Given the inherent complications in the new tax legislation for fixed-share LLP members, it is tempting to side-step the rules by engaging an individual as a consultant rather than an LLP member. This is particularly the case for LLP members who are nearing retirement and looking to withdraw from the LLP, not take on more risk and increase their investment!

Many at the Bar and beyond will be familiar with the ‘10,000 hours’ theory – put forth by Swedish psychologist K Anders Ericsson and further propagated by popular writer Malcolm Gladwell. That is: the formula for success, in any field, is 10,000 hours of practice. Integral to this, but perhaps less well known, is the notion that such practice needs to be deliberate – carefully structured and executed in a way that will have the greatest results for performance. In other words, quality matters just as much as, if not more than, quantity.

As the post LASPO dust finally starts to settle, there’s been a lot of coverage about the winners (if there are any) and the losers in the new landscape. Is anyone happy? Well, defendant liability insurers are bemoaning the fact that claim numbers are back to pre-quarter one 2013 levels and that the predicted savings haven’t yet materialised.

Even in the midst of growing uncertainty and upheaval in the legal sector, many law firms are managing to grow profits and create capital value. So, what is it that makes these law firms successful and others less so?

Monday-Friday, 9-5, is not how the world works anymore. Nowadays customers are driving the interactions they have with businesses, demanding information when and where they want it, on their timescales and in a way that works for them, not in a way that is convenient for the business who wants to deal with them.