did not score at all on any of the financial indicators, suggesting no need for engagement. Yet 5% have scores that indicate that they are at high or very high risk of financial failure. The rest of the firms have a range of scores that indicate that we need to monitor their position to a greater or lesser degree.

We are now implementing a plan of intensive engagement with the 5% of firms that have ‘red’ financial indicators, to ensure they manage the risks they face appropriately.

A question of ethics and conduct We have been disappointed (though perhaps unsurprised) to note that financial difficulty has been accompanied by some serious cases of misconduct. These have included: moving client money to office accounts, being ‘economical’ with the truth to lenders and with the regulator; poor controls over financial transactions, and; a lack of contingency planning. Often the firm has got into financial difficulties due to sustained over-drawing. Disciplinary action is likely to be taken against those who have been deliberately reckless with their firm’s financial viability.

Managing your business We are now looking to strengthen Chapter 7 of the Code of Conduct. Chapter 7 concerns Management of your Business and includes Outcomes and Indicative Behaviours in line with Principle 8. This says you must: ‘run your business or carry out your role in the business effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and risk management principles’.

For example, Outcome 7.4 states: ‘you maintain systems and controls for monitoring the financial stability of your firm and risks to money and assets entrusted to you by clients and others, and you take steps to address issues identified’. Indicative Behaviours supporting this Outcome include 7.2 ‘controlling budgets, expenditure and cash flow’ and 7.3 ‘identifying and monitoring...financial risks’.

We aim to make this chapter more detailed, providing more guidance for firms. This includes providing examples of specific events which require self-reporting, such as entering into ‘time-to-pay’ arrangements with HMRC, or borrowing to pay partner drawings.

In essence, this continues the work we did in the spring, when we created a dedicated web page which explains your responsibilities and provides further information to assist you to stay on the right lines: www.sra.org.uk/ solicitors/handbook/code/part3/rule7/resources.page Early warning If you find that your firm is in danger of getting into financial hot water you should contact the SRA, without delay. Our aim is to work with firms to protect the interests of clients. Our recent experiences have equipped us with numerous examples of how better outcomes for firms and clients can be achieved.

Early engagement; it could make all the difference.

Mike Haley, Director of Supervision, SRA

ML // September 2013

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The views

17

A blueprint for reforming legal services regulation The Legal Service Board’s response to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) review of the legal services framework left many in the sector spitting feathers.

T

David Edmonds, Chairman, Legal Services Board

he Legal Services Board’s (LSB) latest attempt to shake up the sector has come in the form of ‘A blueprint for reforming legal services regulation,’ a review of the way in which the 2007 Legal Services Act is working. The report is a response to the MoJ review of the legal services regulatory framework and a submission brought forward by David Edmonds, Chairman of the LSB, prior to his departure in April 2014.

In the report, the LSB argues that a next phase of reform is required to: • secure a liberalised market which offers greater innovation, choice and value and better supports domestic and export growth for legal services and in the wider economy, and; • tackle major risks to both public and consumer interest proportionately.

The LSB makes it clear that greater regulatory independence is a key element in securing better regulation. A return to pure self-regulation by the professions alone is firmly dismissed. Practical experience has convincingly shown it to be a driver of cost and not to work in the public, the consumer or the legal services sector’s best interests.

On publication of the report, Edmonds said: “The last five years have seen an unprecedented period of change, with improvements in regulation helping to foster a range of new businesses. The reforms in the Act have allowed new investment in, and non-lawyer management of legal firms.

Regulators have increasingly started to express requirements in terms of outcomes, which can be met in many ways.

“But success has shown that radical change is needed to simplify regulation further and target it more effectively.

More could have been achieved, faster with a simpler statutory framework and bolder, more market sensitive, more independent and less risk averse regulators.”

Edmonds’ main concern is that renowned non-legal businesses have been prevented from entering the legal market, making it more competitive, due to the complex and over-lapping regulatory process. He believes it is not the Legal Services Act itself that failed, ‘rather the ability of the institutions responsible for regulating the Act that have not carried out the vision of the LSA architects.

Since launching the report in September 2013, Edmonds publically called for an end to the continuing ‘spats’ between the SRA and The Law Society – critical, he believes, to the success of the LSA.

The reports proposal, for a single regulatory body for the legal sector, is one step away from the idea of a unified, single legal profession, with barristers and solicitors all regulated by one body. Regulation would be based on function, rather than traditional titles (for example, willwriting and advocacy, etc, rather than position. This could of course mean all advocates – barristers and solicitoradvocates – are regulated under the same function rather than very different regulatory requirements by different regulatory bodies (as they are now).

Edmonds said: that after the LSA came into force, “all the existing regulators were maintained, reformed and driven through a process of moving forward. The confusion and overlap, and failure to move away from rules-based regulation, is a real drag on the sector, a real deterrent from producing the kind of legal services that society needs”.

At this stage the LSB’s suggestion is merely to work with existing rules and make tweaks that do not require a whole new piece of legislation. Parliamentary timetable is such that the far-reaching reforms are unlikely to be considered for some time.

Amid suggestions that the Government lacked the appetite for reform, in a statement, justice minister, Helen Grant MP, replied: “There is absolutely no doubt over the government’s appetite for this review. We have made clear we want to reduce the burdens on the legal sector, while ensuring appropriate oversight continues, and this call for evidence is an important first stage of that work.

“We have accepted requests from some parties to respond slightly outside the initial deadline, so that they can finalise their comments. We will consider our next steps once we have received those responses.”

A blueprint for real change The LSB report outlines a blueprint for not just incremental, but significant change. Specifically it proposes: • immediate action by the LSB and existing regulators to target regulation at identified risks, rolling back rules where this justification does not exist; • simplification of the legislative framework for legal services significantly over the next two to three years; • rights for consumers of all legal services to access the Legal Ombudsman and new freedoms for the Office for Legal Complaints to develop its services, and; • development of timetabled and costed proposals for a new framework in which a single legal services regulator unrelated to any existing regulator, including the LSB should be the core model to be tested.

ML // September 2013

The views

Q: Putting the customer first: how are firms measuring the effectiveness of their services and value of their people in terms of customer satisfaction. If the data is collected, is it being used to deliver better service offerings?

A:

Bott & Co decided in 2004 to send out customer feedback cards to gauge the satisfaction or even happiness of our clients. Since that date we have nine and a half years of customer feedback data.

We decided that the key question that we would ask was ‘would you recommend Bott & Co to friends and family?’ There are other more subjective questions but the friends and family one is the key one and the most objective.

The response rate is above 40% and the feedback in analysed every six months. I am pleased to write that over 99% of the clients who responded would recommend Bott & Co to friends and family.

So a happy statistic and one that I am more than proud of, but how is the data being used to build/deliver better service offerings?

Firstly it is used to get a sense of whether we are getting better or worse with our clients. So it can be used as a baseline and a general gauge of client satisfaction.

It is also interesting to see if any particular fee earners are gathering non-recommends. Anecdotally an unhappy client tells 20 people how bad you are, whereas a happy one only five, so it is worth routing out any sources of unhappiness. But the analysis does not have to be about external perception as a flurry of non-recommends could be indicative of something far more concerning - such as excessive caseload, stress, problems at home; the list might be infinite.

Another thing to consider is when to ask the question.

Would the answer be the same if the client was not clutching a cheque in his or her hand?

The more you get into it, the more you realise that the data you collect is priceless. Feedback cards are only the start; customer satisfaction surveys where an independent assessor rings up your previous or current clients are invaluable. As (let’s face it), if we can understand what makes our clients happy and not appear to be the same as every other legal service provider then it is the first step to producing a sustainable business.

David Bott, Managing Partner, Bott & Co

19

Q:Are ABS firms using investment to create their own case management or are they working with systems providers to innovate the market?

A:

There will certainly be a small percentage of ABSs that have / will develop their own case management systems much as there have always been a number of traditional law firms taking the same approach.

What is clear from our own dealings with ABSs is they are predominantly looking to work with proven technologies. They do not want systems that promises benefits down the pipeline but, as yet, with no track record. They need to hit the ground running; to do so requires robust, proven platforms.

A key aspect that comes through in discussions with the ABSs is their desire to maximise the benefits existing systems are able to provide. Several of the established legal software providers provide online case tracking, collaboration tools to link fee earners and clients and online payment systems. These technologies cross the divide in communicating and collaborating with clients and prospective clients. This ‘electronic middleman’ being an area many law firms have so far been reluctant to fully embrace. Yet it’s an essential part in the delivery model being implemented by the new ABS entrants.

With ABSs needing to move quickly from planning stages to delivery, they predominantly favour systems already able to service their core needs. They are implementing the systems from established legal IT software providers rather than embarking on their own bespoke systems.

The exciting development is their desire to extend the reach of systems providing yet further interaction with prospective clients. Legal IT vendors historically did little in this area in response to the lack of appetite from their own clients. As ABSs push to develop these areas further, law firms have been stimulated into action in their desire not to be left behind. With this change in demand we are seeing legal IT vendors develop systems such as interactive forms. These forms will allow greater interaction with the clients and push some of the mundane data capture back to the client - reducing costs and allowing legal services to be provided at a lower cost.

The majority of ABSs look to existing, proven systems to service their needs. They have however added a new desire to open these systems to their clients. Non- ABSs competing in the same fields can now also look to their suppliers for the same solutions.

Tony Klejnow, Managing Director, Linetime

ML // September 2013

00 20

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Q: Putting the customer first: how are firms measuring the effectiveness of their services and value of their people in terms of customer satisfaction. How are they utilising technology to build / deliver better service offerings?

A:

Making sure the customer is at the heart of your business is key to the success of any commercial service provider and law firms are no exception. Understanding your customer’s needs and wants and delivering against these in a profitable manner should be a key objective for any firm. But what is the benefit of truly putting the customer first?

Once a firm has agreed to pursue a strategy based around putting the customer first, how does it measure its effectiveness? The balanced scorecard is one tool that can be used. Introduced by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in a Harvard Business Review article, the balanced scorecard proposes that a firm’s vision and strategy be considered from four perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes and innovation and learning. Critically, it recognizes the importance of measuring softer factors such as customer satisfaction, alongside traditional financial factors.

There are many ways in which law firms are employing technology to help improve and monitor customer satisfaction.

Signing up to free online survey software is a great way to develop a customer satisfaction questionnaires and gain insight into just how satisfied your customers are. Ask what you can do to make their experience better, and you may uncover some quick wins that could reap significant benefits.

Google Analytics is a great tool to understand how people are using your website. Used effectively it can tell you where improvements could be made. Have a look at site speeds and take action to improve if things are running slowly, review your bounce rates (bounce is when someone lands on a page and proceeds no further), perhaps pages with the highest bounce rates need to be more engaging?

In addition to online technology, a robust case management tool will bring about significant improvements in customer service. A solution such as Redbrick Practice Management will also record all of your contact details, allowing you to send out marketing materials, such as newsletters, on a regular basis.

Integrate your case management tool with a back office solution such as Redbrick Business Intelligence and you will have access to powerful data allowing you to monitor and improve the performance and service offerings of your firm.

You can measure conversion rates and see how many of your enquiries turn into instructions; analyse what proportion of your business comes from new vs existing customers and identify who are your biggest/most profitable customers, so that you can work to foster and develop relationships with them. You can even measure performance against your predetermined customer care targets.

Jo Hodges, Head of Sales and Marketing, Redbrick Solutions

ML // September 2013

Economic improvement & the zombie firm

A

zombie firm is one that can just about afford to cover its overhead costs - including borrowings - but it hasn’t got enough money to invest in growth, technology, marketing or people. After one of the longest recessions in the modern era there are plenty of legal firms who evidence zombie characteristics right now.

As lawyers return to work following the summer break, they will undoubtedly be encouraged by the improvement in economic conditions and levels of confidence now reported across both retail and commercial sectors. They will be hopeful that this will lead to more instructions and better times moving forward.

Treading water...

But for some firms evidencing zombie characteristics the economic improvement may represent a significant and possibly terminal challenge. This is because for most firms increased work, results in increased lock up and the increased need for cash. Banks may be in a position to assist but many firms are now carrying weak Balance Sheets and debt levels are already significant against capital.

An illustration of the problem would be a firm that has taken on new matters valued at £500,000 and carries an average lock up of 90 days. The additional work would generate a cash requirement of £120,000 before bills are paid.

Don’t get bitten!

So whilst an improved economy is welcome and long overdue it comes with risk and as any Insolvency Practitioner will tell you they are always busier on the exit from recession given the pressures on cash flow associated with over trading. Zombies beware!

Steven Arundale, Head of Professionals Sectors, Commercial Banking, RBS & Natwest

The views

Q: Is the pressure of having to be creative and innovate legal services blindsiding many firms from making changes to the business management side of the firm? Or should service innovation and business management evolution go hand in hand?

A:

I was recently a member of a panel evaluating entries for a national newspaper’s Innovative Lawyers - Legal Industry Pioneers special report. Probably the most striking feature was just how little genuine innovation seems to be taking place. No, let me rephrase that. The most striking feature was the number of law firms and ABS legal service providers who thought they were innovative, when in fact they’d merely reinvented a wheel that had been in use for years.

What seems to really blindside many firms is that in their obsession with trying to be innovative - they overlook the bigger business picture. Why are you being innovative? Is it a) just for the hell of it? Or b) because the managing partner has an enormous ego and wants to win an award? Or c) because you want your firm to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging commercial environment?

The correct answer is of course ‘c’ and clearly providing better, novel or more attractive legal services is one way to achieve this (that is assuming you have done your homework properly - most firms don’t.

There really is a demand for such innovation - all too often there isn’t) but not if the overheads involved are going to make it an unprofitable venture. If you don’t also change the business processes involved in delivering that innovative new service, then the venture is going to prove an expensive burden on the firm.

However this is only part of the story. You can also achieve option ‘c’ by delivering the same legal services to clients but by providing them cheaper, faster and/ or in greater volume than was previously possible.

This is how the big legal aid firms continue to remain profitable. This is also how the volume personal claims, road traffic accident and debt recovery practices make their money. There is very little innovation on the legal service side but a huge transformation on the underlying business processes and the way those services are delivered. This is by the use automation, outsourcing, delegation and a general willingness to accept that just because something has ‘always been done that way’ in the past, it doesn’t mean there may not be a better way to do it in the future.

21

Putting strategy back in pole position

I

n my role as a turnaround consultant for law firms, it never ceases to amaze me how often the ability of a firm to discuss its strategy disregards the all-important issue of implementation.

Unless a firm can deal with the blockers; all the discussion, innovation and creative thinking will be wasted. Client relationship management is a classic example. For those firms struggling with compliance and financial performance / stability issues, there is little time to devote to a review of strategy.

The temptation and for that matter, reality is to revert to type, concentrating on what has worked in the past and disregarding the need to concentrate on how the delivery of legal service has evolved. How, for instance, Generations Y and Z will procure legal service in the future and how the firm will need to adapt.

The need to focus on this issue, define how the firm’s strategy should evolve and action the steps that will be required to do so, is exacerbated by the need for the management of the firm to move at the same pace. A whole generation of managers – whether named CEO / Managing Partner, Head of Department, IT, Finance or Marketing Director - need to move their thinking and modus operandi in tandem with the changes ahead.

It is perfectly understandable that these changes are often very difficult for the owners of the business to take on board, let alone implement. I see a number of firms who are in desperate need of overhauling their governance in its broadest sense: of needing to freshen the board; change heads of department; look at some external support to ensure that the great ideas and innovation can be actioned and not blocked by those who (for whatever reason) cannot accept that evolution is essential.

Without it there can be only one result. Corre has just launched a new programme, Corre Stability, to help law firms address financial and regulatory issues as well as growth strategy. Details can be found at www. thecorrepartnership.com.

Charles Metherell, Managing Partner, The Corre Partnership LLP - part of the Willis Group (on behalf of Prime Professions Ltd)

Charles Christian, Editor-in-Chief, The Orange Rag

ML // September 2013

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The views

Q: Are you surprised by the number of firms that fail to admit to the fact they are unaware of their overarching company business plan or financial performance? What does this say about the sector?

A:

It comes as no surprise but in my experience, the way leading companies have engaged their finance and business planning functions seems to be the basis for their companies’ success. Failure to address these functions in any business including a law firm - might place their competitive position at risk.

I remember the days of yesteryear, when as a young (okay, younger than I am now) and highly ambitious junior manager of a multi-billion euro company, I was instructed to discuss my division’s performance at the quarterly general meeting. My division surpassed its targets and therefore I sat down after my presentation feeling unreservedly smug.

“Wind your neck in Nicol. The figures are better, but there are no grounds for complacency.”

It got worse.

“How are client development strategies developed?

Are there plans for each key customer? How are account managers incentivised to develop these key customer relationships? How is intelligence shared?

How are new opportunities identified and converted?

How does your business unit share cross-selling targets with other units? How about setting more aggressive growth targets? How about category profit and loss targets....?”

‘How about you retire now?’ I thought, along with a growing sense of indignation at the questioning (forgive me I was young!).

Now anyone reading this may think to themselves; ‘Well this story doesn’t apply to my firm because we specialise in litigation...or we run a small practice...or... we don’t have the software capability.’ Be that as it may, this list of questions can be applied to any firm, in any speciality and in any circumstance. This includes firms that feel they are still suffering from a recessionary fallout. In fact, that’s one of the pressing and most urgent needs; to get better about business and financial performance plans because if anything, it’s more difficult and more costly to attract a new client.

You’ve therefore got to be a lot better at maximising the value of the glut of information you hold or your profits will diminish. Therefore, these questions are not only universally applicable they are necessary. There’s no leverage in the 101 reasons why; ‘this story doesn’t apply to me’ and, ‘why I can’t use it’. The real leverage is in thinking; ‘How can I apply this to my firm?’ That’s the high level work. That’s what widens the ‘cavernous’ gap. That’s what attracts outside investment...

23

Q: Putting the customer first: how are firms measuring the effectiveness of their services and value of their people in terms of customer satisfaction? If the data is collected, is it being used to build / deliver better service offerings?

A:

We love it when clients tell us they love us, in fact most client satisfaction surveys or whatever is used to measure service is more often than not a huge love-in! Why? Because feedback is invariably controlled to specific questions set by the provider after the event, which almost guarantee’s a high satisfaction rating or score.

In essence tell us what we want to hear.

We love client testimonials and are quick to celebrate them but experience shows that follow up of any client comment or criticism is practically non-existent, even the great feedback. Follow up of negative feedback is avoided at all costs, perhaps not wanting to accept the client might actually be right.

A sweeping generalisation I know, but not far off the truth if we were all being brutally honest.

How many times would a client get a phone call from a senior person in the firm to thank them for taking the time to provide feedback and ask, ‘what did we do well’ and ‘what could we do differently?’.

Taking this a step further, how many firms encourage feedback or measure service levels from potential new clients who contact the firm, yet don’t instruct because the ‘point of sale’ experience was dreadful?

Find out and have your firm mystery shopped, it will be an eye opener I guarantee it!

Client feedback is the single biggest promotional advantage you have if you are open to honest, direct feedback and act on it. It will provide real time information on the capability of staff and systems and potentially save a small fortune in unnecessary advertising.

A satisfied client will be an advocate; s/he will recommend and promote your firm to others. A dissatisfied client is likely to do more damage and be keen to tell everyone about their experience.

So, are we all as great as we think we are? How confident are you that staff at every level has the skills to engage with clients?

John F Kennedy, walking through NASA late one night, stopped to ask a cleaner what he was doing there. The cleaner replied, helping to put a man on the Moon, Mr President.

It can take months to find a good client but only seconds to lose one so pay lip service to client satisfaction at your peril!

Tony Brown, Chief Executive, Pellys RJP Solicitors

Nicol Garwood, Founder, Out There Marketing

ML // September 2013

tga quarter 13

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But that’s about the change, writes Ant Gould.

Don’t get mugged: The recent Law Society anti-insurer advertisements certainly turned heads. Modern Claims speaks to professionals on both sides of the fence about the ‘love it or hate it’ campaign.

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The views

Q: Putting the customer first: how do barristers’ chambers measure the effectiveness of their services and value of their people in terms of customer satisfaction? Are they using feedback to build better services?

A:

The top sets are beginning to appreciate the real value in conducting proper client research and gathering feedback.

As a result, they are actively seeking out the opinions of their clients. The paths to collecting the data are varied, ranging from online surveys to telephone interviews and focus group discussions.

The questions asked cover the usual market benchmarks, including the amount of time clients have used barristers’ services this year compared to last and if they predict that this will increase or not in the coming years. It also seeks out trends such as decreased external spend and detects buyer behaviour patterns. Finally, it examines the primary criteria used when hiring counsel and also when not hiring counsel.

Identifying how a set compares in relation to the market is vitally important in order to identify over or under-performance. Clients are fairly forthcoming in survey responses, particularly if they can see that their opinions are valued and will lead to improvements, as this will directly impact upon the service they experience in the future. Questions examine the quality of the advice received, the approachability of the team involved, the resourcefulness of the clerks’ room and how chambers can improve their client experience, amongst others.

Having gained a representative number of responses, sets are able to interpret the data in order to understand how they are currently perceived and how they may enhance their client service offerings. They are then formulating long-term plans which place the clients at the heart of their chambers. Invariably, the changes introduced by chambers lead to increased client retention, increased instructions and increased turnover, all of which has a positive effect on profitability.

However, sets currently conducting this research need to be careful that they don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a one-off survey will do the trick. Increasing service and maintaining client satisfaction is a continuous process of refinement. Clients’ issues will vary over time, as will the set’s service levels. Taking regular snapshots of the service levels and clients’ opinions are essential if they are to keep their improvement programmes on track and maintain a competitive advantage.

A new whitepaper on client service can be downloaded from www.barmarketing.co.uk Catherine Bailey, Managing Director, Bar Marketing

25

Q: Are service providers to the legal industry innovating faster or slower than their legal customers and does this have an effect in terms of the legal process, costs and customer care?

A:

As an ATE Insurance company and a supplier of products and services to the legal industry, I don’t believe all service providers are currently innovating as fast as the requirements of legal clients -especially against the considerable changes contained in LASPO and on-going customer expectations. I believe the reason for this is two-fold.

Firstly, ATE insurance companies have traditionally had a relatively remote relationship with their legal clients. For our part we need to embrace our customers changing needs in order to truly understand the unique challenges that face individual firms (e.g. referral fee ban and massively reducing margins).

From that perspective, ATE insurance is no longer a ‘one size fits all’ solution which it really was when it was recoverable from the opponent. In this sense alone ATE insurance needs to adapt and be better placed to effectively ring fence loss especially as a firm cannot necessarily do this properly due to the DBA/CFA regulations i.e. any loss cannot be offset by charging more than the 25% of damages (in the case of personal injury).

How this looks from a product and pricing perspectives will dramatically vary across firms and it is our belief this should be reflected in the price of the premium charged to the client.

Secondly, some suppliers appear to see the landscape no differently as to how it was prior to April and are not linking their legal client’s challenges with their own. However, in the same vein I am not seeing a rush for law firms to engage with their suppliers and to see how suppliers could help to overcome their own challenges (and therefore their client’s).

In my view, suppliers should help identify challenges with their legal clients and treat the threat to business as one and the same and ask the following questions: • How do we help law firms do more business?

• How do we comprehensively protect our client’s margins?

• How do we ring fence our client’s loss and ensure their profit and loss is much more of a known quantity (helping them secure essential banking facilities); especially during what could be a very defining period of time for the future of law firms?

The world has undoubtedly changed but there continues to be significant opportunities providing we all work together and a lot more closely than we have perhaps previously done.

Jeff Dawson, Director of Sales, Elite Insurance

ML // September 2013

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The views

Q: Clients with commercial disputes need information on costs, options for funding, and limiting risk to enable them to make informed decisions.

Following the LASPO changes, what points on legal expenses insurance would it be useful to highlight?’

A:

Targeted costs information is important at all stages of a dispute resolution retainer, particularly at the outset (SRA Code of Conduct 2011 (client care) addresses this). The required information will vary according to circumstances, but where a client faces a potential adverse cost award, information on available insurance is likely to be key. Points to highlight include the following.

The risk and financial implications of an adverse cost award. In ‘ball park’ terms the financial risk may equate to the estimate of an opponent’s costs to trial. That risk could stifle a claim if a client is not prepared (or able) to take it on - even if a CFA /DBA would be available to assist with own costs.

The potential for limiting that risk.

Does cover exist? Is it suitable? Some clients may have before the event (BTE) legal expenses insurance. This could be in general insurance covers (e.g. liability casualty, property, professional negligence). If there is cover, does it apply to the claim in question? Is the level of cover sufficient? Generally BTE is likely to be more restrictive than ‘after the event’ (ATE) cover which can be tailored to the case.

ATE is available for the right cases. If there is no, (or insufficient) BTE, ATE is an option for cases with good prospects where the ‘financials’ add up. For most policies incepted after 1st April 2013, premium will not be recoverable from an opponent. It will be an expense for the claimant as per success fees under a post 1st April CFA. ATE insurers can tailor policies and premiums to a case/ claimant and alternative methods of charging premium and the use of staging, etc, can increase viability.

If the claim is one for which premium recoverability currently remains available (e.g. insolvency claims), solicitors might want to flag that up to a client on a ‘need to know’ basis.

Where a client is or may seek third party funding, those arrangements will often include a requirement for ATE. Funders and ATE insurers are used to working alongside.

In this evolving area the provision of clear advice on options is of increasing importance.

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Q: Are service providers (to the legal industry) innovating faster or slower than their legal clients and does this have an effect in terms of the legal process, costs and client care?

A:

The word ‘innovate’ and its various derivations are now used so often across the legal industry and in legal publications that (if it’s not already) I am sure it will imminently be finding its way into the ‘boardroom bingo’ vocabulary list. The truth behind this over-usage is that much that is talked of by suppliers and law firms is not truly innovative. It is not the introduction of something new or different; it is merely catch-up with what many others outside of the legal world have already been doing for a long time.

Saying that, there is still plenty of opportunity to innovate within the legal industry and do things differently, while at the same time ensuring that the traditional core values of a law firm are maintained. It’s important to ensure that work that has always been done well carries on being done well, but in a way that is 100% client focused.

For service providers to truly deliver innovative solutions, they need to understand the workings of their clients’ businesses and take the role of a strategic partner. This means innovating in line with their client’s strategic plan. If a supplier is the fastest innovator in the country, that innovation is of no practical use if it is too expensive for the legal client or if it takes their business in a completely different direction to where they want to go.

All service providers to the legal industry should be looking to work in partnership with law firms to their mutual benefit. Both parties should bring ideas and concepts to the relationship which can be tested and worked on together, to create fit for purpose solutions which drive efficiencies and improvements through the law firm.

If your suppliers are constantly trying to foist their latest ‘best ideas’ and ‘innovative updates’ onto you without having properly engaged with you, then perhaps it’s the time to look for new partners – those who are open to working alongside you to help you achieve what you want from your business.

Jonathan Gulliford, Legal Services Consultant, Thomson Reuters

Matthew Williams, Head of AmTrust Law, AmTrust Financial Services

ML // September 2013

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Q: Are apprenticeships good for the industry and for the long-term development of new recruits? Will apprentices have to overcome a stigma or have times changed?

A:

Determining what is ‘good’ for the legal services industry depends greatly on which sector of the industry is under consideration. For example, a ready supply of cheap LPC graduates might suit a full service firm but perhaps will be less attractive to a specialist or process driven ABS. Similarly, a Magic Circle firm is unlikely to recruit a non-graduate paralegal with experience in process-driven high street work over someone with first class academic credentials. What is a good candidate for one type of employer is not necessarily the same for another.

From this assertion it might seem logical that apprenticeships will only appeal to a certain type of employer, given their specialist nature. However, CILEx has developed advanced and higher apprenticeships in legal services (A level and first year degree standard) in such a way so as to enable students to build on their apprenticeship by using its professional qualification.

This broadens the appeal of an apprenticeship, particularly where an employer wants to commence with a specialist technician level appointment with a view to later developing the post holder into a more senior role, such as a higher level paralegal or perhaps a Chartered Legal Executive or solicitor.

Since apprenticeships are based on an employer’s need for a vocationally competent staff. The attraction for the apprentice might appear limited, especially when compared with the educational experience offered by a university. Recent research suggests otherwise: an article in the Huffington Post cited a survey that found over half of university students questioned wished that they had opted for an apprenticeship over their degree course. The rise in the number of apprenticeship vacancies seems to support this: they have increased by 27% over the last twelve months, with 70% of employers in the same research acknowledging that apprenticeships have boosted their service or products.

If there is any stigma attached to apprenticeships then it is unlikely to survive changes in the legal services industry. Indeed, it is entirely possible that for some of the very highest achieving young people in the workforce, apprenticeships will become the career route of choice.

Noel Inge, Managing Director, CILEx Law School

ML // September 2013

Q: Are lawyers able to sell themselves as trusted advisors as a USP in the marketplace?

Do campaigns like The Law Society’s ‘don’t get mugged, use a solicitor’ (regarding personal injury claims) help?

A:

If only the public knew…

I imagine that if you told a member of the public that anyone (including a convicted fraudster) could set up in business tomorrow as a will writer or employment expert or ‘legal consultant’, without any training or professional indemnity, then charge them money up front for their services. If those services are poor, the consumer would have no regulatory body to complain to. Imagine the reaction; Joe public’s gob would be well and truly flabbered!

That is, however, the reality of the rather artificial world of legal services in which we live and operate.

Only a very few activities are reserved by statute only to be carried out by regulated persons (conveyancing deeds and litigation being the most common) and outside that, it’s pretty much open season.

While there are proposals announced which could mean some redress through the Legal Ombudsman, at the present time the public are well advised to use someone who has to have professional indemnity. They are also advised to use someone who is regulated and can be taken to task by LeO, which has substantial powers to award compensation for bad service.

Does the public know this? I really don’t think so, yet they should!

The solicitor branch of the profession is in a unique position in this regard- they are by far the largest category of legal service providers in the sector with minimum PI requirements ( even after they go out of business or retire). Solicitors have strict client care requirements set down under the Code of Conduct and are subject to the objective scrutiny of the Legal Services Ombudsman. This is all on top of the years of education and training and continuing training required.

Everyone is human and on the basis that lawyers are human (disputed by some, I know) they will make mistakes sometime. But my God, the public has no better chance of securing redress or compensation in that event, provided they use a solicitor or other regulated lawyer.

So the burning question is, why don’t they?

If it is as simple as getting the message across should we not all contribute to a war chest for the Law Society??

Eddie Goldsmith, Partner, Goldsmith Williams Solicitors

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The views

Q: What are the most important things to consider when consolidating the data of merged firms?

A:

The increase in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity within the legal sector must have a number of IT professionals scratching their collective heads in anticipation of what challenges this process involves. In most cases, long hours of work will be required and there will be a number of headaches that will undoubtedly give many sleepless nights.

Typically when a merger takes place, the budget set aside to ensure it is done properly is often too low and consequently short cuts are taken which can result in errors being made - some of which are never corrected.

At Informance, we have seen this problem occur many times and more often than not, it isn’t related the M&A activity; it’s simply from errors creeping into historical data that were never corrected following the change in practice management system. Whilst this doesn’t present any immediate problems, it does become an issue when users start looking at historical trends. This is why, when a merger takes place, firms must consider a budget for the consolidation of their data.

Another very important consideration is the timing of reporting from the merged or acquired data as ideally, reports should be available on day one. Typically, the first thing most people think about is the validity of the merged data. Reporting then ends up being done last due to the enormous amount of time spent to ensure the new data set is correct and ready to use for reporting purposes.

The problem most firms face following a merger is whether to keep two practice management systems going and if so, for how long, or to immediately start the implementation of the chosen one.

Both these decisions need to be thought through carefully in order to provide a stable platform for the new firm’s future. Yet the lack of any immediate reporting capability will have a huge impact on the settling down period the new firm will inevitably go through. So, while decisions are being made, the new firm should have immediate access to its data, no matter where it is stored. In our experience, the most treasured result from a merger is that the whole business settles down quickly and the new firm continues to practice law without any interruptions to customer service.

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Q: Are service providers (to the legal industry) innovating faster or slower than their legal clients and does this have an effect in terms of the legal process, costs and client care etc?

A:

It is certainly true that since changes in lead generation and referral fees have come into effect, law firms have to look closely at the services they offer their clients, as well as how they do and run their business.

In terms of digital service providers, these will always innovate faster than their legal clients, otherwise they would be out of a job.

But this can only be a positive thing for law firms as it means, if they have a good digital agency on their side, that they will always be ahead of the curve.

We have now entered a digital phase whereby, if law firms are not on the ‘bandwagon’ so to speak, they could end up losing clients and missing opportunities.

Having a digital agency on board which can not only get you to a strong, visible place in terms of your marketing, Google rankings and general branding, but knows what the next step is, can only be a positive thing all round.

An expert agency’s effect on the legal process means that with more visibility, better online communication and more effective systems - such as online booking forms and lead tracking - enables clients to have a much better end-to-end service.

With the world being very much cemented online, clients can find a law firm via a website with ease; even out and about. Provided the law firm has a mobileresponsive website, they can use social media as a customer service tool and file claims and queries using online forms.

Blogs mean that clients can learn more about the law firm they are speaking to and social media means that any questions and queries can be dealt with immediately, rather than waiting for a law firm to respond by email.

Fast digital innovation will only serve to benefit law firms, and thus, benefit their clients through better customer care and an easier service.

Dez Derry, CEO, mmadigital

Barry Talbot, Managing Director, for QlikView provider Informance

ML // September 2013

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Q: Are we moving towards phase two of the ABS landscape, where organisations are focusing on new client-led or service-led innovations rather than the already evident growth and investment?

A:

I believe that after this initial tranche of investment and growth we’ll start to see more in the way of service innovations. That’s not necessarily to say you need to invest megabucks to create great service. But there is a requirement to have a good platform - in particular IT and software, to act as an enabler for building a client service experience.

We’re increasingly seeing clients (both ABSs and ‘traditional’ firms) focusing on the service experience and how they can really differentiate themselves from the pack. Largely this comes down to two things: 1) immediacy, and; 2) transparency.

‘Immediacy’ is vital. Clients want to know what is happening, instantly. They want to communicate in real time and they want the security that things are progressing according to plan.

‘Transparency’ is just as important. Clients want to know how progress is taking shape and they want to be involved in the process. Legal services are not an ‘arm’s length’ service anymore.

We will see more and more firms using ‘service experience’ technologies, such as Eclipse’s TouchPoint solution. The bar is rising; firms now need to act quickly to keep pace with client expectations!

Dolores Evelyn, Sales Director at Eclipse Legal Systems

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N E S B I T B U R Y

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L O N D O N

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L I V E R P O O L

A member of

The views

Q: Are you surprised by the number of firms that fail to admit to the fact they are unaware of their overarching company business plan and / or financial performance? What does this say about the sector?

A:

Law firms have traditionally been very focused on law firm profitability, especially since most were partnerships and the ‘profit-per-partner’ measurement is very close to the heart of each partner. This is why many have invested in technology such as practice management and case management systems to drive greater efficiencies and therefore increased partner profits across their firm.

An increasing number of firms have also recognised that certain ‘Key Performance Indicators’ (KPIs) are important to measure and track, as these provided focus and help in delivering more profits. For most firms, KPIs have expanded from being just financial metrics to being more business metrics and include measurements such as new matters opened, matters closed, top 10 clients, fee earner performance and many more.

However, as firms find themselves facing new entrants and legal services providers that are run as a commercial business, they are increasingly stuck with what they are used to. Law firms don’t know what to do differently so they can compete effectively. Change management, especially one that requires a cultural change, is a difficulty that most firms find hard to overcome.

Firms need to have a strategy and a business plan which clearly identifies their vision, what they stand for, what their goals are and how they are going to achieve these goals. Some of these goals will certainly be financial but also need to include non-financial objectives, such as: market-share and leadership position; service levels; client satisfaction measurements and staff performance targets. As firms move to being run more as a business, there is an increasing reliance on non-fee earning staff such as paralegals and other non-fee earning operations.

Firms would do well to hire in expertise to help them develop a strategy and an operational three-year plan so that they can get across the cavernous gap between themselves and their competitors.

It is those firms that are able to bridge this gap and cross over that will be more able to compete with the new legal service providers, for whom, strategy and business plans are basic tenants for running a profitable business.

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Q: Are lawyers able to sell themselves as trusted advisors as a USP in the marketplace?

Do campaigns like The Law Society’s ‘don’t get mugged, use a solicitor’ help?

A:

Talk about an uphill struggle!

Emerging data makes it clear that the image that most solicitors will have of how the public see them – honest, upright pillars of the community – is frankly a dream in their mind’s eye.

In 2011, the Legal Services Consumer Panel Tracking Survey reported that only 47% of the general public would generally trust lawyers to tell the truth. In the space of just two years, that has now dropped a further 5% to 42%.

There are all sorts of reasons - cultural, societal and economic – why the relationship between the client and law firm has altered over the past generations. The days of the family solicitor are long gone. There is now clear evidence that, not just in the consumer market but also in the SME space, legal services have become a reluctant distress purchase.

Single issue, politically-flavoured advertising campaigns are not going to change the landscape. The personal injury space is hardly the best in which to try to create an image of trust! Even if people could be persuaded that the insurers and the CMCs were the real bad guys, won’t that make them realise that it was the solicitors who actually got mugged in this market?

Given the current broken sales and service models that pervade the market, any hope of persuading the public that, as a general rule, solicitors should be seen as trusted advisors is wishful thinking. What is required is long term structural change in how the market operates, in particular addressing the relationship with clients to give them what they want, delivered in ways that suit them and with clear, transparent and affordable pricing.

There are examples of individual firms who have cracked it. Look at DBS Law, which has completely re-engineered its business and service model over the past five years to put both its clients and its community at the heart of everything it does. Client satisfaction levels run at over 90% and willingness to recommend at 84%.

Changing perceptions is going to require more than just the odd ad campaign. Those interested in regaining public trust must accept that there is a long hard road ahead.

Simon Goldhill, Principal, Simon Goldhill Consulting

Jitendra Valera, Chief Marketing Officer – Advanced Legal, Advanced Business Solutions

ML // September 2013

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The views

Q: Is your firm hooked on bad marketing that can’t be monitored?

A:

Law firms are now under the same pressure to monitor the effectiveness of their marketing communications as organisations from any other industry. Gone are the days when clients would use a firm simply out of necessity, so the only way for firms to grow and develop business is through having the right brand strategy with a number of targeted marketing initiatives that can be analysed. Many partners are still cynical about the cost of marketing because historically firms don’t monitor marketing’s effectiveness and how can a firm tailor its marketing communications if it has no idea on what is working?

We worked for a firm recently who were wasting half their marketing budget on advertising - the trouble was they didn’t know which half! We helped them develop a process to identify the return-on-investment of their marketing efforts and recognise which initiatives got the best return and which ones were a total waste of money. Once a firm has this information they can use it to sell to existing clients and generate new business.

Firms need to look at their marketing communications in a measurable way. Other than brand awareness activities, it’s no surprise that the marketing initiatives firms can’t measure are the ones they are spending the most money on. For example: advertising, directory listings, ‘top firm’ rankings, sports sponsorships, annual reports and events that never get followed up. You can’t measure your new business by counting the number of attendees at your seminar or by your business listings. For firms to grow their revenue they need to ditch their bad marketing habits and develop strong marketing objectives with activities that generate fact-based, tangible outcomes that can be linked to new business. We help firms develop and follow a number of marketing processes that are effective for monitoring the ROI of their marketing communications. These include: developing differentiation, positioning and branding strategies, targeting specific prospects and marketing to industries of potential clients, cross-selling and increasing client services, responding to tenders, investing in CRM and undertaking client satisfaction surveys. But above all else keeping track of business!

Ian Hunter, Managing Director, Jellyfish Creative Limited

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M&A as a trigger for infrastructure change.

T

he reasons to contemplate infrastructure change are many and varied. We encounter a lot of law firm IT leaders that see M&A activity (or rapid expansion) positively. Not as a time for buckling up and holding on tight but as an opportunity for optimisation and improvement.

Sometimes this is straightforward – you’ve acquired another firm, you suddenly need to accommodate more lawyers. So far, so good – upgrade the network or WAN, add additional voice channels (IP or traditional) and add server capacity. But, we’re talking to clients who see farther than that. They see the need for additional storage, which can be best fulfilled using smart compression techniques and WAN optimisation technologies like Riverbed Granite. They see an opportunity to rationalise server estate, fulfilled by virtualisation or the deployment of Citrix thin clients.

To establish whether you too should be using M&A as a trigger for infrastructure overhaul, follow these four steps and then engage help from the experts.

Map out your current architecture and what you’re using it for 1. Running your PMS; supporting lawyers as they draft documents; carrying out automatic backups?

2. Look at your current SLA performance: what’s your network availability/uptime, your network fix-time, your infrastructure uptime, the downtime history you’ve experienced, the failover and disaster recovery plans that are in place?

3. Establish how your current architecture is supported: helpdesk response times, protocols, performance, transition to second/third line helpdesk, ownership of fault-fixing?

4. Assess your secure storage needs, now and into the future: how much storage do you currently have?

When will you approach those limits? How do you create security where fee-earners access and move documents – are you encrypting at device level (e.g. forced encryption of USB sticks and hard drives), as well as when data is resting in your data centres, as well as when it’s on the move over your network?

Now you should be armed with a picture of what you have and be forming some ideas about what you want. It’s time to talk to your potential suppliers and complete the picture of what an optimised infrastructure could look like. There’s no substitute for mapping your design, taking it to your potential suppliers - giving them a mandate to find and pitch more efficient structures, savings and enhancements that will give you performance benefit and greater partner satisfaction and security. Use the M&A situation as a catalyst for change, ask tough questions of the security and robustness of your platform and get the experts in as early as possible in the process.

Tim Springham, CEO, Tikit

ML // September 2013

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Q: Are apprenticeships good for the industry and for the long-term development of new recruits?

A:

the Chamber.1

We have an excellent initiative running for Greater Manchester law firms; initiated by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, with training provided

by MMU Law School, funded under the Employer Ownership of Skills scheme and from a variety of other sources co-ordinated by

The apprentices – up to 60 of them this year, starting in October from the age of 18 - get paid a decent salary for their age for working in their chosen law firm, while attending MMU Law School. This is something akin to day release but supported by on-line learning and group projects. MMU course leaders also actively monitor the development of students in their place of work throughout the apprenticeship. This is at least as good as attending university and will be recognised as such by the law firms involved.

The initiative has been created for all the right reasons to benefit both the young people and the law firms, who employ and develop them with the right mix of legal knowledge, personal and business skills – so employers want to keep them. Apprentices will stay loyal to their employers, provided they continue to manage and develop them effectively. Yet there is work yet to be done in many law firms to create an effective career development framework at this level.

The firms leading this initiative recognise the need to manage apprentices effectively, so the first step for them is to provide training for all the lawyers and managers who will be responsible for this – again provided by MMU. The quality of applicants has been excellent – confirmed by all the senior management teams in the law firms involved. Having been involved in some of those assessments, my view is that applicants (including A* students with offers of degree courses at universities) offering themselves for assessment (which include interviews, on-the spot presentations and written exercises) have to be more rounded and developed at this age than students who follow the traditional path to university.

How much faster will these 18 year olds develop by working in real world law firm, while also getting excellent legal training? Who will be the most valuable asset at age 21 or 22? Who is more likely to be more likely to get the job they want?

Allan Carton, Director, Inpractice UK 1. More information available at tinyurl.com/ legalserviceapprentices

ML // September 2013

Q: How do firms measure the effectiveness of their services and value of their people in terms of customer satisfaction? If the data is collected, is it being used to deliver better services?

A:

Buying furniture? Where do you go? John Lewis. Why? Because it is known for excellent customer service. If giving good service is important to John Lewis, so it is essential for lawyers to do the same.

Law firms must give legal advice with outstanding customer service. Great customer service leads to high customer satisfaction and in turn that leads to new business opportunities and increased profits. In a poll nearly 50% of customers rated a family or friends recommendation as the most important factor in finding a law firm.

To improve your service you need to measure customer satisfaction, take on board the results and make changes. Don’t be afraid of asking your customers what they think. Feedback is the most valuable tool to improving your business.

So, how do you go about measuring your service?

Ask your customers to fill in a survey. Use a combination of email, post and phone and consider offering an incentive in order to encourage a good response. It may be the best money you will have spent. Keep the survey short and to the point. Decide on the focus of the survey and use simple easy to answer questions. For example if you are looking to measure loyalty, ask: ‘Would you recommend Goodlaw & Co to your family and friends?’

A good objective for any survey around customer service is to ask your customers what it is that they expect of you as well as asking what you are doing right. Perhaps more importantly, ask what you are doing wrong. Don’t be afraid to hear where you are failing because it is only by learning this that you can think about changing your working habits. Negative replies are an opportunity to do better.

Learn from other law firms. Customers will be pleased to tell you who provides a better customer service and why. It’s good to ask them to compare and contrast your firm with others and then you can find out why the competition is providing a better service. Everyone wants to offer an exceptional service. Be brave. Find out what your customers think is exceptional service.

Listen to them. Make changes and you will see new business opportunities and increased profits.

Robin Marcus, Associate, Legal Eye

The views

37

Q: Are service providers (to the legal industry) innovating faster or slower than their legal clients and does this have an effect in terms of the legal process, costs and client care?

A:

Steve Jobs once said that innovation distinguishes the leaders from the followers, but in the legal market, how many firms are true innovators and how many are just following the pack.

Worse still, how many are stuck like rabbits in the headlights?

Research by Peppermint, sponsored by Oyez, looks at how well law firms understand the needs of their legal clients. The last annual report (published autumn 2012; a new report is due out this autumn) showed that clients require a high quality service, with good communication across multiple channels - whether face to face, e-mail, phone, or post. Not surprisingly, price was considered important - especially when picking a firm for the first time. Fixed prices were also preferred as consumers wanted to know the cost at the outset.

However, one of the more surprising findings was the lack of understanding of the relative importance placed by clients on the different the forms of communications. Whereas two-thirds of law firms thought their clients preferred on-line communication, only one third of clients said this was their preferred way of keeping in touch. Clients wanted to be able to track the status of their cases on-line and for routine communication to be electronic. Yet they still placed great virtue on face to face interaction, something clearly not fully appreciated by many firms.

Suppliers to the legal industry are aware of these trends, leading to supply side innovation and investment. Data centric CRM (customer relationship management) systems are becoming widely available which allow staff in a firm to quickly access the information they need to ensure good quality communications with clients. On the cost side, speech recognition systems are generating a lot of interest as they can greatly reduce the time taken to produce letters and file notes.

How quickly has the legal industry been taking up these initiatives? Overall my experience is that take up is still patchy.

However, this will accelerate as more and more firms put service innovation at the heart of their approach and look for new technology solutions. Hopefully service innovation will be based on sound research and a proper understanding of what customers actually need, rather than from biased assumptions!

Nick Hodges, Managing Director, Oyez Professional Services Limited

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ML // September 2013

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Apprenticeships revisited The new and varied career paths in legal services post-LSA have sparked the need for a more modern approach to legal qualification and access to skills. Compounded with the expense of the traditional route to qualifying and a lack of trainee placements, the sector is in need of a solution. Enter the legal apprenticeship scheme; in varied forms in England and Wales. It’s a fairly old qualification and skills route revisited for today’s legal and professional markets but one gaining in popularity, as Modern Law finds out.

The Welsh factor

Ken Skates AM with apprentices and Karen Meggitt, NewLaw

The Higher Apprenticeship in Legal Services programme in Wales has been hugely popular amongst high street firms and ABSs. Emma Waddingham attended the launch event in Cardiff to speak to employers and apprentices about why they saw this as a valuable, alternative vehicle to progress careers in law.

A

s the cost and heartache of qualifying with a law degree and Legal Practice Course escalates (Skills for Justice put the average overall fee at around £40,000), the number of LLB graduates in the market is set to fall. Consequently, senior lawyers are being asked ‘where are your next generation of legal services professionals going to come from?’

The new Higher Apprenticeship in Legal Services qualification is seen as one of the solutions in Wales. Like most apprenticeship schemes, it’s aimed at giving those who didn’t go to university or complete the LLB, the chance to get hands on training in the workplace while being paid.

At the recent launch of the Welsh Apprenticeship Scheme, hosted

by Skills for Justice Wales, I met a number of firms and ABSs involved in the pilot legal apprenticeship cohort, which will see 30 ‘learners’ start the programme in October. There were two clear inspirations for law firms; to put existing staff through the scheme to qualify some of the work they have already done, to make them fee earners and to give them a Legal Assistant title. Secondly, to provide young paralegals (who came to the firm without having gone to university) and secretaries the chance to gain

qualifications that will allow them to do more and develop a career. There is also talk of a ‘Level 7’ assessment that will allow apprentices to divert to the CILEx qualification route or become a qualified lawyer through the LPC. Lyons Davidson, one of the firms voicing its support of the scheme, believes it is an extension of its existing employment culture. Katherine Price, Project Manager at the firm’s Scottish office, said that while the scheme benefits the bottom line (through engagement, increased productivity and a reduction in recruitment costs), she sees the real value in ‘maximising opportunities for those who couldn’t afford to or didn’t want to go to university’. “Some people don’t learn well in a lecture theatre – I know I didn’t,” she said, adding: “there are plenty of statistics out there that show people learn more by doing things themselves, in a practical situation.”

The legal apprenticeship courses do have an examination element to them, for which the apprentices are given full support. Chris Sweetman, Managing Partner at Kaplan Altier

(which won the bid to run the initial programme cohorts in Wales), stresses that the exams form only part of the assessment programme, supported mainly by practical assessments on essential skills and competence as well as knowledge, gained by hands-on experience.

“For some learners, it may be enough to complete the legal apprenticeship programme and achieve a status as a Legal Assistant, but for others, it forms a springboard to go onto qualification as a lawyer through the CILEx or LPC courses,” Sweetman said. While Sweetman explained that the Higher Apprenticeship ‘wouldn’t replace the traditional legal qualification route,’ he also stressed that advocates of the programme aren’t looking to create a ‘two-tier system’; of lawyers at one end of the pay and opportunity ladder and apprentices at the other. How this might work in practice, murmured one senior lawyer, is yet to be seen.

The apprenticeship programme hasn’t been wholly welcomed by the commercial firms, who have bespoke,

ML // September 2013

42

The Features

internalised training requirements and career path programmes. What is clear is that those firms looking to diversify, increase fee-earning potential and capitalise on apprenticeship schemes (currently funded in Wales, although not in England) are the small-medium high street firms and high volume personal injury legal entities who are also looking to train non-lawyers in day-to-day legal practice issues so that they can manage departments strategically at a later date.

Benefits for all Karen Meggitt, (Head of Employee Development at Cardiff-based NewLaw, said she could have filled her two slots ‘a hundred times over’. In the end, she managed to secure apprenticeship slots for four in-house paralegals who had to apply to go on the course.

“From a business perspective, it means we can upskill young people and develop them for a legal career rather than lose or disappoint staff as they look for training contracts that just aren’t there.

“What’s really interesting about the Welsh scheme is that there’s no age cap on the programme [there is in England] so we’ve been able to place a paralegal who has worked with us for six years – roughly since we started NewLaw – to practice in different areas of law and litigation,” said Meggitt.

There are of course concerns from some firms that the academic element might put too much pressure on some members of staff. Cameron McMillan and Guto Evans, both paralegals in the negotiating and claims department, BDE Law, said they ‘didn’t want to let their employer down’ but they didn’t feel under pressure to pass. “I’m just really keen to get started. I don’t want to waste the opportunity to learn more about the law,” enthused Evans.

Another element, particularly for Wales, is the ability to retain talent.

One of the key selling-point for the Welsh Government, which supports the programme, is job creation. Ken Skates AM, Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, who spoke at the launch, said: “It’s crucial that we engage sufficient talented young people into the sector and retain their abilities here in Wales.”

More information on the English and Welsh legal apprenticeship schemes (and any available funding) can be found on the Skills for Justice website: www.sfjuk.com/sectors/legal-services/ developing-talent/apprenticeships/

ML // September 2013

“Whilst there has been a sizeable drop in the number of training contracts offered...there are many employers advertising for legal apprentices this autumn; intending to increase the numbers significantly again in 2014” Go your own way University isn’t the only way into a legal career. School and college leavers have long been able to qualify through the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) courses, which now fit into two new apprenticeship models created for those with and without university level qualifications, as Jenny Pelling reports.

T

hink back to late September 2011.

Amidst the news of the Occupy Movement taking over Zuccotti Park in Wall Street, there were stories aplenty in the press about teenagers setting off to Freshers’ Week and parents confronting empty nest syndrome (but being grateful that their kids had just made it to university before the full force of £9k a year tuition fees started). There was still an assumption held by many that university was the route to be followed to gain a career in law.

In autumn 2011, work was beginning on the development of a new career path in law via the creation of a government-funded legal apprenticeship structure. Fast-forward to now and we have three new legal apprenticeship frameworks in place, attracting considerable interest from legal organisations, young people and their parents. It is no longer the unquestionable assumption that a bright school leaver will automatically go to university. Instead, many are turning their backs on a degree - with the fear over emerging with £27k of debt - into an uncertain job market.

They are instead electing to go straight into the workplace at 18 or 19, following an apprenticeship route.

Employer support The reason they can do this is because so many employers are behind the initiative and they’re recruiting in large numbers. Whilst

there has been a sizeable drop in the number of training contracts offered (10.5 % reduction from 2011 to 2012), there are many employers advertising for legal apprentices this autumn; intending to increase the numbers significantly again in 2014. The drivers are varied: social responsibility and looking for a new pool of school leaver talent; needing to respond to cost pressures/work allocation, and; seeking a way of training up entry level staff with the support of government funding.

So what is the perception of this new route into law? Well first, it’s a route that’s existed for 50 years in essence through CILEx, whose mantra has been ‘learn as you earn’ and has always offered a non-graduate route to becoming a lawyer. So, the precedent is there, firms are used to the concept and apprentices and their parents are reassured that the new legal apprenticeship fits into the CILEx route, enabling apprentices to claim exemptions from CILEx. A new dawn What’s changing though is that we see candidates apply for legal apprenticeships who have the grades to get into very good universities.

Instead they’re electing to take the new Advanced Apprenticeship in Legal Services or one of the other two legal apprenticeships we deliver.

Take DAC Beachcroft. It’s been instrumental in the development of legal apprenticeships and has just recruited five apprentices to join its Bristol and Newport offices, working either in claims solutions or corporate recovery. One of the five apprentices had been working in the HR team at DAC Beachcroft. He was so inspired by the opportunity in the apprenticeship that he applied himself. He is currently in one of the first cohorts of Advanced Legal Apprentices.

Jenny Pelling, Business Editor, CILEx Law School

The Features

Interested?

L

Barely a week goes by without a firm announcing an apprenticeship programme. Kennedys, TLT, Plexus, Browne Jacobson, DWF, Addleshaws, Co-op Legal Services and Weightmans are just a few of the well-known names that have recruited or are recruiting apprentices. Not bad, given that there were almost no apprentices in the legal sector only a couple of years ago.

egal apprenticeships gathered pace, in 2011, the Government funded the development of a higher apprenticeship in legal services, an undergraduatelevel alternative for bright, ambitious 18+ year olds in England. Since then, an advanced apprenticeship in legal services has been developed (it launched in September) and there is also an entry level apprenticeship for legal administrators. Now, there is a route that can take a young person from leaving school at 16 or 18 all the way through to being a qualified paralegal at 21 or 22.

Bottom-line benefits For firms, the interest is clearly in the opportunity to improve cost structures.

Depending on the level, an apprentice may start on £9-£14K pa. Three months in, if s/he can free up two to three hours of a fee earner’s time per week to generate fee income, the firm is turning a profit. Once the apprentice is fee-earning (even modestly), the returns improve substantially. For an advanced or higher apprentice this should be the case within six months.

Retention is another strong driver. To get the best out of the apprenticeship programme, the apprentice needs to stay in their job for three years plus. Progression to qualified lawyer status (via the CILEx route initially)

43

is possible as the apprenticeships include CILEx qualifications. However this is not the apprentice’s immediate goal. Added incentives include the heavily government-subsidised training (recruitment is often free) and grants available to firms recruiting apprentices for the first time. The promise of a structured training and development programme can also help smaller firms compete for high quality candidates.

If you are considering apprenticeships, do consult one of the handful of specialist providers out there. If you want to recruit a group, bear in mind seasonality – most strong 18 year olds will be off to university or in another job by October. If you want to recruit one or two apprentices at once and are happy to consider people who haven’t just left fulltime education you can recruit more flexibly. Delivery models vary too: some training providers use weekly day release, for others it’s more 1:1 contact complemented by on-line resources.

Jonathan Bourne is Managing Director of Damar Training and a former solicitor.

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The Features

45

Trust me, I’m an expert…

All businesses need to adapt and thrive. From the publishing industry to the legal sector, the wealth of technological innovation offers fantastic solutions if utilised properly, to combat other, more horizontal pressures such as legislative reform (such as Jackson and LASPO). Trevor Gilbert reports.

B

efore we get to the business, let me say how pleased I am to be contributing to a new legal magazine. While everyone’s been talking about the ‘death of print’, new publications like Modern Law are popping up out of nowhere, surpassing expectations and breathing new life into a troubled industry [Thanks! Ed]. Maybe publishers have lost their minds? Perhaps there’s a new trend for commercial suicide, or a vast new market of cave-dwelling luddites who have rejected tablets and fibre-optic broadband? Either my hosts are unaware of their own prophetic demise and headed for administration… or (more likely) they’ve adapted, innovated and worked around the problem. They should be congratulated. With this in mind, I’d like to talk about innovation and technology - which is a hot topic in all professions, mine included.

Keeping pace of change As an expert witness in employment for over 20 years, I’ve seen a number of my peers struggle to keep pace with change and fall by the wayside. Like the media, the legal services industry has had to adapt to a failing economy, rapid technological change and some would say, punitive legal reforms.

The Jackson reforms of 2013 have carried the same rhetoric for many legal professionals as the Mayan year of 2012. With massive cuts to legal aid, a possible end to CFAs, 10% rises to some damages and sanctions to encourage earlier settlement, there may well be a ‘chilling effect’ where civil and personal injury litigation are concerned – not to mention a loss of work and income for

“Today’s technology can be frightening, but all experts have one skill that will keep them informed, up to date and aware of their options.

Research - it’s what we do!” those who rely on it. Less litigation, after all, equates to fewer experts. Some will struggle, some will be ‘forced out’ and some will thrive. In truth, all business goes hand-in-hand with innovation.

Technology has changed the game for experts and it’s up to them to use it!

Information at your fingertips I’d like to think of myself as a ‘Google adept’. Google has brought about massive changes to the process of research and investigation, as has social media. Experts now have access to a wealth of facts, figures, profiles and incredible web-apps like Google Document Search. We’ve had the means to (thoroughly) investigate the matters before us for some time and should be doing so. Case management has also become easier: clients can now ‘shop’ for an expert by viewing

CVs, profiles and making enquiries online, giving them direct access to the resources they need. As of late, my own practice, Trevor Gilbert & Associates has also developed a tracking system which updates clients on the progress of their case.

With legal-services becoming increasingly internet-based, there is also a need to embrace the possibilities this brings for marketing. Experts should be waking up to the fact that having a good website won’t solicit business if nobody can find you. Search-engine optimisation (SEO), web analytics and the use of social media are common methods of stimulating web-traffic and creating leads. Aside from print publications, directories and traditional advertising, there are hundreds of new ways to generate interest in your services: twitter, blogs, e-learning, mobile apps, video content. Forget TV advertising, you can have your own, dedicated channel online for free!

Utilising IT innovation Today’s technology can be frightening, but all experts have one skill that will keep them informed, up to date and aware of their options. Research - it’s what we do! Times may be changing, the playing rules may alter and challenges may be ahead, but the right attitude and approach will determine tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. To emphasise this point, let me leave you with the words of Albert Einstein: “If you always do what you always did… you will always get what you always got.”

Trevor Gilbert Is the Chairman and CEO of the TRG Group, which owns Trevor Gilbert & Associates.

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46

The Features

Marketing: a strange new world?

Charlotte Parkinson speaks to three leading providers of marketing solutions for law firms; Conscious Solutions, Jellyfish Creative and mmadigital, to gauge their views on how and why law firms should be adopting marketing as a key concept in the new legal market.

Their view: Conscious Solutions

M

arketing? It’s not just important, it’s vital. law firms cannot exist in future by just hoping work walks through the door. The new ‘walking through the door’ could be Google searching, Facebook advertising or social media research by an existing or potential client. In this day and age most law firms have a pretty decent website. We have done two surveys in the last 12 months.

Survey 1: Law firm website statistic benchmarking showed the following averages

Growth of mobile access This is one of the most important things law firms need to be doing now (late 2013) with respect to their online presence.

Accessing the Internet using a mobile phone more than doubled between 2010 and 2013, from 24% to 53%1. Whether 53% of the population is likely to be purchasing legal services or not, it’s still a massive increase which is not slowing down.

Consider this: by the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on earth than people2.

The graph comes from Google Analytics for one of our clients from January 2010 to July 2013. It shows the growth in access from mobile devices to this 12-partner law firms website.

Breakdown by Partner Size 1-5 Partners

6-19 Partners

20+ Partners

All firms

Av. Visits

1,050

2,473

11,586

2,553

Av. Page Views

2,961

8,648

39,474

8,328

3

4

4

3

49

45

42

43

01:41

01:54

01:52

01:45

75

67

63

72

Av. Pages per Visit Av. Bounce Rate (%) Av. Time on Site Av. New Visits (%)

There are very few things that might increase the ‘time on site’ statistic, but we think that video will play an increasing part in helping to do that whether it’s really well made documentary style video (www.thrings.com/site/thringstv/ thringsyouneedtoknow.html)or slightly humorous fast drawn cartoons (www.willettsolicitors.com/) Survey 2: Percentage of revenue spent on marketing This survey of 30 firms from 5 to 50 partners showed that on average 2.1% of revenue was spent on marketing (excluding marketing personnel salaries). The range was 0.5% to 6% and it was only firms at the upper end who could really show organic growth.

ML // September 2013

If a law firm does not have a mobile optimised website, they need to get one, and fast.

Training As part of our ongoing support of law firms and their overall marketing skills, we are running four training events in November.

Titled ‘It’s All About Conversion’ these four events (Birmingham, Bristol, London and Manchester) aim to improve the online marketing skills of law firm marketers and fee earners alike. Places are just £95 + VAT per person and readers of Modern Law can get a 10% discount by using MODLAW10 when booking.

1. Office for National Statistics report in 2013 2. Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update

David Gilroy, Sales and Marketing Director, Conscious Solutions.

“Law firms cannot exist in future by just hoping work walks through the door”

The Features

Their view: Jellyfish Creative

I

n today’s competitive legal market, law firms have come to understand the power of branding and the value in differentiating themselves from their competition. A firm’s brand helps create ownership and helps identify one firm over another. Firms who fail to build the right brand and market their services in an effective way fail to maximise loyalty from their existing clients and attract new ones. For firms, the idea of adopting marketing strategies has been around for a few years. This is increasing as the competition gets fiercer and firms look to not only market internally but outsource their marketing to professional agencies.

Retaining the client orientated approach In addition to marketing, firms are also investing in business development teams who do extensive research on individual clients/industries and engage in competitive research to pick off the best business. Now we are finding that everything that was ‘old’ is suddenly new again. When I say ‘old’, I’m talking about the strengths of client-oriented marketing which involves really listening to what your clients want and investing in client relationships. In other words, acting like firms did 30 years ago but with client decisions being made much faster, due to the power of the Internet and online services.

“Firms who fail to build the right brand and market their services in an effective way fail to maximise loyalty from their existing clients and attract new ones” Proactive marketing So, once the brand has been built and the marketing strategies are in place, what could firms do to improve the delivery of their marketing initiatives? I believe if law firms could learn one thing about marketing it’s not to get lawyers too involved. Lawyers get hired to practice law and marketers to practice marketing.

Marketers wouldn’t tell a lawyer how to do their job, so lawyers shouldn’t tell them how to do theirs. However, we often see lawyers involved in the firm’s marketing and this shows - in the form of conflicting website designs and advertisements.

Many of which start with: ‘We are an experienced, high-quality, well-educated law firm’. Lawyers often believe that ‘doing good work’ is the best marketing and publicity there is but in today’s competitive market that is not a differentiator; it’s a given.

The question the prospective client will be asking is: ‘Which experienced, high-quality, skilled law firm should I contact for my particular matter - the firm with the best reputation or the firm who is well known for having an in-depth knowledge of my particular industry sector?’ So for the prospective client to know what differentiates your firm from its competition and what strengths your firm has, you need to be clever and proactive with your marketing initiatives - building the right reputation and brand.

Create a differentiator that tells your audience why they should choose your firm above any other and let prospective clients make an informed – albeit speedy – decision.

Ian Hunter, Managing Director, Jellyfish Creative.

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Their view: mmadigital

W

hy should law firms adopt marketing as a key concept?

For the same reason that other sectors adopt marketing as part of their core business; to let people know who they are and what they are about. In such a competitive field, with so many law firms all offering similar services, how do you differentiate yourself? By using marketing as a key concept. By putting into play all of the tools you have available to you and to create an integrated marketing campaign that sets you apart from the rest.

“It makes no sense to have a website without social media or a website with no SEO. It won’t provide you with anything of value” Embrace the digital age There are two key elements here. The first is to ensure that your marketing campaign is digitally based. A digital marketing agency will help to create a campaign that uses all digital marketing tools to help push your brand further. For example, a fully responsive mobile website means that your potential customers can access you and your information on the go. A click to dial number means that they can easily contact you through your website and a simple online form means that they can file a claim or contact you whilst they are out and about. The key here is to make it as accessible for your prospective client as possible. Social media is also an integral part. Being able to keep up with what you are doing as a business, what is important to your brand and being able to deal with customer service enquiries, can all be done through social media. Make sure that you have someone in your office that can run this in-house and deal with any comments and queries as soon as they happen.

Being seen SEO (search engine optimisation) is the clever stuff that helps to get you ranked top of Google. By working with a digital agency who understands digital marketing you will be able to use SEO content to your advantage to help you rank on the first page of Google. Being ‘seen’ in the right marketplace and being marketed in the most effective manner nowadays isn’t about being on your local radio, seen in newspapers or even on TV. It is about being top of Google, appearing at the top of searches and being visible on social media. The second element is integration. All of these key digital marketing principles should be heavily integrated. They won’t work effectively if they don’t run in line with each other. It makes no sense to have a website without social media or a website with no SEO. It won’t provide you with anything of value.

Law firms need to do more now than ever before to ensure that they are being seen. In a cluttered marketplace it is about separating yourself from everyone else. How will you do that? How will you get people to remember your name? You need to be everywhere that they are: online, on their mobile and on social media.

Dez Derry, CEO, mmadigital

ML // September 2013

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Proving ability, building trust If there were to be a return to self-regulation, gaining the trust of prospective clients and reaching them on a platform they understand would have to be top of the marketing agenda, as Lisa Beale explains.

C

lient feedback is now appearing everywhere! It now seems that we will not purchase a product or engage a service without reading reports from those who have already tried and tested the delights of a company before they commit.

Just how important is this?

Using previous client feedback about services and skills has always been valuable, but with online focus playing an ever bigger role in peoples’ lives, feedback has now become crucial to a business and how it markets itself.

You only have to look at the travel business, online auction sites - or even at the market for trades-people - to know that, for many consumers, being informed by feedback before buying is now considered essential. This trend has sky-rocketed because online, word of mouth comment has become easy to place and almost instantly accessible.

Are you really in tune with your clients?

The professional industry is now being questioned by many and consumers are being encouraged to vote with their feet by making a more informed choice. It seems that many are asking the question as to why, in other industries, transparency is provided by customer feedback. However, for many professionals, the tendency to hide behind glossy, costly advertising doesn’t provide answers as to what prospective clients feel they need to know before engaging the services of the professional. Are professionals really in tune with reaching their prospective clients?

Self-regulation requires consumer trust If the future of legal services is to be one of self-regulation, then gaining the trust of prospective clients will have to be taken into account. Resting on ones’ laurels, by thinking that, ‘I am in the high street and they need me,’ will not continue to work. A more informed choice is absolutely the way

“If the future of legal services is to be one of self-regulation, then gaining the trust of prospective clients will have to be taken into account” forward. Providing more details about a practice, along with feedback from those who have engaged the services previously, will at least provide some trust. As will showing that not all in the legal profession place themselves above all others; they genuinely value their paying clients!

Checking credentials With this powerful trend in mind, we have launched a new site focussed specifically on helping prospective clients find the professional that`s right for them. Checkaprofessional. com and its sister site, Checkatrade. com are now linked and receive over 700,000 visitors per month.

Verified testimonials via an independent third party are extremely powerful for a business, but even more informative for a prospective client searching amongst the many services and practices on offer.

A one-stop-checking-shop For the client, not only are the businesses easy to find on Checkaprofessional.com, they can now be found by area of expertise, name, or location. Clients can view a full business profile page, containing crucial contact details, expert areas covered and by which professional. The lawyers’ qualifications, their previous verified client feedback, photos and personalised videos about the service and practice can also be viewed. A social media function is also catered for, as clients can send feedback through the site at the click of a button to Facebook or Twitter. Importantly, the lawyer’s profile shows that a business is professional, trustworthy and transparent. The site provides reassurances as each member has been thoroughly vetted to join and is then continuously monitored by their clients, with real life genuine feedback.

The consensus of opinion is that if a practice wishes to grow its client base or ensure it is doing the best to keep hold of its existing client base, then using a one-stop online professional checking service could provide a whole range of advantages to a practice.

Proving ability, building trust The continued online revolution really can make client feedback the basis of future success for both the legal profession and their prospective clientele - especially when professional checking sites (like ours) are free for the user and don’t ask for a registration. This provides consumers with a no-barrier, user friendly, understandable tool which doubles up as a qualitative marketing tool for lawyers to use. It also evidences relationships of trust between the legal sector and consumers; building a relationship with the market to prove law firms can self-regulate.

Lisa Beale, Head of Checkaprofessional.com

ML // September 2013

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The Features

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The new normal The use of smartphones and tablet computers, supported by Cloud data storage innovation, has radicalised the way we all communicate and work in the 21st Century. But the legal profession has been slow to accept the ‘new normal’ in the workplace – especially the use of personal devices to help employees access, share and manage workflow anytime, anyplace. Sajid Hussain explains why lawyers can now be confident their systems and data are protected if used on personal devices and stored in the Cloud.

T

he legal business environment has seen an increased proliferation of IT software seeping through its ranks as the commercial climate changes. As competition becomes fiercer and as law firms are thinking of increasing ways to provide value to client care, law firms need to realign themselves with IT solutions to ensure their strategies and working practices add to profitability.

Communication between the workforce and streamlining of operations is becoming inexorably linked to the use of secure and reliable technologies. The workforce has therefore turned mobile and more people use their own devices at work due to the advent of smartphone devices. Within the legal profession, lawyers are utilising the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend alongside cloudbased business applications (those that are managed and hosted by a third party provider) to provide on-thego information. BYOD also eases the facilitation of data at meetings-often writing notes on tablets.

The acceptance of personal devices Enhanced business software must be suitable for use of multiple platforms in a business environment. Legal entities that want to stay ahead of the competition and reduce costs will ensure they are not slow to embrace new IT technology such as BYOD. The increasing acceptance of BYOD is increasing as a result of more employees owning powerful mobile devices. These include devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, which can provide greater freedom, convenience and job satisfaction to employees. BYOD enables organisations to capitalise on new technology faster. It also has the potential to reduce hardware costs and improve organisational productivity and flexibility.

BYOD benefits What the Outspire Group does with its own newly developed case management system, Clinical Connexx

include the heightened security protocols put in place by the managed service provider (Microsoft is used by Clinical Connexx) - shifting that responsibility away from the law firm.

(a feature of which is the kind of cloudbased application and BYOD strategic positioning), is aim to make a difference to law firms in the clinical negligence sector.

Accessing and sharing corporate information on any device allows employees a great user experience so that official guidelines about security are not contravened. SharePoint is a major part of the Clinical Connexx case management software and SharePlus (the mobile app for SharePoint) extends the benefits of this well-regarded collaboration tool, by offering a mobile-friendly intuitive interface that makes it much easier to navigate, view and edit shared documents and libraries.

Maintaining control When some think of BYOD they think immediately of worries to data security. That’s where Clinical Connexx anticipated a need for a security architecture that enables innovation, agility and productivity for workers while giving IT the ability to maintain control over security.

Addressing sustainability The modern lawyer realises that smartphones and tablets are rapidly replacing large volumes of paper and changing the way legal professionals operate. Lawyers already use mobile devices for legal research. Costs can be lowered by opting for a cloud-based solution. A number of businesses are beginning to rely on the cloud to ensure their mobile employees can access what they need from any location. The bonuses associated with the cloud

Strategic implementation Just utilising BYOD alone is not prudent without a clear policy in place; a strategy to deploy it well and key security measures for optimal management. Clinical Connexx is geared to be productive and for information and the network to be safe. To achieve both, the law firms we work with need to implement enterprise mobility management suites that integrate effortlessly with IT performance management protocols and information governance policies.

Embracing the Cloud We believe the BYOD movement is set to take the legal industry by storm, providing lawyers with quick access to important documents whilst on the move. The most progressive firms have already put BYOD policies in place. They have managed to drastically lower IT cost outlay by allowing lawyers to use their own tablets; using secure Cloud storage applications to manage the continually expanding amount of data that they require access to.

If a firm takes control of BYOD, sets policies and ensures that only designated, secure Cloud-based applications are used and devices are protected; risk can be minimised. Post LSA and LASPO (especially within clinical negligence where costs changes are particularly biting), law firms intent on expanding profitability and their hopes of survival will realise, that in order to modernise and be ahead in the legal landscape, IT provides the proverbial keys to the kingdom. This would mean the difference between being in business and profitable in three years’ time and struggling to break even.

Sajid Hussain is the Managing Director of Outspire Group.

ML // September 2013

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Business Management

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Business Management

ML // September 2013

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Business Section

Interview with...

Lucy Scott-Moncrieff The Immediate-Past President of The Law Society and Director of virtual legal aid firm, Scomo, speaks to Emma Waddingham about the momentous change to the legal sector that occurred during Lucy’s incumbency as well as her continued role to address Equality and Diversity issues in legal practice.

Witnessing incremental change

Q

Some of the biggest changes to the business of law kicked into play during your year of tenure at The Law Society. Despite the turmoil, what has been the most fascinating reaction by law firms to reforms such as LASPO and Jackson, as well as the expansion of the ABS landscape?

All law firms have had the same choice from day one; to grow and change or to fizzle out. However, the expansion and uptake of ABS is clearly a slow burn. There are two clear reasons as to why firms chose the ABS route: to adapt to change in the legal services environment or to create a new business model in reaction to the downturn or reform. I didn’t have any expectations for the sector’s response. It was impossible to. Firms need a reason to expand or venture into an ABS. There are so many different incentives and disincentives and these will change over time but the interest in ABSs will continue.

A

Q

Did law firms take up any support offered by the Law Society on reform and ABSs, as much as you would have hoped and if not, why? What is really needed though – further support and education or a culture change?

A

You don’t know what people are thinking if they don’t talk to you. The ABS model isn’t a onesize fits all however the essential ABS principles are to ensure that any model is acceptable to the regulators and protects the interests of clients. The Law Society is always willing to help.

It has a thriving law firm management section and that will continue to grow and offer support to law firms thinking of going through the ABS process.

There will be more interaction with the sector and The Law Society is getting better and better at communicating to its membership. I was as keen to meet as many people as possible during my year as President and as the word gets out as to how The Law Society can help then that relationship and support will only grow.

Q A

Is the next generation of lawyer aware of the realities of the shifting landscape and their potential role / place within the legal system of the future?

If they’re not already aware then it’s not for lack of being told! Young lawyers are pretty anxious but personally I think they have a bright future ahead of them. The legal profession would be unrecognisable to the senior lawyers in practice when I qualified in the 1970s but they and we have adapted and innovated to manage change. There are some great opportunities out there. There is also a

“There will come a point where clients don’t want to pay for those offices and go elsewhere, opening up the marketplace to other regions and structures which will be good for both women and men” ML // September 2013

huge amount of unmet legal need. The public is worried law will cost them too much to use or be scary in some way.

The profession has to deal with these issues and address them. I think that people with a ‘can do’ attitude – which lawyers have in spades – are likely to find great opportunities in the changes for the future.

Q A

Are you excited or nervous about the role of non-lawyers in delivery and business structuring of legal services? What can they bring to the sector?

I think there’s a useful comparison to be made with in-house lawyers in local authorities and other organisations.

They are all lawyers who work in businesses managed by non-lawyers

Business Section

“There is a willingness of the profession to embrace diversity; lawyers are pretty good at fairness; it’s an important part of being a lawyer in the first place” and this works perfectly well. They are working with people who have skills that are never taught to lawyers.

We have to find this kind of training elsewhere or learn from senior managers. We are now attracting people to the sector with management skills, who are willing to work with lawyers and who understand the need to protect the interests of clients.

Protecting the needs and rights of professionals

Q

Does the culture of law firms prevent the sector from tackling the real issues that pose as barriers to the long-term retention of women in the legal profession (and at a senior level)? If so, why and how can this be overcome?

Generally, there are plenty of law firms where women do well. The problem is mainly in commercial law firms where, despite having a good gender balance intake, women don’t rise to senior levels proportionately. There is a high number of drop-outs by women in commercial firms before they get to a senior level; many of them leave to go in-house. The problem appears to be cultural. My thinking about this is that organisations have modern HR practices and have more attractive working cultures for women.

Commercial firms continue to have a very macho culture. You have to prove yourself through hard work.

Women are capable of working very, very hard which is what’s required in a commercial firm but this can lead to a work-life balance that doesn’t work for them. This isn’t change for the better.

A

Q

There are a number of female entrepreneurs in the legal sector that act as role models for women in law. Are they realistically too few and do women in reality only have access to female role models within their own firm?

What is the alternative?

There are a number of senior women in law. However, that doesn’t mean to say they can

A

all be role models to all women. What one woman in law achieves might not be attractive to another. Just because a women is in a senior position doesn’t make her a role model for all. What the Women in Law Division or even the Junior Law Division can offer is a very good mix of women and men and women to take these issues through and to think about what women (and the men working with them) want the future to be like. It’s not the case that everyone wants the same thing.

What’s important is the best thing for the profession, that everyone is able to give their best in different ways.

Q

In an interview with Modern Law (issue 7), Helen Grant MP said quotas for equality and diversity are a bad idea. Is she right?

Have quotas been used effectively and fairly in law firms and what benefits / negatives can they bring to the profession?

At the moment, I don’t think quotas are the best way forward, not least because women are appalled at the thought of being employed on that basis. I and The Law Society are advocates of the use of targets that law firms set for themselves.

They know their own workforce and their own workforce needs. What they should be doing is creating targets based on questions around ‘if we do everything right for the future and in terms of intake, what proportion of women should reach a senior level?’ The law firms then own the target process which becomes more meaningful.

A

Q A

Do you think things will be different for the increasing number of women entering the profession in 20 years time?

I think things will be very different in 20 year’s time. It is now already possible to work in a number of different ways with the expanding use of technology and mobile working. The more flexible our working practices become, the more opportunities there are to retain women in senior roles. My own firm, Scomo, is a virtual firm where all the

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lawyers work from home or their own office. We have little overheads which means that, for Legal Aid lawyers, they are paid better than most. The big city firms have huge overheads and huge city offices.

There will come a point where clients don’t want to pay for those offices and go elsewhere, opening up the marketplace to other regions and structures which will be good for both women and men.

Q A

Are law firms getting better at the idea of forging flexible working procedures and cultures and are they working for both men and women?

It certainly ought to work for both, across the board. The Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter1 provides fantastic data and case studies of those firms which have already signed up to the Charter. There is a growing awareness that this is good for business as it means firms can retain talent and reduce employment overheads.

Q A

What can the Women Lawyers Division offer female lawyers that their firms and the wider sector role models can’t?

What the WLD provides is a safe space in which women from all law firms can communicate. The WLD provides a space for women to throw out ideas to one another and take benefit from the wider knowledge and experience of the Division. As well as supporting women in smaller firms, WLD is also particularly useful for women in large firms where the competition is hot and they don’t feel comfortable raising issues within their own firm.

Q A

What are your key objectives for the next year in your role as Chair of The Law Society’s Equality & Diversity Committee?

A very important aspect of my work is to progress the careers barrier action plan in relation to the issues women and minorities face in the law. There is a willingness of the profession to embrace diversity; lawyers are pretty good at fairness; it’s an important part of being a lawyer in the first place.

1. Previously discussed in Modern Law issue 7, page 11 www.lawsociety.org.uk/Advice/Diversity-Inclusion/

ML // September 2013

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Business Section

Interview with...

Simon Gibson Legislative developments to Personal Injury practice have ignited a fire of change within the sector and have left many firms being forced to consider a new approach. Charlotte Parkinson speaks to Simon Gibson, Managing Partner of the newly-launched ABS, SGI Legal, about its plans for growth and his views on the evolving world of personal injury.

Q A

Why did you take the decision to launch as an ABS firm?

There were three reasons for us deciding to launch as an ABS; we view our strategy as being one where law and legal skills are only one part of what drives us. We viewed the obtaining of an ABS licence as the quickest and most efficient way to bring the provision of non-legal services to our clients. The decision was very much centred on diversifying the business, both in terms of the skill base at board level and in terms of the services that we offer our clients into areas that don’t simply involve law.

We also very much want to position ourselves where we are going to be most attractive to external investors; we don’t have a plan to do this in the very short term. We wanted to be ready for it when the opportunity arises and not be restricted in terms of our growth plans by having to spend a period of time gaining the ABS licence. In short, it is about diversity and flexibility for the business.

Q A

What effect do you think the emergence of corporate ABS firms will have on the market?

In terms of corporate ABS firms, I was always of a view that it was going to be a slow burn and I think I have been proved right. Obviously, we have seen some headline-grabbing emergence of

solicitor/insurer partnerships of one or two high street names but they have not been that plentiful in number. Certainly, it will be interesting to watch how this section of the market develops in the next 5 to 10 years as the corporate world is definitely becoming more and more interested in legal services. The result of this will be the continued consolidation and shrinkage of the market. In 10 years we will see a split between relatively small numbers

“We viewed the obtaining of an ABS licence as the quickest and most efficient way to bring the provision of non-legal services to our clients” ML // September 2013

of large providers of legal services as well a number of niche focussed providers. I would be surprised if the legal market didn’t shrink by 50% and I would be surprised if the current general practice can survive.

We will begin to see a mixture of big corporate multi-faceted legal providers, who will be driven by excellent IT, business process and profit focus but I still think there is a future for the niche law firm who is very focused, well managed and well marketed. However, there will be far fewer of them. The boundaries will be pushed in terms of how businesses are funded, their corporate structure and how they use advanced IT to be more profitable and achieve greater market share.

Business Section

Q A

It has been reported that you recorded a turnover of £5m in your first 12 months trading as SGI Legal, what do you attribute this success to?

It is down to a number of things; the quality of the client and the route to market that we retained after the demerger (with Kirwans Solicitors). It is also down to the fantastic team that we brought with us following the demerger, both at partner and board level and in terms of our staff. It is due to commitment to IT and, in particular, using this to push the boundaries of efficiencies and good business process. Finally, our success is due to the clarity and focus of our vision and strategy. We have a very good business and we are geared up ideally for the new regime.

Q A

How have you gone about securing external investment and how do you think it could benefit the firm?

Although we are not currently seeking external investment, in the long term it would be hugely beneficial in terms of accelerating the growth of the business. We are doing a number of things to position ourselves for external investment; the most obvious of which being the ABS licence.

Yet we have also had to consider what external investors would be looking for. To be blunt, they want a project that is demonstrably profitable but can also be scaled in a short period of time in order to provide them with a very profitable exit strategy. It is clear they will be looking for a business which has a commodity or a process - proven to work and which can be finessed and grown through a cash injection. We think this is what we have got.

Q A

How influential do you see developments in technology being for the firm; both now and going forward?

Technology is absolutely crucial; I don’t see anything more important than that. The way in which legal services are provided historically has been wholly inconsistent with the challenges that law firms are facing now. The fact of the matter is that law firms are going to have to be able to provide their legal services in a way which is slicker, faster, rely far less upon labour intensive manpower and which gives clients exactly what they want, when they want it at the speed they want it. The way to do that is through technology. One of our real strengths is our IT team. We have brought a number of skill bases in house, such as .net development and case management development.

We also have a degree of resource within the IT team, whose job it is to strategically guide the business towards accomplishing a five year IT vision in three years. We are looking to get to the point of advancement much quicker than other firms because developments in technology are absolutely key. We invest more in our IT team than those firms who are three or four times our size. We also concentrate specifically on the type of skill bases we bring in to our IT department, the quality of programmer we have and the visionary IT professionals who have to look at our business and long term growth plan and tell us how we get there quicker and more profitably using IT.

Q “[External Investors] want a A

project that is demonstrably profitable but can also be scaled in a short period of time in order to provide them with a very profitable exit strategy”

Why did you make the decision to acquire the PI casework of the firm Challinors, which recently went into administration?

This is a real sector opportunity.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that many firms will be exiting the sector; some will be doing so via a voluntary decision and it may be forced upon some. We must remember that the clients are the most important people in all this and when a firm fails there can sometimes be hundreds of clients left in very precarious circumstances. This is particularly true in personal injury cases and these clients need to be looked after. We have the infrastructure and the knowledge to work with regulators and creditors to make that happen.

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“Firms have not been in the least bit challenged by the commercial drivers which affect the vast majority of businesses” From a commercial perspective, it is an attractive proposition for us because we have got the cash resource to allow us to make these acquisitions quickly; this is attractive to administrators and departing partners. These acquisitions form a key part of our strategy and we think there is a key window of opportunity in the next 18 months, as the personal injury market settles down. What we always focus on in these circumstances is being fair and respectful to all and that has to start with the client and the regulator.

The SRA has a very difficult job; we recognise that and our objective is to help in what can be very difficult circumstances.

Q A

What does the future hold for SGI Legal?

We have very ambitious growth plans in terms of our case numbers and growing our offering of non-legal services.

We are very interested in having closer partnerships with the provision of vehicle management services following accidents, to help clients with rehabilitation from injuries to expert reporting. We want to be able to provide our clients who are injured or disadvantaged from an accident, with every service they need - from inception to conclusion of the case. We are also looking to grow a wide general accident management brand which is not just focused on the provision of legal services. One of our biggest passions is in our team. We are committed to providing every member of our team with the means to reach their full potential; whether they join us as an office assistant, a partner or director, or anything in between. We think that our people, along with our systems, are what will drive our success.

ML // September 2013

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Business Section

Interview with...

Alex Mills The recent developments in the legal market have presented challenges for many established law firms but for some entrepreneurs like Alex Mills, these changes have inspired a wave of opportunity. Charlotte Parkinson, speaks to the former Apprentice candidate about his plans for the newly developed legal brand, Dynamo Legal and what sets it apart from the rest.

Q

Dynamo Legal specialises in a wide variety of areas of legal services – do you feel in doing this you will be sacrificing the client focus which is proving increasingly vital in this market?

No, Dynamo Legal is a consumer-facing brand. It is aimed towards everyone who needs legal services in the market place. Whatever legal service our clients need, they can deal with solicitors who have the same reputation for customer service and customer values as we are using independent solicitors who are specialists in their own area. To give an example; if a client comes to us wanting a solicitor to carry out a conveyance and then decided they want to start a business, they know that they can also use us for business law. Although they would be using a completely different solicitor (our business has a number of solicitors who deal with each specialism), the backbone of the business means that the consumer will feel happy using us because they have had a familiar service from a Dynamo Legal branded provider. They are given the vision that, whatever legal services they need to use and whatever area of law it is, they will have the same fluid consistency, customer satisfaction and support. That is the idea for our brand; I don’t think it will compromise on the customer service whatsoever. It gives people who are involved with Dynamo Legal more consumers who are happy to use the services. We also provide financial services and have a 24/7 consumer helpline in order to give clients the benefits of a bigger practice - but which still lets them retain ownership of their businesses.

A

ML // September 2013

Q A

Your business vision is ‘Dynamo Legal – the legal superbrand’. What sets you apart from the competition?

The fact is that we are a consumer facing legal brand and are able to provide whatever service our clients require - wherever they are in the UK. Dynamo Legal is not only just a legal services provider and a legal insurance provider, the Dynamo Group is expanding. We are moving into the insurance and financial markets as well with Dynamo Money and Dynamo Cover, so we are beginning to build up a financial and legal ‘superbrand’. The whole brand ethos is something that is easy, noncomplex, dynamic and innovative; our brand seeks to challenge the stereotypical legal image.

Q

It has been reported that you have given Dynamo Legal six months to capitalise on the publicity generated from your appearance on the Apprentice – how is this going so far?

We have completely changed this vision and the reason for this is that we have decided to move into the market a little bit later than was originally planned after the Apprentice. What the Apprentice gave me is a recognisable face, so if someone is looking at service providers and they see me, the idea is they know what to expect and there is the familiarity aspect because they have seen me before and they know I am a real person. It authenticates the brand and makes customers feel at ease, although they know there is still a business behind it.

A

“You need commercial business owners and marketing managers to run businesses and build branding; it is not as simple as it once was to have a place in the legal market”

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Q A

Had you got to the interview stage of the Apprentice, do you think that your business idea would be been successful and why?

Yes it absolutely would have been successful. The reason is because the business model is sound and it is what the market currently needs. The team that I work with and I are the right people to deliver what we have set out to do.

Q A

Having no experience in the legal market, what do you think you can bring to it?

The experience I have of the legal market is mainly as a customer. We are the ones providing the services to the solicitors with nationwide brand recognition, the flexibility and support they need. Since new challenges - like the introduction of ABSs - have arisen, this is becoming increasingly important. We have consumer marketing experts on board and this is what drives the business; the main cause for us entering the market is because we are experts in marketing.

Q A

What can other people like you bring to legal market?

The legal market now is going to completely change; we are leaving the old era where the professionals are simply left to get on with what they do and set up their own establishments. Business individuals from various backgrounds are now getting involved in order to build bigger and better companies.

You need commercial business owners and marketing managers to run businesses and build branding. It is not as simple as it once was to have a place in the legal market. People have traditionally entered firms with a training contract and have then set up their own businesses on the back of their knowledge and client base; that is not going to happen anymore.

People are now going to bring in external companies, structures and support mechanisms to develop their own legal brands. Solicitors have gone from being able to rely purely on the fact that they providers of the services to having to work for people and the new legal market is going to be completely changed by this new corporate structure.

“My vision, in the next five years, is to have a group of insurance and legal companies that will work harmoniously together to provide customer satisfaction to the nation”

Q A

What is the most important thing that a law firm should consider in the current market?

The best thing a law firm can do in the market is not think too much of their own branding because their branding means nothing but their reputation does. They need to work with dedicated advertising and marketing experts in order to bring in clients and they shouldn’t be afraid of working together with these types of institutions.

Q A

Did you have any external investment and/or would you consider it in future? What type of investment would be best for your business?

At the moment, I own 100% of Dynamo Legal and we have the support structure working with our other businesses. We have the call handling staff, website facilities, SEO management and advertising schemes behind us. So, rather than external investment, we are currently focussing on possible partnerships with law firms to give us the legal credibility when we are speaking to solicitors, so that they know there are already legal professionals behind it as well. We are not currently seeking any external investment but if anyone wants to ask, they can do!

Q

Dynamo Legal reportedly wants to recruit 245 law firms to its collective marketing scheme to build a £7m advertising powerhouse – what position do you see Dynamo Legal having in the market in the next two to five years?

We are scrapping the 245 law firms model and are now looking to recruit closer to 500 law firms, the reason for that is so we can knock down costs and look to provide our member firms with a share.

I see the Dynamo Group as a whole continuing to grow, with our insurance customers growing and also by moving into new markets. My vision, in the next five years, is to have a group of insurance and legal companies that will work harmoniously together to provide customer satisfaction to the nation. We are looking to blend our group of businesses together to make it easier for the general public and create something never seen before in this market and are offering solicitors and professionals the flexibility they need. We are building up a massive customer base and finalising the structure to make sure everything is perfect before rushing to the market. It is always the second mouse that gets the cheese because the first one has his head cut off; other people may rush to market, but we would prefer to wait and let them make the mistakes.

A

ML // September 2013

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Business Section

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An agile approach.

Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law, spoke to Dolores Evelyn, Eclipse Legal Systems about how an agile approach to running a law firm, whether a niche firm or a full service entity, is fast becoming the solution to the challenges presented in the modern legal arena.

R Dolores Evelyn

Charlotte Parkinson

ecent legislative changes have forced many law firms to swiftly acclimatise and adapt to a completely new marketplace.

Developments in a multitude of areas of the legal market are forcing many firms to take stock and reconsider their approach. In order to remain afloat, firms have to consider ways to run their practice as an agile business.

In most recent times, changes to the personal injury sector have forced many firms to reconsider their approach to the market entirely. Consolidation of the market is a threat, and these changes have affected the whole legal market, but it is the niche law firms in particular which might be experiencing the brunt of the new landscape.

A challenge for all The ‘Red Tape Challenge’ launched by the Government - a scheme devised to cut lengthy regulatory and administrative processes - has also lead to a number of legislative revisions in recent years and the legal sector has been on the receiving end of these. Although the scheme initially proposed changes to make processes within business easier, it has also sparked changes which have caused a greater work load for some firms. As well as the reforms to PI legislation, this government scheme has sparked change for regulation of claims management companies and commercial law amongst others.

Reforms to the entire sector, such as the LASPO act and developments in commercial and public litigation in recent years have brought about swathes of change across the wider legal market.

In light of these ongoing developments and reforms, there are a number of different ways in which these firms of all kinds can consider diversifying to retain a competitive

“Reforms to the entire sector, such as the LASPO act and developments in commercial and public litigation in recent years have brought about swathes of change across the wider legal market”

offering for clients. For niche firms of all specialisms, there is an option to adjust and streamline processes to take into account these new factors and continue to remain profitable regardless of the changes.

How to streamline your service The recent legislative changes to Road Traffic Accident Claims, for example, have seen government reforms affecting how these claims can be practised - and the new fixed fee regime being introduced, which has led to these types of claims becoming less profitable. Many firms have been looking at ways of streamlining their processes within these claims (such as utilising technology) in order to reduce overall costs - thus still benefitting from taking on RTA claims, regardless of the legislative change.

Some firms are looking to restructure their processes by diversifying and taking on new areas of legal service offerings, in order to increase and expand the firms’ client base and ensure they stay ahead in the new market.

“Many firms have been looking at ways of streamlining their processes within these claims (such as utilising technology) in order to reduce overall costs” Looking at ways to adapt quickly and effectively and remaining agile by adopting the ability to diversify your business offering is something which all law firms now have to do in this newly competitive and evolving market.

As Dolores, the Sales Director, at Eclipse Legal Systems, says: “An agile business approach has to be underpinned by technology. Without the ability to create great IT processes, you are at an immediate disadvantage.

Processes should reduce administration, remove duplication, and provide a ‘framework’ for increased efficiencies. So if you have the right kind of software, you can not only create processes which improve the way you do things now… but you can also expand these core processes into different work areas - using the nuts and bolts of your existing methodologies.

“We have a wide range of clients, using our Proclaim Case and Practice Management systems, who have successfully expanded into new work areas - or configured the way they deal with existing ones. They have all used this ethos - taking a great ‘process’ and adapting it to a changed or new environment. The fast and agile will survive and thrive!”

ML // September 2013

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Business Section

Implementation, training & skills.

F

ew now dispute that law firms and individual lawyers need to become more adept at project management.

So where to start? There are several possibilities and - in reality - a combination of each works best: 1.

Some of the larger law firms now employ professional project managers as legal project managers. As such, they are part of fee earning teams with their time being charged to clients.

This type of role works particularly well where the legal team handles large and complex matters. The legal project manager is the main point of contact with the client regards operational issues, and can also act as a project guide and mentor to the rest of the team.

2. Another option is to embed good

project management practice into standard processes and procedures.

The lawyers operating such procedures during live matters are barely aware that they are ‘applying legal project management’ they are simply following the firm’s proscribed processes and standards. Clearly in this scenario, the law firm’s processes will have had to be examined and (in all probability) re-designed with some input from people with project management expertise.

3. A third option is to train lawyers about project management skills and encourage them to apply these skills explicitly on their live cases.

For this to happen, lawyers need to acquire: • Knowledge about the methods and techniques used to manage projects efficiently • Skill at applying the above appropriately.

It seems to me that, stripped down to the bare essentials, lawyers need to attain greater understanding in particular of: scoping and estimating; managing a project once ‘in-flight’, and; communicating project progress clearly with all concerned. There are well-known methods and techniques which help professional project managers perform the above tasks, and these can be learned by lawyers.

A greater challenge is developing lawyer’s project management skills about how to apply these methods and techniques. Often, as soon as lawyers return to their office from the training venue, they become fully caught up in existing ‘day to day’ issues which leave little time to develop new skills. This is where coaching, as a follow-up to training, is invaluable. A good coach will remind lawyers of the new skills they have learned and help exercise them more consistently and effectively.

Antony Smith, Managing Director, Legal Project Management Limited

High street firm uses Proclaim to create a superb client experience.

St Helens Law, a full-service community law firm prides itself on being a local law firm committed to first-class customer care. To ensure this in the modern, highly competitive legal age, Debbie Murphy, Director, St Helens Law, brought Eclipse Legal Services on board to help increase efficiencies and adopt a new wave of client care techniques.

The challenge St Helens Law was born in 2001, the founders (and current directors) aiming to build a local law firm with a reputation for impeccable client service. The requirement was for a full practice management solution that could be implemented for a small firm, but which had the scope to be expanded in line with future growth.

The solution As an existing user of Eclipse’s last generation of software (named ‘CHASE’), the new law firm chose to implement a Proclaim Practice Management solution.

Proclaim has its own integrated development toolsets, providing the opportunity for active growth and enhancement in line with operational requirements.

The results St Helens Law now uses Proclaim for 25 staff across all departments – personal injury and clinical negligence,

family, conveyancing, probate and commercial litigation.

Proclaim was vital in enabling the practice to gain Lexcel accreditation, standardising processes across all departments, setting tasks and limitation warnings, and providing instant onscreen case review information.

The firm uses a ‘scan and shred’ methodology – the result being that all client and matter information is accessible within Proclaim by all authorised staff. This makes answering client queries very straightforward (no hunting for information!), and is enhanced by the firm’s use of Eclipse’s FileView system to provide secure, live online case viewing for clients.

Looking to the future, St Helens Law intends to further its use of Proclaim, looking upon the solution as a full business package – not just practice management.

Debbie Murphy, Director, St Helens Law

“Providing a great service and ‘experience’ for clients is our core ethos. Proclaim helps us to achieve that” Debbie Murphy, St Helens Law

ML // September 2013

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