The essential guide to conduct, compliance and competence, and the Legal Services Act
Legal Features
Pass the parcel: should you indemnify your COLP?
Allison Wooddisse, head of LexisPSL Practice Compliance, looks at the whether and how law firms should indemnify COLPs against adverse consequences from taking on the role. Many COLPs are feeling jumpy but an indemnity is not as straightforward as it may appear.
Demystifying the banking process – what your bank looks for in your firm
The recession and continuing economic challenges highlight the increasing importance of law firms having an effective business strategy in place that considers the ambitions of the firm but ensures that those ambitions are delivered against access to suitable levels of cash flow. By Legal Futures Associate NatWest
Re-shaping your firm – and how to pay for it
Chris Marston, head of professional practices at Lloyds TSB Commercial, takes a look at how solicitors’ firms can compete against external capital.
How to compete with LPO providers
The fallout from the financial crisis as well as growing threats from the legal process outsourcing industry is making it even more difficult for legal practices to juggle client expectations and fee income, says Peter Collins. Many are looking to manage their own resources more effectively.
Keeping the Information Commissioner off your back
The recent case of a Scottish advocate’s stolen, unencrypted laptop raises some important questions regarding data controller responsibility, portable media (not just laptops) and the options available for securing such media, explains Matt Torrens.
Taking public access seriously
The Bar Council is urging barristers to embrace public access. But, says John Binks, the reality of doing the work will come as a rude shock to many barristers. It can be done, but they will need to revisit the way they do business, including the chambers model.
Getting your client-care letters right
Lisa Dixon from the Institute of Legal Finance & Management argues that firms should consider issuing separate terms and conditions with their client-care letters that deal specifically with the issues around client funds.
The Bar through a generational lens
Ian Dodd considers the background and motivations of the four ‘generations’ of barristers currently populating the Bar, from the ‘Veterans’ to Generation Y, and says chambers would do well to ensure that all are properly involved in their management.
Banning referral fees and then cutting RTA portal costs will have “devastating” impact
It is full steam ahead at the Ministry of Justice with the Jackson reforms, but do the figures add up? If they do, what do they add up to? Amanda Ashton of Compass Costs crunches the figures on the impact a reduction in RTA portal fees will have in the event referral fees are banned
Will-writer regulation and the need to address poor-quality work by solicitors
In a robust defence of the will-writing industry, Steve Jenkins of leading provider Trust Inheritance argues that while some targeted regulation of the sector could help, there needs to be a strong focus on improving the quality of solicitors’ work.
Will the separate business rule ruin CMCs’ plans to become ABSs?
I spoke at a conference organised by the Claims Standards Council earlier this year in Manchester on applying to become an alternative business structure. Inevitably the main topic of the conference was the Jackson reforms and the (then) possible threat to referral fees. The organisers thought that the impact of the reforms might lead many claims management companies to consider becoming an ABS by acquisition or merger with existing law firms or by developing an in-house legal function.
Why brand is the new “must-have” in legal services
Pearse McCabe of brand and digital agency Rufus Leonard explains how important branding will become in the post-ABS world and considers some of the key issues that traditional law firms need to look at in response.
The hybrid LLP – a new business model for the law firm partnership?
With the days of full distribution of profits to partners coming to an end, Mark Waddilove, a tax director at accountants Baker Tilly, and Jonathan Cheney, a managing associate at national law firm Addleshaw Goddard, explain how a corporate member of an LLP can mitigate the tax charges on retained profits
The two faces of the law
Chrissie Lightfoot argues that the two dominant umbrella business models coming to the fore in legal services can be summed up as “Face to Face” and “Interface”. She says the emergence of a legal franchising model such as face2face solicitors offers a real opportunity for entrepreneurial lawyers to embrace both.
Phone hacking “highlights risks law firms run” when using unregulated private eyes
Many law firms engage private investigators, but the phone hacking scandal illustrates the risk they run by hiring unregulated people, says Tony Immosi, president of the Association of British Investigators.
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Legal Features
