The legal profession is undoubtedly undergoing a transformation period, driven by technological advancements, shifting client expectations and evolving work culture. To empower the next generation of lawyers and law firm leaders, firms must adapt and innovate, addressing critical areas such as hybrid working, wellbeing, personal development and continuous training. In this blog we look at these key areas and how firms can adapt and empower the next generation, ultimately creating a thriving, sustainable and dynamic workforce.  

Embracing Hybrid Working  

The pandemic has forever altered our perception of the traditional office. Hybrid working models, which combine remote and in-office work, offer flexibility and can enhance productivity. For law firms, adopting a hybrid working structure requires:

• A strong Technological Infrastructure  

Invest in secure, reliable technology that supports seamless communication and collaboration. Tools like cloud-based document management systems and virtual meeting platforms are essential.  

• Clear Policies  

Develop clear hybrid working policies that outline expectations, communication protocols, and performance metrics. Flexibility should be balanced with accountability.  

• Work-Life Balance  

Encourage a culture that respects boundaries between work and personal life, ensuring lawyers can disconnect and re-charge.  

Statistics indicate that employees in hybrid working environments report higher job satisfaction. According to a survey by FlexJobs, 97% of workers desire some form of remote work. 

Prioritising Wellbeing  

A lawyer’s job is incredibly demanding, both physically and mentally, they often face high stress levels, long hours and intense workloads. Prioritising wellbeing is crucial for maintaining a healthy, productive workforce. To support staff, firms can look at implementing the following: 

• Wellbeing Days: Introduce regular wellbeing days where employees can take time off to focus on their mental and physical health. These days can help reduce burnout and improve overall job satisfaction. 

• Mental Health Support: Provide access to mental health resources such as counselling services, stress management workshops, and mental health days. 
• Wellness Programs: Offer wellness programs that include fitness classes, mindfulness sessions, and ergonomic assessments to promote a holistic approach to health.

Personal Development Programmes 

Personal development is key to retaining talent and preparing future leaders. Law firms should create comprehensive personal development plans that include: 

• Mentorship Programs: Establish mentorship programs that pair junior lawyers with experienced mentors who can provide guidance, support, and career advice. 

• Regular Feedback: Implement a system for regular, constructive feedback that helps lawyers understand their strengths and areas for improvement. 

• Career Pathways: Clearly define career progression pathways, providing transparency and opportunities for advancement within the firm. 

A LinkedIn report revealed that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. 

Invest in continuous training  

The legal sector is constantly evolving, and continuous training is essential for lawyers to stay current and competitive. Law firms should focus on: 

• Professional Development: Offer regular training sessions on emerging legal trends, new regulations, and technological advancements in the legal field. 

• Soft Skills Training: Develop programs that enhance soft skills such as communication, leadership, and negotiation, which are critical for effective lawyering and client relations. 

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Encourage lawyers to engage in cross-disciplinary learning to broaden their expertise and adaptability. This can include training in business management, finance, or technology. 

According to the Association for Talent Development, companies that offer comprehensive training programs have 218% higher income per employee than those without formalised training. 

Cultivating a Diverse and Inclusive Culture 

Diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords; they are fundamental to fostering innovation, representing a broad client base and attracting new talent. There are various ways firms can work towards a diverse and inclusive culture, including: 

• Diversity Initiatives: Implement diversity initiatives that actively recruit and retain lawyers from diverse backgrounds. 

• Inclusive Environment: Create an inclusive work environment where all employees feel valued and respected, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, or background. 

• Bias Training: Conduct regular bias training to ensure that unconscious biases do not hinder the progress of any team member. 

McKinsey’s research shows that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. 

Empowering the next generation of lawyers and law firm leaders requires a multifaceted approach. By embracing hybrid working, prioritizing wellbeing, fostering personal development, investing in continuous training, and cultivating a diverse and inclusive culture, law firms can build a resilient, forward-thinking workforce that is attractive to the next generation of lawyers and future-proof. The future of law is not just about adapting to change; it’s about leading it.  

It’s been another busy and exciting year for Cashroom, with new technology launches, various events and an exciting award win. As we come to the end of another year, it’s a great time to look back at the years success, where we can make improvements  and begin looking forward into a new year, a new start and new goals.  

Key highlights from 2023:  

Developing New Technology  

This year our dedicated engineering team have released and integrated TWO industry firsts. Firstly, earlier in the year we were able to introduce Open Banking technology into our client portal, providing a more streamlined process for cashiers and clients by creating a link between our client portal and the bank. This allowed Cashroom cashiers to access transactions directly, without the need to log into the banking platform each time. Giving us the capacity to speed up incoming funds response times for our clients. This has proven a huge benefit for all our clients, and in particular, our conveyancing clients who have been able to reduce delays in completion chains.  

In addition, we recently launched our revolutionary Confirmation of Payee feature which will be rolled out to all clients early next year. As another exciting first for the industry, Confirmation of Payee ensures that payee’s banking information is verified at the very beginning of the payment process, preventing future delays or misdirected payments due to incorrect details.  

At Cashroom, we are constantly striving to innovate our services, through utilising technology to introduce new solutions that cater to the individual requirements of our law firm clients. We are revolutionising Legal Accounting.  

Read more about our Open Banking here.

Support Team of the Year  

We were proud to bring home the trophy for Support Team of the Year at this year’s Scottish Legal Awards. This was an incredible achievement and a true reflection of the hard work and dedication of our service teams, who, on a daily basis, go beyond to provide first class support to our clients. To receive the recognition for our hard work and efforts at such prestigious awards is something we are very proud of. From the technology that powers our service, our training academy, our operational and HR teams to our frontline service teams and absolutely everyone in between, this award is an achievement for everyone at Cashroom.  

Our CEO, Chris O’Day said “We won this award back in 2014 and since then the company has grown, our service has improved, our technology has evolved, and our teams continue to grow. The level of talent and quality of the nominees in the room always serves as a reminder to Cashroom of why we provide the services we do to support law firms in Scotland and across the UK. Whilst we have some huge ambitions and work in the pipeline this award serves as a great reminder to look back and appreciate and recognise what we as a company have achieved so far. It’s an exciting time for Cashroom.”  

We were also highly commended at this year’s British Wills and Probate awards for Best Use of Technology. A huge success for our engineering team for the work they put into making our client portal more efficient and innovative to support compliance and reduce risk for law firms.  

Networking Heights  

We had the pleasure of being involved in a range of industry events this year, including Law Firm Ambitions inaugural in-person conference, which as founding partners, we were proud to be a part of and we can say with confidence that it was a huge success. There are too many to mention but it has been great to speak to so many of our clients and industry friends on the road this year and hear about new accomplishments and share advice as we all navigate the complex legal sector.  

The Legal Sector really does always come together to support one another and it is great to be involved in so many prestigious events and we are already looking forward to next year!  

Client Successes 

We are grateful to have expanded our client base again this year and support the legal industry in reducing risk, ensuring compliance and increasing efficiencies in their firms. By providing tailored solutions and our expert team of cashiers and accountants we have been able to help many of our clients achieve their own financial goals this year.  

“As a result of partnering with Cashroom we can now grow our business at a faster pace, with the knowledge that our finance function is in safe hands.” Phil Ryan, Director, Cheval Legal 

Team Growth 

This year we have had a core focus on our people – the amazing team of legal accounting experts at Cashroom. In a hybrid working world we understand the importance of employee empowerment and fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning and personal development. We have had numerous promotions; new qualifications and our Cashroom Academy has had a 97% completion rate across the year on all of our in-house training courses. As we continue our partnership with ILFM, we have seen a significant increase this year in staff progressing through their ILFM qualifications. These investments in our team mean we can continue to provide an industry best service to our valued clients.    

Looking Ahead to 2024 

As we look forward to 2024, we are excited to continue to improve our technology and service even more through innovative developments and nurturing our people to continue revolutionising legal accounting for law firms. We have some big goals and exciting things on the horizon, and we can’t wait to get started and share them with you.  

To keep up to date with all of the latest news and updates from Cashroom, you can sign up to our monthly newsletter here.

What are you goals for 2024?  

Now is a time when a lot of us begin looking at our goals for next year and how we will achieve them.  

If your law firm is looking to outsource your finance function next year, get in touch with our team. We have limited consultancy calls available in January so if you are considering outsourcing your finance function or looking to save costs, increase efficiency and resource or ensure compliance for your firm, book in for a confidential call with our friendly team.  

Our Mission

For the past 14 years, Cashroom has been a trusted partner for law firms of all sizes and types, providing reliable, accurate, and specialized legal accounting support. Our mission at Cashroom is to simplify legal accounting for lawyers, allowing them to focus on what they do best – practicing law. 

We are revolutionizing the field of legal accounting by offering law firms access to highly skilled, qualified, and experienced legal cashiers at a fraction of the cost of hiring their own staff. This not only helps firms save money but also unlocks a wide range of additional benefits. 

Our commitment to accuracy, efficiency, and compliance in legal accounting has earned the trust of over 280 clients across the UK. Since the pandemic, there has been a remarkable 35.3% increase in the adoption of our outsourcing solutions within the legal market. Every month, we transfer over £2 billion of client funds and have processed an impressive 387,403 cashiering requests for our clients from January to June 2023. Our client portal, which boasts over 7,000 law firm users, is designed to deliver a unique, secure, and exceptional service through its 400 request types, automated tasks, workflows, and authorization processes tailored to each specific request. 

To address the insecurities and rising threat of fraudulent payments associated with email, we have developed a revolutionary web-based portal that provides our clients with unparalleled security and protection. Our portal utilizes unique authorization workflows, mandatory fields for request submission, and compliance with the Solicitors Accounts Rules. Not only does this ensure the provision of necessary information, but it also facilitates encrypted communication between Cashroom and our clients, while offering excellent task management capabilities. 

Our client portal is a testament to our commitment to innovation. Tailored specifically for legal accounting, it is robust, secure, and efficient. By continuously developing and enhancing our portal based on client feedback, we ensure that it provides the best possible service to law firms. Clients can securely communicate with Cashroom, access their financial information, and benefit from a clear audit trail. Our in-house development team is always available to listen to ideas for further improvements and implement them promptly, fostering a culture of innovation. 

At Cashroom, our focus is on delivering excellence in service, and that includes having a dedicated Cashroom team specifically assigned to each client firm. Despite having a large team of over 150 staff, we pride ourselves on providing a personalized and human touch to our service. We believe that the interaction and rapport we build with our clients contribute to the high-quality service we provide. 

In addition to safeguarding our clients from cybercrime, Cashroom also places paramount importance on client success. From the very beginning, we take the time to understand our clients’ businesses, ensuring a seamless transition to Cashroom. Our dedicated onboarding team follows a well-tested process, and our client care team maintains regular contact to deliver excellent customer service and add value to our clients’ businesses. With our expertise in dealing with a wide variety of firms and systems, we work closely with clients to optimize processes and enhance efficiency, while providing enhanced security and compliance. 

At Cashroom, we take pride in our team of experts, including ILFM  and SOLAS qualified Cashiers, Solicitors, and Chartered Accountants. This unique support network ensures that our clients receive comprehensive assistance in managing their accounts department. We invest in our staff through our in-house academy, providing ongoing training and development opportunities. This commitment to excellence is what sets our cashiers apart, ensuring that they are qualified or in the process of obtaining qualifications. This academy enables us to better support our teams, ensuring the delivery of crucial and exceptional service. 

By choosing Cashroom, law firms can confidently use our services alongside their preferred case management system, harnessing the industry’s best processes and efficiencies. This unique combination of expertise, security, and flexibility sets us apart from any in-house solution.  

Cashroom are also cyber essentials plus accredited to ensure maximum security for our clients.  

Keeping Clients at the heart of everything we do   

At Cashroom, we work with our clients to ensure they are achieving their goals through using our products and services. From the first point of contact our team get to know the client’s business, meaning moving across to Cashroom can be as pain free as possible for the client. We created a specific team for onboarding of firms and new clients are taken through a well worked and tested process to bring them into service. We have a dedicated client care team who are in regular contact with clients ensuring we are delivering excellent customer service and adding value to our clients’ businesses. We have employed senior people from outside the legal sector who have expertise in client success and resource management, adding to the unique nature of our support.  

A key focus is efficiency, and agreeing processes with clients that are optimal, calling upon our extensive experience of dealing with a wide variety of firms and systems. We know what works well!  

Cashroom’s dedicated service team is committed to providing essential support, ensuring that clients receive accurate data and timely delivery of vital information. We assist clients with billing queries, promptly addressing any questions they may have about invoices through our secure portal. Our service team also offers invaluable financial information, enabling us to deliver the best possible financial service to the industry. 

Our integrated portal provides a seamless and secure communication channel for our clients. Through carefully designed processes, we ensure that the interaction between fee earners and cashiers is even more efficient than in-house finance functions. This not only enhances security and compliance but also adds value to our services. 

At Cashroom, our focus is on delivering excellence in service. We ensure that each client firm’s Cashroom team consists of a small number of dedicated individuals, providing a personalized touch and fostering strong client relationships. 

Continuously striving to improve, we develop new products and services based on client feedback. With our in-house IT and development team, we can quickly respond to client demands and create a continuously improved client experience through our integrated portal. 

If you are interested in finding out how Cashroom can support your firm, get in touch with our team.

E: info@thecashroom.co.uk 

P: 01695 550950  

There’s a well-worn saying which I’ll paraphrase – if you don’t adapt, you don’t just stand still, you go backwards.

Never a truer word, given the steady march of tech advancement across the legal sector. There are new toys galore, and not just technology aimed at law firms, but also the rise of AI, and the influx of expertise from outside the legal world, bringing world class business tech into play.

A good starting point is for firms to actually optimise and properly utilise their practice management system. Far too many have old and creaky systems which don’t give the resilience, agility and security that more modern systems can provide. However, even those firms who have traded up and obtained a quality PMS often do not maximise the potential of the system with proper implementation.

Far too many firms continue to use vulnerable email to communicate within the firm and with their clients. In these days of increasing cyber threat, that really must be viewed as a negligent approach. At Cashroom we developed a secure communication portal to engage with our clients, removing risk and creating significant efficiencies with the movement of data. Our clients effectively piggyback on our technological advances – in effect they outsourced the problem of tech knowledge in the finance function area of their business.

For law firms trying to keep up with tech advances, the crucial question should always be “Am I providing the best possible service to my clients?” and the answer to that question can only be properly given by someone who is keeping abreast of what tools are available.

Communication and responsiveness are the biggest pitfalls – the things that most often bring criticism from clients. In the drive for 5-star reviews, one of the quickest ways to lose stars is to fail in that area. As a judge for two of the most prestigious legal awards, (British Conveyancing Awards, and British Wills and Probate Awards) I see many submissions which extol the virtues of innovation and the optimal use of tech, in particular as it relates to interaction with clients. Happy clients make for happier staff and repeat business as well as powerful testimonials and reviews.

For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not suggesting firms should throw caution to the wind and go for every shiny new gadget in town. What I am saying is that every firm needs to keep themselves informed about tech innovation, because they can be sure their potential clients and competitors will be doing.

To find out more about how Cashroom utilise innovative technology combined with expert knowledge to deliver legal accounting as a service, get in touch with our team today.

E: info@thecashroom.co.uk

P: 01695 550950

The Cashroom team have been out and about at various events over the past few months and last week we attended the Bold Legal Group summer conference & Soiree. This was a fantastic event with numerous insightful takeaways. It was great to catch up with some of our Cashroom friends and meet lots of new ones.

If you don’t know already, Bold Legal Group was set up by Rob Hailstone, an ex-residential property conveyancer with over 45 years’ experience. With the implementation of the Legal Services Act 2007, a new SRA handbook and many other issues to deal with in conveyancing, Rob realised that law firms needed an extra ‘pair of eyes’ to make sure they were kept fully informed and up to date with issues such as AML/ID, SRA fraud and scam alerts, Law Society practice notes, GDPR and much more.  Find out more about BLG here: https://www.boldgroup.co.uk/

The Bold Legal Group network members work together, share experiences, problems, solutions, and successes. Bold Legal Group’s aim is to embrace new opportunities that the changing legal landscape creates and ensure that clients have continued access to good efficient legal advice and help throughout England & Wales.

We spoke to a lot of conveyancers at the event, and it became clear that many of these firms cashiering departments need additional support – something that Cashroom can help with. For conveyancers and their clients, an efficient accounting department with tight controls is crucial. Our team of cashiers transfer almost £3 Billion of clients’ money, and we are confident that your transactions are in the best hands with us. Unlike any other outsourced provider and many in-house teams Cashroom offer efficiency through our unique and secure client portal, which has been built in its entirety in-house, removing the need for email communications and reducing the risk of fraud and scams, of which the conveyancing sector is a prime target for by criminals.

Our portal includes workflows for best practice and a clear audit trail for your own peace of mind. With over 140 legal cashiers and accountants your firm has access to a wealth of experience and each task is completed by the correct person with the right skillset – not even the largest firms in the UK have access to this size of resource. We work with whatever practice management system your firm choses and are completely system agnostic.

Firms we work with enjoy peace of mind that their compliance is covered. Our cashiering teams have up to date knowledge of the SRA Accounts Rules and the CLC code of conduct. Our in-house academy ensures we are on top of the latest rules and regulations and can share our in-depth knowledge with our clients.

We know that completion days require additional resource. Lawyers and in-house accounting teams can be overwhelmed on these busy days and transferring high volumes of client money is high-risk for firms and requires correct compliance and attention to detail. If cashiering teams are overworked, stressed, and feeling as though their heads are only just above water, mistakes can happen, and this brings an added risk to firms and clients.

At Cashroom, we provide flexible resource meaning you can account for busy days and relieve the stress from your in-house teams, this feature of our service is something our conveyancing clients gain full advantage of.

You can find out more about our services here: https://www.thecashroom.co.uk/services/

Conveyancing is stressful, but the rewards are worth it. Your clients depend on you, and we know how many conveyancers go above and beyond day in day out for their clients. Cashroom can help relieve some of the stresses for your firm, meaning you can dedicate more time to your clients whilst our experienced and dedicated cashiers provide additional support for your finance function. The result = happier clients, happier regulators, happier staff, and a happier firm.

If you are a conveyancing firm and want to find out more about how Cashroom can work with you to ensure compliance and reduce risk in your firm, contact our team for a confidential chat.

Email: info@thecashroom.co.uk

Phone: 01695 550950

As a law firm, it’s important to have a strong online presence to attract and retain clients. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO can help your law firm rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and increase your online visibility, ultimately leading to more clients and increased revenue.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of SEO for law firms, the basics of getting SEO right, key factors for success for law firm’s SEO and how your law firm can optimise it’s content for SEO. There will be something practical that you can take away from this blog.

Why Law Firms Need SEO

People are searching for legal services online, and if your law firm doesn’t appear in the search results, you are absolutely missing out on potential clients. This is why search engine optimisation is so important. If your competitors are investing resources in their SEO, it’s likely that they will be showing up for search terms you also want to rank for and your firm will therefore be losing out on enquiries.

SEO is a way to optimise your law firm’s website and online content to rank higher in search engine results. By doing this, you increase the chances of people finding your website when they search for legal services online. This, in turn, increases your online visibility and can lead to more clients and revenue for your law firm.

Understanding the Basics of SEO

Before you can start optimising your law firm’s website for SEO, it’s important to understand the basics of how search engines work. Search engines use algorithms to rank websites based on various factors, including relevance, authority, and user experience.

Relevance refers to how closely your website matches the search query. Authority refers to how authoritative your website is in your industry and user experience refers to how easy it is for users to navigate and use your website.

To improve your law firm’s SEO, you need to optimise your website and online content to fit the above three criteria – relevancy, authority and user experience. This involves optimising your website’s structure, content, and meta-data to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website, but also ensure it follows a coherent structure for your users too.

Key Factors for Successful Law Firm SEO

There are several key factors that are important for successful law firm SEO. The first is keyword research. You need to identify the keywords and phrases that potential clients are searching for when looking for legal services online. These keywords should be incorporated into your website’s URLs, on-page headings content and meta-data to improve your website’s relevance to those search queries.

Another important factor is backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites to your firm’s website. Search engines view backlinks as a vote of confidence in your website’s authority and relevance. The more high-quality backlinks your law firm website has, the higher it will rank in search engine results. Have a read about the SEO benefits of digital PR for law firms, and how to determine whether a backlink is of good quality in this blog post.

Content is also important for successful law firm SEO. You need to create high-quality, relevant, and engaging content that provides value to your website visitors. This can include blog posts, articles, videos, and other forms of content that demonstrate your expertise and authority in your field and answer FAQs. This content can then be repurposed on your firm’s social media channels too for even further reach.

Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

SEO isn’t easy, and SEO managers spend hours learning the best practices and understanding how search engines work. So, while there are many things you can do to improve your law firm’s SEO, there are also several common mistakes that your law firm needs to avoid so it isn’t penalised by the search engines.

One of the biggest mistakes is keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is the practice of overusing keywords in your website’s content and meta-data in an attempt to rank higher in search engine results.

Another common mistake is neglecting the experience a user has when visiting your website. What we call in our industry User Experience (UX). Your website should be easy to navigate, with clear calls-to-action and forms above the fold. If your website is difficult to use or navigate, visitors will quickly leave and search engines will view your website as low-quality. In this blog post we discuss eight ways to tell whether your law firm might need a website refresh in this blog post. Optimised content is essential for your law firm website success, but you need to ensure your website is designed well too because mobile friendliness and time to load are just a couple of the other important SEO factors.

Finally, it’s important to avoid purchasing low-level backlinks or engaging in other black-hat SEO tactics. These tactics can lead to penalties from search engines and damage your law firm’s online reputation. PR Executive has covered best practices on how to approach journalists so your law firm can gain reputable links and PR coverage in this blog post.

Optimising Your Law Firm Website for SEO

Once you understand the basics of SEO and the key factors for successful law firm SEO, it’s time to start optimising your law firm’s website for SEO.

This involves several steps, including:

• Conducting keyword research to identify relevant keywords and phrases
• Optimising your website’s content and meta-data to include those keywords
• Creating high-quality content that provides value to your website visitors
• Ensuring your website’s structure is optimised for search engines
• Building quality backlinks from other high-quality websites

So, where can you start?

1.     Creating Quality Content for Your Law Firm Website

As mentioned above, quality content is an important factor in successful law firm SEO. Your content should provide value to your website visitors and demonstrate your expertise and authority in your field. There are a variety of ways your firm can do this, but answering common questions is a good place to start.

2.     Building Quality Backlinks for Your Law Firm Website

To build quality backlinks, you need to create high-quality content that other websites will want to link to. This can include blog posts, articles, infographics, and other types of content that demonstrate your expertise and authority in your field.

You can also reach out to other websites and offer to guest post or contribute content. This can help you build relationships with other websites in your industry and increase the number of high-quality backlinks to your law firm website.

3.     Measuring the Success of Your Law Firm SEO Efforts

Once you’ve implemented your law firm’s SEO strategy, it’s important to track success.To determine the success of your law firm SEO efforts, you need to track and measure your website’s performance over time. This can include tracking your website’s search engine rankings, website traffic, and conversion rates.

You can use tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to track these metrics and identify areas for improvement. By regularly measuring your website’s performance, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your law firm’s SEO and increase your online visibility.

Hiring SEO Services for Your Law Firm

SEO is an essential part of your law firm’s digital marketing strategy so it is important to get it right. By optimising your law firm’s website and online content for search engines, you can increase your online visibility and attract more clients to your law firm.

To succeed with SEO, it’s important to understand the basics of SEO, avoid common mistakes, and focus on creating high-quality content and building quality backlinks to your law firm website.

SEO isn’t always straightforward, and success isn’t going to happen overnight. So, if your firm doesn’t have the time or expertise to manage its SEO efforts, it may be worth enlisting the help of a specialist digital marketing agency for lawyers.

Book a call in with the team at Conscious Solutions to discuss how they can help your law firm become more successful online using SEO on 0117 325 0200 or sales@conscious.co.uk.

Like many businesses, it’s taken Post Partner a little while (since 2019 in fact!) to work out exactly what it is we exist to do…our “Massive Transformational Purpose” to use some fashionable jargon.

Ok, we help improve efficiency, reduce security risks, increase profitability etc…but what’s the bigger picture?

It was in looking at ‘digital transformation’ more generally that it eventually became clear.

We protect fee earners from admin in a digital world!

The light bulb moment

Our products and services don’t JUST save time; they are specifically tailored to route admin tasks away from lawyers to either administrators, or, increasingly, to automation tools, to enable fee earners to concentrate on legal work.

It seems to us that whilst many ‘digital transformations’ doubtlessly save time, improve security, reduce errors, are generally great etc. they often end up channelling admin tasks directly to fee earners, whereas previously those tasks would have been undertaken by administrators.

A great example

Filing e-mails is a prime example of this. The filing of post, a.k.a. ‘the mail’, has traditionally been an administrative task; and a pretty lowly one at that. The advent of e-mail and case management systems however has completely reversed this. Lawyers, not administrators are spending several hours a week (sometimes a day!) filing emails. The tail appears to be (quite vigorously) wagging the dog!

The impact for firms

As a result, we are seeing a number of negative consequences, including

• Skilled administrators being underutilised,
• Increasing levels of fee-earner burnout
• Admin being done poorly – Newsflash – lawyers are not generally very good at admin!

Our short term plan

In the coming months we will be challenging law firms and lawyers themselves to consider, on a variety of simple statements, such as “fee earners in our firm don’t file the emails”, just how admin heavy their lives really are. An admin health check if you like.

Perhaps an interesting thought experiment is to cast our minds back to the 1990’s. The music was evidently better , and, according to the majority of practitioners we’ve spoken to on the topic, so was the role of a fee earner!

Assuming it’s not just a matter of rose-tinted glasses, why on earth would that be? Technology has advanced enormously, more flexible working arrangements are generally available, and there is plenty of work (and therefore money) available for firms who have survived consolidation. It should be a great time to be, for example, a conveyancing solicitor, and yet we have a ‘burn-out pandemic’ on our hands and mass exodus from the sector, making recruitment and retention many firms No1 headache.

Reaction from the sector so far

As illuded to above, I attribute the change in fortunes, at least in part, to an unhelpful blurring of the lines between administrative and legal tasks. My comments along these lines, both on LinkedIn and in private conversations, have been met very positively and have been something of an eyeopener to some people. It can be easy to miss the forest for the trees. The only negative reaction (to my knowledge) was one person misinterpreting my comments as saying lawyers are more important than administrators. My point of course is that fee-earning and admin are both important, but they are different, and should be allocated accordingly.

Conclusion

At a time where burn-out is a pandemic in our industry and with recruitment & retention of the best talent being the No1 priority in forward thinking firms…Post Partner are proud (and pretty excited!) to be in the ‘fee earner protection game’.

Tom Bailey

Managing Director at Post Partner

Outsourcing your finance function is a big decision for firms, that’s why we have collated a list of our frequently asked questions to help. Outsourcing your finance function doesn’t need to be daunting, the process is simple and can save your firm time, money and significantly reduce risk.  

Working with Cashroom as an outsourced finance provider means firms no longer need to worry about resource, holiday cover and can confident their firm is adhering to compliance regulations.  

Do I need to change system provider? 

There is no need to change your system provider when outsourcing to Cashroom. We are system agnostic and work with any practice management system, meaning your firm can stay with the system that works for you.  

We also have integrations into leading Practice Management Systems such as LEAP, Denovo, Klyant and Clio and banking networks.

How does the service work? 

You would have your own dedicated team who operate remotely as an extension of your firm. They communicate with you via our secure client portal, acting on your instructions in real time. They will make postings, reconcile accounts, set up payments, run your payroll, or produce detailed management accounts for you as part of an efficient, compliant and secure service. Our teams are encouraged to develop strong working relationships with our clients, so that they very much feel like part of your firm. Our services can provide you with a completely outsourced finance/accounts function or support your existing in-house team.  

What kind of law firms do you support?  

We support law firms of all shapes and sizes, throughout the UK, from sole practitioners to some of the top 50 law firms. There are differently benefits gained, and services taken, by these different types of firms – for the smaller or start-up firms we are ensuring compliance, and usually operating the entire finance function for the firm. For bigger firms, we may be supporting the in-house team with additional resource or providing monthly management information to the Finance Director. We also provide fractional FD and consultancy services to some of the bigger firms. Our service is bespoke and can be scaled up and down dependent on demand to suit your firms ongoing needs.  

Can you make payments for us?  

We have bank access for our clients which enables us to complete daily bank reconciliations as well as monitor the bank for incoming monies. We can set up payments on instruction, leaving the firm to check and authorise, saving time and effort for our clients.  

How much does it cost?  

Our comprehensive cashiering service tends to be significantly less expensive than the inhouse option. This is because our team-based approach can ensure the right level of person deals with the right level of task. By remotely reviewing your Practice Management System to access the volume of transactions being processed through your system, we can quickly provide a quote. Our payroll service depends on the number of employees, and our Management Accounts service can be tailored to your needs, and therefore priced according to requirements.  

How quickly can you start?  

We can start service very quickly but can be constrained by things such as bank access. On average we aim to get to full service within four weeks, the onboarding process will begin straight away so we can get your firm into our service teams as soon as possible. 

Do we need to outsource our whole finance function?  

No. While many of our clients are indeed replacing their whole cashiering function with our service, many firms use us to provide a support serviced to their internal finance team as a wraparound. We can provide valuable flexible resource in that way. So, whether you require a full replacement for your accounts department, or simply some additional resource to assist your in-house team, we can help.  

If you are interested in outsourcing part of all of your finance function in your firm, we can arrange a confidential chat with a member of our team to discuss your requirements.  

Get in touch today:  

Email: info@thecashroom.co.uk  

Phone: 01695 550950  

Hard to believe, but 30 years ago I qualified as a solicitor and joined a top 50 law firm in the defendant PI market. That first day I sat down at my desk and worked through a pile of envelopes containing letters relating to matters I was working on. I then rooted through creaky metal filing cabinets to locate the files for each matter. I placed each letter with each file, in a row of piles on my desk, next to my office telephone with its curly cord.

My secretary would come in and collect the pile of files I had worked on, with a tiny cassette tape attached, on which I had dictated my efforts on each matter. A paper diary sat on my desk too- my means of checking dates and meetings or court visits. Beside it was a plastic box containing business cards with alphabetic dividers. My time recording sheets would be completed each day in pen.

I’d have a pad of pink slips and a pad of blue slips which I’d fill in by hand and send to the accounts team for the cashiers to make things happen. The finance team faced a daily challenge to keep track of the business’s accounts- even more tricky given the banks’ continued use of paper statements at that time.

For anyone of a more recent vintage, some of this will seem bizarre- archaic, even. Almost every element is now either automated, or on a computer, or a mobile, or one way or another is tech and service enabled.

In my present role I can look back with nostalgia, but also in proud amazement at the distance the profession has travelled, and that pace with which it continues to progress.

At Cashroom I believe we epitomise the strides the profession has made-

We have grown a team of 140 staff featuring experienced cashiers, a training academy, a technology team, operations, projects, and a team of qualified accountants. Our 250 client firms use our outsourced finance function services to enable efficient and risk avoidant cashiering processes, compliant methods of operating, and market leading expertise to provide advice and reports on business performance.

Our clients are of all shapes and sizes- top 100; general practice; boutiques; volume litigators; volume conveyancers; start ups….every type of firm imaginable really.

Most law firms these days have resolved many of my prehistoric inefficiencies with one of a huge array of Practice Management Systems available in the legal market. Cashroom has remained system agnostic- we support any PMS so firms coming to us for our services don’t need to change their tech.

We augment our services with the award winning technology that we have developed to enable secure and efficient communication with our clients- into the bin go the pink and blue slips! The Cashroom portal is loved by our clients for its simplicity and innovation, and the certainty and clarity it brings to the interaction between a firm and its finance function.

Cashroom also recently became the first outsourced provider to develop and implement open banking functionality into our client portal- it means we can monitor our clients’ bank accounts more easily and help them achieve smooth, secure and efficient money movement, to the benefit of their end clients.

We resolve resourcing issues, we cover holidays and sickness. We are recommended by the PII market. We provide process and system expertise unique in our market.

We are proud to be operating in the USA now.

The world of law has changed- I’m proud to be part of a business that is actively helping the legal sector seize the opportunities presented by the new world, even if I do still use a pad and pen now and again (I’m too fond of doodling not to!).

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. This week is going to be full of events, information, posts, tools and resources. The key is going to be watching who is still talking about mental health next week, next month, six months from now.

What can we do to create a more sustainable working environment everyday of our careers? A working environment that is enjoyable, that is rewarding, that feels safe and worthy of the extensive time and effort we spend on it. Whilst I think it would be a pipe dream to ever expect work to be entirely free of stress, to have a working environment where stress is limited, where it is reasonable and even supportive (yes that is a thing I promise!), well that feels to me as worthy of time as anything else this Mental Health Awareness Week.

So, instead of giving you a list of lovely, but ultimately somewhat unhelpful, tools I’m going to share with you some information and resources that will help you develop that sustainability, that engagement and enjoyment, and ultimately help you develop a more rewarding and profitable career and working environment for the long term.

My challenge to you, is to keep coming back to this information and these tools long after Mental Health Awareness Week is in our rear-view mirror!

Stress in the Legal Profession

According to a recent YouGov study, out more than 9 in 10 lawyers has experienced stress or burnout. LawCare’s Life in the Law study found that the average lawyer is at high risk of burnout, and in 2021 a Resolution study found that 89% of family lawyers had experienced negative wellbeing issues as a result of their work and that 51% of lawyers had considered leaving the profession in the previous three years because of concerns about their well-being.

Law is undoubtedly a stressful and intense profession. As lawyers we deal with problems professionally. We are the person that others come to when something has gone wrong and that inevitably has a knock-on effect. But what if I told you that stress isn’t always stressful and that there are tools and resources that can help to manage stress?

What do we know about stress?

When considering stress, there are a couple of things that we need to bear in mind.

The first is that there is no singular definition of stress. It’s an inherently subjective thing; we know it when we see it, and what causes you a stress response may not phase me at all! So instead of us worrying about whether things should be stressful, or whether other people will believe us or think less of us if we speak up about stressful situations, perhaps our focus would be better placed on identifying our strengths and resources and creating support for where we may struggle in some way.

There are actually two different types of stress. The first we’re well aware of, distress is what most of us mean when we’re talking about stress. We mean negative stress, stress that is difficult, something that is causing us pain in some way. But is stress always bad? Well, no. Eustress is the definition of positive stress. It’s the kind of stress that gets us out of bed in the morning, it’s the kind of stress that has us racing for the finishing line. Frankly, it’s the kind of stress that has us working in the legal profession!

Bearing that in mind, we need to look more carefully at our work. In particular we need to consider where we are experiencing a positive stress; learning a new skill, attending court or having a hearing or mediation that we’ve not done before, developing our professional and personal self esteem; and where this is balanced out against the more negative kind of stress.  Are we receiving as much reward from our work as the energy we are giving to it?

Energy in, energy out.

I want you to imagine for a moment that there is an arrow that emanates from your chest and points towards the screen you’re reading this on; this is your effort, at the amount of energy that you are expending on your work. This could mean your time, your energy, your professional development, your skills, all of the energy and focus and drive that goes into your work.

Now imagine a similar arrow emanating from the screen and pointing back towards your chest; this is your return on investment. These are all the ways in which you receive some kind of reward from the work you do and effort that you expend. That could include your salary and bonus, it could be words of kindness or praise or thanks from clients, it could be the satisfaction of a job well done.

Now, compare and contrast the arrow the emanates from you and the arrow that returns to you. Do they balance up? Do you receive as much as you give? Perhaps you receive even more than you give, however clients that I work with often expend far more energy than they ever receive reward. And of course remember this is about more than our pay packet, this is about how we experience reward in our work.

Reward and value

Way to take this exercise further is to consider the type of work that you do and the type of reward you receive from it. There are tasks within your to do List that simply flow, that are easy, that feel rewarding, that are things that you love to do. There are also likely tasks within your to do list that you would rather scoop your eyeballs out with a rusty teaspoon than ever have to do again!

Why is this? Because not all work is created equal, and neither are all people! One of the most effective things that you can do to maintain and develop sustainability in your work is to focus on the work that feels rewarding, engaging and satisfying and limiting the work that does not. Why is this? Put simply, it’s because every piece of work we do that feels exhausting pushes us closer to that burnout limit. It moves us from eustress to distress, it costs us more energy than it returns to us, and therefore it is to a greater or lesser extent, unsustainable.

What to do with it?

Now, understanding this is a nice to have until we consider how to most effectively advocate for it. What does it matter what work I do and how much I enjoy or hate it, unless I can do something about it?

Depending on your current role and organisation there are a couple of steps that you can take.

The first is to have a meaningful discussion with your line manager or peers about effective and productive working, identifying tasks that come more easily for you versus those that would probably be more effectively outsourced or reallocated. This conversation can be fraught with worries, not least who am I to ask this, what if they say no, and am I just causing a problem? Consider the business case, and how receptive your audience will be to an increase in profits if you are able to focus on the work you do best.

If this is not a discussion that you feel able to have, or that you feel will be well received, then you can consider how sustainable your current role is and / or what you need in order to support you to do this work more effectively. You might consider tools such as gamification, where we give ourselves prizes and use simple tools such as time trials and competitions in order to make work more fun and time blocking your diary in order to give you sufficient time to do more complex or difficult work, as well as building in rest and recovery times for less complex and difficult work.

What’s next?

These tools all seem really simple, don’t they? But if I recap what we’ve covered, it includes; considering the prevailing culture have your working environment and how it may impact you, a more in depth look at what stress really is, and how it impacts us as individuals, an assessment of the costs and benefits of your work, and how you may more effectively consider the impact of your work and support those needs accordingly.

It’s more than you thought, isn’t it? Are you surprised?

Now, as I mentioned at the top of this blog, my challenge to you was to keep considering these tools long after Mental Health Awareness Week was done. Do you think that’s manageable and achievable? How do you plan to implement these tools and expand upon them in the weeks and months ahead?

Remember; a sustainable career is made in more than just one week!

Leah Steele is an executive coach, trainer and consultant working with individuals and organisations around issues of career sustainability, in particular topics such as stress, burnout, imposter syndrome and resilience.  A former lawyer herself, Leah’s focus is on helping brilliant professionals do their work for longer, in a more rewarding and less exhausting way, because we need more amazing lawyers out there!  Find her at www.searchingforserenity.co.uk 

Every law firm requires compliant legal accounting and so effective accounting for law firms is critical to your firm’s success.  

To ensure your firm’s financial statements are accurate, complete, and up to date, you need to have expert legal cashiering. To get a true financial representation and meet your obligations to your firm, clients, and your regulator, your firm also needs clear, accurate legal accounting. Legal cashiers and a well-run accounts function is critical to business transformation and growth. 

Legal cashiers are invaluable to firms – but they come at a cost. Recruitment costs and salaries are one thing, but firms then must fund training, have adequate office space, incur NI and pension payments etc. There is much more to consider than the annual salary cost alone. This is the first reason why many firms have the idea to turn to outsourcing as a solution – it is assumed to be a cheaper option. Now while this is absolutely true in many instances, costs can actually be saved – the most crucial factor is the value added. Especially during the current climate, hiring staff across the board is not easy. The last 12 months have been a lot smoother for many law firms, especially compared to the first year of the global pandemic, meaning growth is back on the agenda. This is where the quality of your firm’s financial information is so important – are you getting the financial information you need? 

 Weighing up the costs  

In ILFM (The Institute of Legal Finance & Management) revealed in their 2022 Legal Accounts Salary Survey, the average salaries for legal cashiers, which may surprise some firms. In London, the ILFM salary benchmark shows that a Head Cashier average salary is £42,500 and a Senior Cashier would be £33,000. In Northern regions, an average salary for a Cashiering Manager/Supervisor is £36,000. Taking a London Senior Cashier salary as an example, plus NI (£3,298) plus pension (£803) would come to an annual cost to the business of £37,101. This is before you even consider holiday/sickness cover, the support of a wider team of experienced cashiers, payroll staff, management accountants-chartered accountants etc.   

ILFM reported in 2022 75% of Legal Cashiers have been given pay rises in comparison to 37% last year, this is partly down to issues with recruitment, staff wellness and staff retention. All of which, are no longer worries for a law firm when outsourcing their finance function.  

The Value of Outsourcing  

Additional Resource  

Outsourcing your legal cashiers adds additional resource to your firm. Not only do you have additional resource, but you cut the need to use senior staff members for administrative tasks. You have the correct individual with the relevant skills completing the right task. At Cashroom, we have the capability to scale services up and down dependant on your firms demands, meaning spikes in activity are not a problem.  

Holiday/Absence cover  

Using Cashroom, you no longer have to worry about holiday/absence cover. Our qualified and experienced legal cashiers and accountants complete accounts throughout the year. Holiday, sickness and parental leave becomes our problem, not yours, giving you one less thing to worry about as a business owner. Further to this, working with Cashroom, you will have a team of cashiers working on your account who are contactable 9-5 throughout the working week to deal with your needs. Additional to your dedicated team you will benefit from a dedicated account manager who you can liaise with, ensuring you still have that relationship with your accounting department.  

Business Transformation & Continuity 

Outsourcing to Cashroom means you can spend more time developing and growing your business. Fee earners can spend more time fee earning and generating revenue for the firm. Freeing up fee earners time also benefits your clients, improving client care and satisfaction as your fee earners are able to dedicate more time to their imminent needs. Business continuity is guaranteed when outsourcing to cashroom, our team of cashiers allows us to ensure your finances are kept up to date and monitored daily.  

Compliance with your regulators  

At Cashroom, we place a great importance on compliance with Solicitors Accounts Rules and your regulators. You can be confident your accounts are of a high standard and exceed compliance guidelines when outsourcing your finance function to Cashroom. Furthermore, if you are worried about upcoming audits and your compliance, we can support you with preparation. 

Reduce Risk, Ensure Compliance, Increase Efficiency  

Outsourcing part of, or your entire finance function allows your firm to stay ahead of the curve. Through outsourcing, you can react to market changes, challenging times and instantly react to changing client demands. You can have confidence in your compliance and security, reduce risks for your firm and clients as well as accessing unique technology which will transform your finance function. Cashroom also recently became the first outsourced provider to develop and implement open banking functionality into our client portal, reducing risk further and increasing the speed at which your cashiers at Cashroom can complete incoming funds and more. You can read more about our developments here.  

Cashroom uses innovative processes, smart technologies and a fresh perspective to untangle the legal accounting complexities for law firms. Control your finances and remain compliant with a complete audit trail of transactions with Cashroom. 

Cashroom provide outsourced legal accounting services to law firms throughout the UK. Formed of more than 140 legal accounting experts, we provide remote services to over 280 firms of all shapes and sizes. We have a unique insight into the requirements of the legal sector, with directors who have held partnership roles within large law firms, as well as senior members of staff who have worked within finance teams in a variety of legal practices. We utilise technology to improve efficiency and security beyond the capabilities of all but the largest firms.