When in-house IT experts bang on about data security and the ingenious strategies hackers are deploying to hack into law firm computer systems, most partners groan inwardly and wait for the inevitable request for funds. The question of where to draw the line on IT security spending is a tricky one and there are no easy answers. As a general rule of thumb, a pinch of scepticism seems prudent about whatever spend the IT department deems essential – let us not forget the prolonged hysteria over the Millennium software bug, which was far from the existential threat to law firms the IT geeks claimed it would be.

A recent BDO survey suggested that 60% of all law firms expect to have merger talks in the next three years, 30% of these in the next 12 months, with more than a third actually expect to merge within three years. Perhaps this is not entirely surprising given the state of the economy, clients demanding more for less, increasing competition from new ABS entrants, the fact that the average age of a male partner is reckoned to be 58, and that most law firms have not given serious thought to succession let alone put any detailed succession plans in place.

When it comes to processes and formal audits, the natural tendency for anyone is to put off analysing and understanding what you do and don’t do, until you really have to. That’s the point of deadlines, right? Well, compliance controls are designed so that they are a permanent part of operating culture, not just when you stand by your beds for inspection. This is certainly the case for the requirements under the SRA Handbook revision and cannot be taken lightly.

We kind of all knew it anyway, but just how much money a large insurance company like the Direct Line Group makes from referral fees still took my breath away. As we reported earlier this week, the group received £110m from solicitors in the three and a half years since January 2009. Call it £30m a year and extrapolate (the group’s market share is 19% of motor and 18% of home insurance) and you are looking at around £150m a year going from the pockets of solicitors to insurance companies for the privilege of receiving cases. And that’s before the £100m or so insurers make every year from credit hire referral fees.

The introduction of the new SRA Handbook on 6 October 2011, and the creation of compliance officers, was the first tangible wave of a further tightening of audit and control procedures among law firms. The regime seeks to create a framework for solicitors to adopt risk management and control processes that should, frankly, already be well established for the majority. It’s pleasing no doubt that the vast majority therefore complied and registered nominated solicitors and finance directors to pick up the compliance officer chalice. Yet, a staggering 800 had not registered on expiry of the deadline – do these really believe that the regime will not flex its muscles and that by ignoring this, they will remain hidden?