Time to sell up? – Part Two

So, you’ve found a prospective purchaser and presented your business to them in its best possible light. Unfortunately, you’ve now only reached the beginning of the most difficult part! Let’s consider in general some of the hurdles you are going to have to deal with.

The price is right?

One extremely important point to remember at this juncture is that deals are done between two people. It is personal, and while “matchmakers” and professional advisers can present things in the best possible light, ultimately it comes down to two parties sitting down together and reaching an agreement that both are happy with. If as a seller you feel unhappy about the price, don’t sell. There is an argument that as a purchaser if you feel that the seller is unhappy about the price, don’t buy: you are unlikely to acquire much goodwill at the end of it all. Listen to what your advisers tell you, but make your own mind up in an informed manner on the terms on which you are prepared to proceed.

Well then, what’s the value of your business? As I indicated previously, the market for legal firms is limited and this tends to depress the price. Accountants can, of course, justify many different types of valuation both for purchaser and seller, and it is unlikely that these will be the same. As a seller, if the decision has been made to sell then it’s about maximising the price, but principally it’s about obtaining some value for the business and, possibly even more importantly, closing off some of the liabilities that we discussed earlier if you were simply to close the door and walk away.

It would be an article in itself to consider the sales process and maximising values! Circumstances will vary from individual to individual and deal to deal. There are a number of things to bear in mind though. Present your proposition in the best way possible. In the ideal world you want to show any prospective purchaser that your income streams are robust, recurring and not dependent on you as an individual. Be realistic in your pricing. Better to encourage a dialogue rather than have possible purchasers refuse to open discussions because the asking price is too high. Lastly, make the proposition as attractive as possible. Consider agreeing to a part of the price being dependent on future fee or business levels. This takes away many of the fears and risks to the purchaser. Remember though that if you are prepared to agree to this, there should also be a corresponding uplift if the business does better than anticipated.

Advisers at arms length

As far as the practical implications are concerned, each sale will be different. Some will be the sale of a business as a whole, some will be one partner selling to the remaining partners, and there will be a wide range of variations in between. It is therefore hard to give much specific advice regarding the practicalities of a sale, but from my own recent experience there are a number of suggestions I would make that might be useful.

At the earliest opportunities, speak to your professional advisers and make sure you understand fully the implications of what you are considering from the outset. You will need to consider items such as price, goodwill, the tax implications and (possibly) tax mitigation, a best completion date, and the best breakdown of the price between goodwill, work in progress, capital etc. Only the very brave would wish to complete any formal agreements themselves, so speaking to a legal firm specialising in these matters will allow you to understand the legal implications and what specific areas you may require to address for your business.

One word of caution though: I personally believe that the actual negotiation should take place directly between purchaser and seller and not, except on technical issues, through agents. As solicitors we do have a tendency to over complicate the technical matters. So far as possible, try to reach heads of agreement with the other party directly and without the need of agents. If possible, work through a draft agreement with the other party and identify and deal with any potential difficulties on a face to face basis. Thereafter, when hopefully the main points of contention have been resolved, pass matters to your professional agents to finalise. This should allow matters to move far more quickly and minimise any additional expenses.

My own experience was that once all of the foregoing points had been dealt with, the actual practicalities of leaving the profession were relatively simple. There were the usual intimations via the Journal and to the Society, indemnity insurers and the bank. Clients and professional connections need to be notified as appropriate, and staff issues require to be dealt with. Final accounts will obviously require to be completed and a final tax position resolved, but these generally are matters of administration and are relatively straightforward to resolve.

A sight of goal

I suppose the two questions that I’m asked most and, in some ways, the summation of this article are, “What would you have done differently?” and “How are you enjoying retirement?”

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and some of my views I’ve already touched on. I think that you have always to start with the end in mind. If the end is a business which is a valuable, easily realisable asset then there are several things I would have changed. If you are in a partnership I think it is essential that there is a partnership agreement in place that fully identifies the exit route for the partners, both at the agreed retirement age and also should they wish to change careers at an earlier time. Few of us like to discuss what happens when it all goes wrong, but as most agreements are only ever examined at exactly that time, it is extremely important that full and frank discussions take place at the outset and all of the possible outcomes discussed and agreed. The difficulties for partners in larger practices without one may be extremely hard to overcome.

Starting with the end in mind, you also have to consider who your purchaser in the future might be and what they might wish to buy. The “who” can be addressed by putting in place the structures today that will create the purchasers of tomorrow. One way is investment in younger solicitors who will be the future partners, and their retention within the practice. While many firms have structures in place for this and, indeed, this was always the traditional route for legal firms, many smaller and medium sized firms, faced with profitability or other issues, seem keener to invest perhaps in paralegals to process work. Graduates and young solicitors also seem less keen to serve their time in smaller firms for perhaps less attractive salaries or, notionally, doing less interesting work, in return for greater profit shares in the future.

The other method is to build a legal practice with real sales value. This might be by specialising in an area, or acquiring a significant market share or work type in an area or number of areas. Certainly businesses which can show recurring income streams, ideally independent of the principals, will always achieve the highest values.

There is no one answer, but, if the question isn’t asked and measures put in place, the answer that you are faced with at the end may not be one that you wish to hear.

Nothing to do?

As to how will one enjoy retirement, again the effort and planning put in beforehand will affect the answer. Finances will be a factor. I was once told “capital will never replace income”, and that is a lesson I am relearning very quickly. It would be sensible for anyone seeking to change their career to spend some time looking at their finances and to be clear that these will meet their reasonable requirements when they no longer have the same income stream.

Likewise, while the thought of long leisurely days with nothing to do seems irresistible when faced with demanding clients, work pressures and partnership issues, the reality is that most of us will become bored very quickly, faced with no new challenges. Some time spent even at the early stages, considering the structuring of one’s time after retirement and the routines that will be put into place to make it both productive (in the widest sense) and enjoyable, will be very well spent. One may also wish to consider, like a runner, a warm-down period. In the high pressure world in which we all operate, it can be extremely difficult to go from busy and stressed days, to doing little, literally overnight, and many say that this can have adverse health issues. Instead consider “warming down”, taking a period of time to gradually reduce work and stress levels. This could be some form of consultancy, some part time or locum work after retirement, or just a reduction of work in the year or so leading up to retirement.

Lastly, there are issues for those leaving the profession before retirement age that few consider. There may be a loss of status, or at least a loss of definition of who they are in society. They are no longer solicitors, professionals, men of business – what then are they? There can be the loss of a social experience: our work has taken up such a large part of our lives that many will miss the interaction with staff, clients or partners. Some may well experience feelings of loneliness without daily contact with their work environment. Routines may have been the bane of your life, but life without routine also has its issues. Again there are no simple answers to any of these questions, but they should at least be considered by those contemplating change.

While I joke with friends that I am retired at age 46, I suspect that there are many busy and productive days ahead of me. I am however extremely lucky in being able to take a little time to consider what I want to do next. The ability, even for a short period, to wake every morning and do (subject to what my wife has planned) exactly what I want to, is a gift and should be treasured.

Stephen Vallance is a former partner in Vallance Kliner & Associates, Glasgow. He is happy to undertake consultancy work. For any queries arising from this article or any issues surrounding practice management, profitability or marketing, contact him at svall45193@aol.com .

Time to sell up?

Stephen Vallance tells of the issues that arose when he decided to leave the law without having done much forward planning – and his advice with the benefit of hindsight (1 of 2)

I was 46 when I sold my interests in my legal practice. It was a long and much more difficult process than ever I had imagined, and I must admit that my last day “in the office” was not the day of happy relief that I had expected, but rather one tinged with some sadness for the passing of a very significant proportion of my life.

I remember in my teens telling my father that I wasn’t enjoying my law degree. I remember during my traineeship that I thought about leaving the profession and travelling the world. By the time my first job as an assistant came around I was caught up in the routines of life with a wife and then a son, so I tried to make peace with myself by planning that I would be out of law by my 45th birthday.

About a year ago I sat at my desk and realised that my 45th birthday was upon me and that I hadn’t done much about getting out. My partner and I had talked through “exit routes” several times over the preceding years, but had never been able to put in place a strategy to allow either of us to leave the practice at a time and in a manner of our choosing.

The purpose of this article is, in light of my own recent experiences, to consider many of the practical issues surrounding a principal in private practice attempting to realise his interests in the business with, hopefully, a few useful pointers on how to manage the transition. I will also attempt to identify some of the strategies that can be put in place to make the outcome more certain for those considering an exit in the future.

Obstacle course

I have always considered myself goal-driven. Throughout my professional life I had a clear idea of how I wished to conduct my business and how to achieve what I believed to be the key objectives. Strange then that no such plan existed for my exit. They say that the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes. Retirement must come a close third. Why does it therefore seem then that so few principals in private practice have clear exit strategies?

Let’s look for a moment at the practicalities, in the absence of any other agreement, for anyone leaving their business – in essence just closing the doors and walking away. They have, amongst other things, the following matters to consider:

The staff, some of whom have possibly been with them for many years, will require due notice of termination and, of course, redundancy payments. While there are things that can be done to minimise this, there is still potentially a large liability.

Professional indemnity insurance – depending on one’s claim record, there may be the costs incurred in paying for run-off cover (which I believe is a capital expense and not a revenue one and therefore cannot be offset against income). In addition, you will need to make provision for the self insured portion of any potential future claims.

Files – they need to be maintained in a safe environment with the associated storage costs for up to 10 years.

Work in progress – this will almost certainly have to be completed, and almost certainly the government will have taxed you on it. If you leave private practice, you have no way of completing it.

Lastly, it is likely that you will still require to deal with clients’ queries and claims that arise from transactions handled by you, and therefore you will have to retain some way of dealing with these matters after you leave.

There are also a host of other possible headaches, including the cost of disposing of premises whether by sale or the renunciation of a lease (with associated worries of dilapidations etc), finalising the clients’ account, and disposal of furnishings, papers and other miscellaneous detritus acquired over a lifetime in the legal profession. For most of us who have been self employed there are of course, those final accounts and the final payment of tax to the Revenue.

End of empire

It suddenly begins to dawn on you that this empire that you have built, this machine that has provided a steady income for you and your family, may not be the asset that you thought but might in fact be a huge liability! You begin to realise that if you don’t have a strategy, you might not be able to afford to leave the profession as it will be too expensive.

The wise amongst us (of which I was not I’m afraid one) at this point might pull out their partnership agreement and sit back in the comfort of knowing that some, although probably not all, of these matters have been covered during the careful drafting of this lengthy tome. I suspect from my own investigations that they will be in the minority. Many practices today still do not have written partnership agreements or, if they do, many of the practical issues of a retiring partner will not have been addressed. Even those who have properly drafted agreements are still dependent on the partnership existing at the time of their retirement in an appropriate form. In these days of dissolutions and mergers and changing market conditions there can be no guarantees as to the future, and while partners in their more senior years may be less concerned, the more junior partners will have to hope that they are not the ones left to turn off the lights when they in turn wish to exit.

So, faced with a desire to leave, and not wishing to just close the door and meet all the potential liabilities, what can you do? For the purpose of this article I will not address the issues of those with valid and correctly considered partnership agreements. I will simply wish them the best and hope that all parties are able to honour their commitments.

Selling in a small market

What then? Well, the obvious next step is to find a purchaser for your interest in the business. This might be your other partners, or a younger solicitor within the firm, or perhaps another firm or solicitor entirely who might wish to acquire it. Sounds simple, but this has many more complications than you may have realised.

One of the first issues is that the market for legal businesses is extremely limited. At the moment, in essence only other solicitors can buy one. Therefore while your business may be extremely profitable or desirable, the pool of prospective purchasers is small. This in itself tends to restrict the price that can be achieved. Legal work also has a high degree of personal involvement, whether perceived or actual (i.e. clients believe you do all the work for them whether you actually do so or simply delegate it). Often clients relate to an individual solicitor and not to the practice as a whole. Some may even argue that when that solicitor retires there is little value in his or her client following, as they will not automatically stay with the firm.

For those in partnership the position is much more difficult than that of a sole trader. Unless all partners agree to the business being sold as a whole and all their respective needs accommodated, or unless the remaining partners wish to acquire the outgoing partner’s share, there are some very serious practical difficulties in realising any value for their share in the business. Where there is no agreement to the contrary, the outgoing partner would be faced with the equally unattractive options of attempting to sell their personal, and largely unidentifiable, interest to a third party firm; a dissolution of the partnership followed by a voluntary sale of the one half interest; or at worst a forced sale by a judicial factor.

The first option has a number of potential difficulties, including identifying one’s own clients and interest in any business name, intellectual property, capital assets etc. The second option is at the very best unwieldy and unattractive, and potentially unworkable. Least attractive of all would be a forced sale due to warring partners, perhaps involving a judicial factor, where seldom if ever is there a satisfactory outcome. The one thing that is certain is that none of these options would maximise any value in the asset being sold.

Assuming that the foregoing matters are all resolved and that you are able to proceed with a sale of your interest, there are other practical matters to be considered. Not least you need to find a purchaser for your business, then persuade them that you have something of value and that they would wish to acquire it.

Let’s consider these points in general terms for both sole traders and partners.

Do you have something of value?

Well, it’s for you as seller to present what you have in the best possible way. As the old adage goes, you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. It’s worthwhile therefore spending some time considering how to present your business to any prospective purchasers.

Accounts and trading history will be important, and so you should collate information such as trends in turnover and profitability (both gross and net), and relevant ratios of staff to fee earner etc. If there are weaknesses in your accounts, such as that you cannot show year on year improvements in profit, then address the reasons for these as part of your presentation of the figures (for example, “profits went down that year as I took on additional staff to gear up for new workflows”, and demonstrate the evidence in the following years’ figures).

Look at work types that you undertake, and the sources of that business, and try to categorise them. Can you show what percentage of turnover comes from which part of the work you undertake, how much of your business is from existing clients, and how much introduced from external sources? Are the clients that you act for all personally introduced or do you rely heavily on introductory sources such as banks, brokers or insurance companies? Do you hold a large number of wills or title deeds (although neither is perhaps as important as once they were)? Can you easily identify your clients, their current addresses and the work you have carried out for them? Are there specific areas that you are known for and that your clients require? This might be very important when looking for a prospective purchaser, as this might either add to or compliment their existing business profile. Most importantly, can you show you have work types that are recurring, and better still are not dependent on you as an individual?

Consider how your staff and, if applicable, offices might be viewed by a purchaser. Do you have key members of staff that your business couldn’t do without? Do you have members of staff who could operate your business without you? If so, do you have proper contracts of employment in force? Are your premises important to the business? Do you require a presence in a particular geographic area? Do you have a fantastic site which guarantees high levels of passing trade, or could your business operate from any location?

Just like selling your car, you need to get your business into shape for selling. You need to have a good look at it, not from your tired eyes but from the eyes of a prospective purchaser and, just like the car, you need to give it a good polish and service so that it looks in the best possible condition for selling.

Finding a purchaser for your business

To the best of my knowledge there is no dedicated estate agency for legal practices. There are a few firms offering either consultancy or employment services who will dabble in this market, but few if any have a proven track history. The one major benefit they do offer however is a degree of anonymity, a way to explore interest without making your identity public in the first place.

Alternatively, there are publications such as this Journal where adverts can be placed, but generally advertising a business for sale can have many potential drawbacks. The responses to anonymous adverts inviting prospective purchasers to reply to a box number are few, as solicitors as a group are all a little suspicious of writing to anyone who won’t identify themselves. On the other hand advertising who you are has some major worries in itself. It puts your thoughts into the public domain. Staff may become aware of your intentions much earlier than you would have wished, and you may lose key members through uncertainty while you try to plan your own exit. Clients may become aware of your intentions, thus making client retention and a smooth transition more difficult.

There is good old word of mouth. Many solicitors will have retained close contact with others within the profession, perhaps old university friends or other individuals within their faculty who might be able to act as a matchmaker. Potentially this is the best source of introduction, as people in these situations tend to have less of an axe to grind; they are assisting a friend or colleague and are probably familiar with the foibles of the parties and their businesses, and therefore have at least an idea that the match might work. They are also unlikely to be motivated by a financial commission.

There is perhaps one other approach to be considered, which is to speak to people outwith the profession but who regularly deal with it. IT consultants, suppliers, accountants etc are all dealing with a wide group of legal firms on a daily basis and might have useful information of firms on the acquisition trail.

The success of one or all of these approaches will depend on the individual’s thoughts and preferences, and the timescale to which they are working. Generally a more measured approach will bring the best results, but the timescales may be considerably longer.

Part 2 of this article will cover negotiations for the sale, what happens after retirement and some reflections on the whole process with the benefit of hindsight.

The Author
Stephen Vallance is a former partner in Vallance Kliner & Associates, Glasgow. He is happy to undertake consultancy work. For any queries arising from this article or any issues surrounding practice management, profitability or marketing, contact him at svall45193@aol.com .

An Anecdotal Review of the Legal Market

I think this is my 3rd post rambling on about the conversations I’ve had with clients over the last few months.

I try to speak with as many clients as I can, simply to get a feel for how they’re holding up, and what they see happening in the market.

Residential Conveyancing Slows Down

Last time (https://www.thecashroom.co.uk/an-anecdotal-review-of-the-market/) I reported on the conveyancing boom. But over the last few months clients I’ve spoken with have reported that things are starting to calm down. Nobody has seen the dramatic fall some feared, nor any marked increase in mortgage defaults or insolvency (“yet” perhaps!), but there are fewer instructions and fewer completions.

One client opined – “the residential guys are fooling themselves if they think this will continue – we’re keeping our costs low and our heads down”.

PI Problems

Personal injury clients have been hit by a “treble whammy”. First, fewer people were injured during lockdown, second, legislative changes have made it harder (although not impossible) to recover anything like reasonable costs, and thirdly, lockdown induced court delays mean insurers are much slower to settle, making it very difficult to convert WIP into cash.

One client reported they were convinced insurers were delaying payment simply to try and “starve out” smaller firms.

Some clients are moving on from road traffic claims to the “next big thing”. I spoke with one who had some very interesting ideas … thankfully none of them involved GDPR claims!!

Corporate/Commercial is “Steady”

I’ve heard mixed reports on corporate and commercial work. Some clients are incredibly busy, but there’s a worry it’s simply deals delayed from last year coming through.

Commercial Property is quiet, and there’s still a lot of worry about the future.

Private Client work is “where it’s at”

Every client I speak with who does private client work (broadly wills, trust, probate/executries, power of attorney) has had a good year. Nothing like a global pandemic to make one face one’s mortality! In fact, private client work has been an extremely good “hedge” against down turns in other areas – like a good solid bond holding in an equity portfolio!

But what I’ve found very interesting is the success of some clients in this sector, specialising in a couple of very narrow areas, and doing some really innovate things with technology to “leverage” their skills.

Very interesting.

Family Law

And finally, family law continues to outperform. Turns out being locked down with somebody you don’t like makes you want to leave them!

It’s also an area keeping a few litigation practices alive! Indeed, 2 clients I spoke with plan to open a family law practice with lateral hires (if they can find them!), again because of the “hedge” it provides against down turns in other areas.

And that’s it, a quick round up of what my sample’s saying in the last quarter of 2021.

And one more thing.

Take some time over Christmas and New Year. Another, worrying theme of many of my calls is “burn out”. We have gone through a stressful and bruising couple of years. Take time to spend with friends and family over the holidays and remember why you do what you do.

Have a great Christmas and New Year

David

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Honeymoon Service

I won’t go on and on about the idyllic time I spent on honeymoon (it was amazing!)…I certainly didn’t spend much time thinking about work…

…but some things just make a real impression on you, don’t they?

We stayed at two different hotels. One was a tiny, boutique place with only about 30 guests at any time and a small close knit staff. One was a bigger, lovely hotel with loads of staff run in teams depending on the section of the hotel they were covering.

The thing that stood out was the service quality from every single member of staff at both hotels. And while the hotels weren’t in any way connected they shared the exact same mantra- when we thanked them for a lovely meal or for a great cocktail the constant refrain from both sets of staff was “If you are happy, we are happy”.

We made friends with some great people who worked at the hotels and had some really good conversations with them. Mostly about football, I must admit. I asked one of them about the “If you are happy, we are happy” mantra. He said it was simple. If customers are happy then things are easier for all the staff. An unhappy customer experience takes up time and causes stress for both parties. The unhappy person is unlikely to recommend the hotel subsequently and may in fact give bad feedback on review sites.

Sometimes we can forget that service quality and a happy customer is such a valuable thing, not just from a retention and revenue perspective.

It makes for a more harmonious working relationship with the customers, and also sets up the potential for the client to recommend our services to others. It’s not just about things being “ok”. It’s about making the customers truly happy. Going that extra mile brings reward, but it’s fair to say that while making your customers happy is just the right thing to do, it certainly benefits your own staff in more ways than simply client retention.

Empowering your staff to provide excellent service also enables them to create a happier working day for themselves, with fewer issues and complaints. It really is a win/win.

At Cashroom we survey our clients every month to create an NPS rating that we can track. From this we can look to learn. We won’t always get things right. However, we want our clients to tell us what we could do better. We can then seek to make them happy.

Providing good service is not a new or startling concept, but thinking ‘why’ you should do it can in fact lead to a happier workforce, as well as a happy client.

Is what we did in the past the right choice for where we are now?

I’m told by my daughters that I am “the most impatient person in the world”. Now, allowing for some teenage hyperbole, I would admit to there being some truth in that!

I get frustrated easily when things don’t work.

As I get older, I find myself shouting at inanimate objects when they don’t cooperate. I have always hated inefficiency. If I’m busy, and there is a process that slows me down, it drives me nuts.

Now of course, all business need processes. There needs to be a way to manage and control complex tasks, making sure they are done safely and correctly.

However, there needs to be a balance. Between making sure complex task are completed accurately, while at the same time allowing those people running the process (or interacting with it), to get on with the job.

What I’ve found in business, and particularly in law firms is that processes, specifically accounting processes, are poorly designed and lead to confusion and frustration.

The problem is that process design is a skill. It takes time and experience. A deep understanding of the rules around which the process is built. You need a knowledge of “best practice” from which one draws inspiration. Very often processes are built in an ad hoc way, bodging them together with duct tape and string.

And it’s easy to understand why. Most business process are built over time, with small incremental changes implemented to “solve” today’s pressing problem, without a full review of the bigger picture, or an understanding of the impact that small change might have. Over time, the process become so complex, with so many exceptions and “work arounds” that it leads to inefficiency and frustration.

Processes are often created for the benefit of only one part of the business. A process designed around the accounts team which makes the fee earners like harder – or (more commonly I’m afraid), a process designed around the fee earners, which makes the cashiers life hell!

The ideal is that business processes are designed (or redesigned) from scratch, with a clear focus on what’s necessary, a full understanding of how the firm works, a desire to balance efficiently (not the same as equitably!) the admin burden on everybody who interacts with that process, and the will to drive the change program necessary to implement the new process.

It takes time, it’s difficult, and often infuriating. However, if it smooths out the process, leads to more efficient workflow and reduces delay and frustration – it’s worth it.

But best of all, it stops old blokes like me shouting at their computers!

I’ll see you real soon!

Last week during half-term my family and I flew to Paris for a week. Those who know us well won’t be surprised to hear that we spent five of those days in Disneyland.

There is a lot of content around now about taking a break and why it is important and although taking a break with my favourite people really was wonderful, I was also reminded of a few business fundamentals on my trip. One of the many many reasons I love Disney is that, as a business, I find it totally fascinating.

We aren’t all multi-billion pound corporations like Disney but we can all take snippets from their large empires – so what did I learn from Walt Disney this time?

1. The look and feel

Whether you love it or loathe it, you all know Mickey Mouse and can visualise that Disney logo.

Do you know and are you confident in the look and feel of your organisation, is your brand solid? You don’t need to be a brand expert to do some work on your companies’ brand. There are so many free resource available online. And don’t forget to include your internal comms in your branding. It is easy to focus on all your external communications and forget that internally your brand needs to be just as strong.

2. Customer service

We received some questionable customer service on this trip which deserves its own post – coming next! However, we received some really wonderful service too, which has been a constant on numerous trips to Disney. This exceptional service has always been consistent from Florida to Paris to the UK stores.

Do you continuously review customer service? Can you honestly say that all of your team are excellent at this? From answering the phone, writing your content on your materials to client facing communications you must keep customer service a top priority.

3. Make staff feel special

Staff at Disney are known as cast members and that is every single member of staff. I know teams at Apple refer to themselves as being part of the orchard. It’s that feeling of being part of an elusive club and society that others aren’t.

Naming your employees isn’t for everyone but it’s an idea. The cast members are also completely bought into Disney, they live and breathe Disney values. Does everyone in your business know your values, do they know the aim of the company and its mission? If not then it’s not too late, good, and frequent communication is key – bring everyone in your organisation along with you on your journey.

4. Something for everyone

Meeting Princesses and characters might not be your thing but what about exciting rides or Broadway standard performances, good food and dining options, Marvel, Star Wars…there must be few people who can’t find something they like about Disney.

Do you appeal to all? You may provide a niche product however you have to appeal to all of your target market and how one person wants to deal with you and your business might not be the same as others. Keep this in mind in your marketing, sales and service delivery.

5. Value Add – that something that money just can’t buy

The best thing about Disney in my opinion is all of the emotions – how it makes me feel. That feeling doesn’t come cheap but Disney has me wanting to go back for more every single trip.

How do you make people feel? Your staff, your colleagues, your suppliers – do people want to come back and work with you again? I’ll avoid people who make me feel bad and they don’t make me want to do my best work for them. We are all busy, it is easy to get caught up and be abrupt or short or even demanding without even realising. If you make the effort to consider others and make their day that bit better then your customers will come back again and again.

And with that Mr Mickey Mouse – I’ll see you real soon!

Does your team have a single point of failure?

Has there ever been a more demanding period for the conveyancing sector? I doubt it.

Aside from the challenge of unprecedented transaction volumes, there was the small matter of a global pandemic to contend with. No matter what other steps were taken,  without a quality approach to teamwork firms would have been simply unable to function and provide the service levels expected by their own customers. Creating a cohesive team when elements were working remotely, and often with sudden absences due to illness, was even more difficult. We have lessons to learn from.

There’s no doubt a firm’s finance function (whether inhouse or outsourced) has been integral to the conveyancing sector’s efforts over the last year. The accounts department is always responsible for the safe, efficient and secure movement of huge sums of money. With the SDLT holidays, huge spikes of activity have been frequent occurrences. The cashier is working remotely now, having often been office based. The paper based and face to face processes which have worked for years inhouse were found to be lacking from a risk and efficiency perspective. The spikes of activity were horrendous for inhouse cashiers to cope with, because of course their resource was finite.

Firms increasingly realised that the cashier is a crucial member of their team.

They need technical expertise, access to the right technology, and clear communication methods to receive instructions from the fee earners. They need to be operating securely and compliantly. If any of those elements are not present, the whole team grinds to a halt, hampered by increased risk, lack of speed and often ending up with dissatisfied conveyancing customers, PI insurers, and regulators.

At The Cashroom we had two team relationships to manage- our own team of around 100 staff, and our interactions with all of our 230 client firms and their staff. It went incredibly smoothly, mainly because we had a plan.

We were already remote from our clients, but now were remote from each other. So how did our teams cope?

We had-

  • Strong relationship building with our ‘external team’ -our clients
  • Clear processes for everyone both within the firm and at Cashroom
  • Supportive supervision and wellbeing methods
  • Flexible scaleable resource so that individuals weren’t swamped during the huge spikes of completions.
  • Market leading technology for secure, swift communication

We made sure the cashiering function wasn’t isolated. They were not a single point of failure. They received support, and firms flourished as a result.

Recent times have shown us all we don’t want to feel alone. Being part of a great team is more important than ever. Look after each-other!

Asta La Vista!

So at last I’ll be heading off to the sunshine with my lovely wife for our long awaited honeymoon. We got married nearly a year ago, so I’m really spreading out the celebrations- even more so because our big party is now July 2022!

You may be wondering why I’m telling you this.

It’s just that I’ve had lots of conversations over recent weeks about the importance of giving yourself something to aim at. A light at the end of the tunnel.

The conveyancing sector has been focused on getting past the huge volumes of work caused in part by the stamp duty holidays. Speaking with clients and friends operating in that world, the pressure has clearly been almost unbearable at times. At The Cashroom we processed unprecedented volumes of payments during March, June and September. It will be interesting to see what happens to activity levels now, but one thing I hear a lot is that the end of September was a symbolic end point.

It has been viewed as the essential finish line.

That’s not to say that these teams will stop working, it’s just that psychologically the worst is over. And that’s an important thing to be able to tell yourself when things are overwhelming.

The stress of the pandemic has been unrelenting for over 18 months. Even when things ease, there are challenges to cope with such as safely having staff returning to offices. There are issues of staff in key positions suddenly being off and isolating, with the commensurate challenges for client service and business continuity. There is the whole question of whether to continue with remote working. Resourcing decisions now that the furlough scheme has ended. Repayment of deferred VAT.

It seems insurmountable at times, but I think a key element in surviving and thriving is to realise that we operate best when we don’t feel that things are hopeless and endless.

We made a video recently which was shared on social media, and linked here. The theme was not our usual ‘information’ video. It was unashamedly emotional, and aimed very much at celebrating the end of the conveyancing sector’s mountain of activity. It’s worth a watch I think- a reminder of what the sector as a whole has achieved over the months.

Stupidly, I spent most of the last twelve months working without any real breaks. I realise now that it’s not doing anyone any favours taking that approach. It’s impossible to operate at a high level without any breaks. You lose focus and energy. Next year I am going to space my holidays out and recharge more regularly. I will try not to think of any of you when I’m away in the sun next week, but fear not, as Arnie says “I’ll be back!”

 

Everyone in the Legal Profession – We see you!

A look over the last 18 months

“Completions can be a fraught experience for firms’ clients and fee earners, but also for accounts departments. The industry has experienced pressure like never before. We sent a record number of client payments – over 1.6 billion pounds in June alone. We have been delighted to support our clients during a time of unprecedented activity in the sector. Take 2 minutes and look over the last 18 months with us.”

Alex Holt, Director of Business Development at Cashroom

Is what we did in the past the right choice for where we are now?

In the first article of this series, I reflected on the fact that typically new clients approach Cashroom when they’re rethinking their finance function. There are many reasons why they do so, and I gave 8 examples in the article.

I wanted to pick up on one of them in this article – when the client is setting up a new firm from scratch.

As I mentioned in the first article, I did this in 2005, when with 3 others I set up MBM Commercial LLP, creating a law firm from a blank piece of paper.

The great privilege of starting a new firm, is that you are not constrained by the past – there is nobody saying to you “but that’s the way we’ve always done it”. You can approach everything from a fresh perspective, with no historical baggage.

And this applies to your finance function. When I set up MBM in 2005, I was not “financially sophisticated” (embarrassingly I had to have the difference between profit and cashflow explained to me … more than once!). But I knew I had to get it right and did not want to be kept awake by worrying about compliance, and the accuracy of our numbers.

Happily I had the freedom to ask the crucial question “is what we did in the past, the right choice for where we are now?”.

At that time, there were no outsourced provider of cashiering services to lawyers. Given our size at the time, my only real option was to employ somebody to be our cashier. But that was far from optimal – I worried about

  • How could I recruit somebody for a role that I knew nothing about? How would I know what “good” was?
  • Even if I did recruit a competent cashier – how would I supervise them? How would I know whether what they did was right, or efficient, or compliant?
  • Our size didn’t really justify a full-time cashier … but what happened when it was the cashier’s day off?
  • What happened when they were on holiday, of off sick?
  • Employing 2 cashier’s to provide cover, hardly seemed optimal – but how could I be sure?
  • And what happened if they made a mistake? As an employee their mistake was my mistake, and any liability would be picked up by my PI Policy.
  • And finally, where was I going to find the time to do all this stuff, when as a start-up business I needed to spend all my time with my clients.

The traditional solution really wasn’t optimal!

It didn’t happen straight away, but over time I worked toward a better solution, which had the following features
  • The right cover, at the right cost. Somebody to deal with my cashiering 9-5, five days a week, but without the need for a full-time employee.
  • A service that didn’t take a holiday and was never sick.
  • A cashier that looked after themselves and was managed by people who knew way more about accounting than I did.
  • And finally, the peace of mind that if something did go wrong, somebody knew how to sort it, and carried PI insurance if the “worst came to the worst”.

And that was the Genesis of Cashroom.

I tell this story because it’s an example from my own experience of stopping and pausing and asking the question. “is what we did in the past the right choice for where we are now?”.

Often it’s not.

David Calder

Why you don’t have to do it all

Over the years we have been asked a couple of things repeatedly. Will you ever build your own case management system and will you ever offer your services to professions other than lawyers – in short, no.

We are experts in legal accounting. Cashroom eats, sleeps, and breathes legal accounting. We strive to ensure we are the most efficient, compliant and risk-free provider in the UK and doing this deserves dedication. Our clients deserve our full attention, and they get that. However, we know that lawyers need many other solutions to run a successful firm as well as our services and a good practice management system is one of these things. We log into the systems of over 230 law firms so we can safely say we know a lot about systems – the good, bad and the ugly!

With direct access to firms’ chosen platforms through our Cashroom portal, our outsourced specialists can offer support with Legal Cashiering, Management Accounts, Statutory Accounts and Tax Returns, Payroll and Credit Control.

The day of the “jack of all trades” are gone. Businesses who say they can do it all aren’t necessarily the best.

It’s about experts linking and collaborating to provide the best service for their clients. It is the correct skillful person completing the right task. Some companies do try to do it all and can succeed to an extent, but the world has evolved, and you can succeed better by collaborating with others.

If you are clever about it then it can look like you provide everything to create that one-stop shop but in fact you are integrating with others who are the experts in that area. Providing an easy one point of contact for clients but with the best service too.

The best software providers allow for integrations to create the best product for their client.

Look at Sky television. It has embraced Netflix and Amazon Prime by giving us access to their Apps all via our Sky subscription. The most obvious one is of course Apple. How many apps do you have on your phone because they have allowed EVERYONE to integrate with them. They give you everything you need on your device.

We want to work with the best and that is why we are enhancing our clients experience further by building integrations with the best practice management systems not just in the UK but in the world. Providing the best service is crucial and integrating with these systems enhances our client’s user experience.

Clio and Denovo have integrated with Cashroom. This allows firms to use their excellent case management systems alongside our leading legal accounting service. And we have more integrations being worked on right now. In-fact, LEAP and Klyant integrations will be launching really soon too.

When great teams come together, magic happens. Don’t fear collaboration, embrace it, and build an amazing business that provides the best service possible.

Cashroom are freeing lawyers from the complexities of Legal Accounting.

Emma O’Day

Cashroom’s latest integrations offer seamless financial support for law firms

The leading outsourced legal accounting, cashiering and compliance expert has partnered with four popular practice management systems (PMS). This is to offer seamless legal accounting support for firms across the UK.

Cashroom has announced new integrations with Clio, Denovo, Klyant, and coming very soon LEAP, which are some of the country’s most intelligent legal technology systems helping to shape the digital future of law firms.

These latest updates to the provider’s industry-leading software save legal practices time and money. It is done by efficiently updating management systems with up-to-date financial data in a compliant and secure way.

Cashroom believes that a firm should be able to choose best in class from services and technology. Their system agnostic approach means they can support all the leading systems, with market-leading legal accounting services. Therefore, enabling firms to choose more modern, often cloud-based practice management systems.  Cashroom continues to remain system agnostic with no alliance to any one system. This allows all legal accounting via the best system for the law firm.

With direct access to firms’ chosen platforms through the Cashroom portal, outsourced specialists can offer support with legal cashiering, management accounts, statutory accounts and tax returns, payroll and credit control.

Head of Product Development at Cashroom, Paul O’Day, said: “This is an exciting development and one that we’ve been working hard to achieve for several months. Law firms can now benefit from the ultimate in legal accounting efficiency. This a solution that links seamlessly between their PMS and our Cashroom portal.  Cashroom’s legal cashiers and accountants continue to support any system of your choosing – to provide the most secure, efficient and compliant service for firms they are using technology to enable their expert service.

“We take away the headache of compliance, supporting firms as they grow and future-proofing their operations in what is rapidly becoming a digital-focused industry.

There are many benefits to your law firm when using Cashroom. Cashroom portal dashboards offer simple visibility into a legal business and its client information. Our integrations reduce double-data entry and helps prevent human error. Client matters can be quickly accessed and the data flow to payment forms frees staff up to focus on more profitable tasks and improves the overall client experience.

Paul continued: “Automation between Cashroom and your PMS has the power to revolutionise how finance drives your legal business forward. In the current climate of day-to-day disruption and change, it can mean the difference between success and collapse.

These integrations are only phase one of an exciting roadmap to becoming a total one-stop solution for legal accounting. We have lots in the pipeline for further improvements and I look forward to sharing them with clients.”

Cashroom are freeing lawyers from the complexities of Legal Accounting.

For more information about how Cashroom services and integrations could help your law firm remain compliant with the Solicitors Accounts Rules, reduce risk and practice more efficiently, visit www.thecashroom.co.uk/our-services/cashroom-partners/

The Three Main Principles to Consider as You Start Your Own Law Firm

For anyone considering starting up their own law firm or ABS there are three core elements to bear in mind. Those are –

  • Ensure Compliance
  • Create Efficiency
  • Reduce Risk
Every decision you make should have those factors in mind.

Let me explain.

More than ever before the running of a law firm has to be seen as a business. Many existing law firms are seeking to redesign their operating model. They are considering what they should do about premises they already own. Law firms are wondering whether the Practice Management System (PMS) they have is good enough. They are interested in outsourcing elements of their business but don’t know where to start.

Often they are having to take half measures and compromise in some way on each of the 3 core elements I mentioned.

The beauty of a start up is that you start with the proverbial blank sheet of paper. No need for compromise, so what should you be looking at when you are planning?

Ensure compliance

You will need to go through a regulatory authorisation process. You will need to have systems and procedures in place that convince eg SRA or CLC that you will be operating compliantly. Top tips-

  • Get advice from specialist consultants on the authorisation forms and processes – they are complex, and there is definitely a skill to completing them
  • Consider using outsourcers for core areas where compliance is essential eg the firm’s finance function
  • You’ll need a business plan, so get help from an expert legal sector accountant, with in depth relevant knowledge of structures and tax
Create Efficiency

You’ll be running a business! Make sure that your new firm will work smart. Have the right technology underpinning an attitude that says “We are here to do a great job for our clients, while at the same time maximising our profitability.” Top tips for achieving this –

  • Take the time to understand what technology you will need. There are many PMSs out there but consider what you really need it for. Is it workflows? Cloud storage? Will the accounts element give you the reporting capability you’ll need to make business decisions? Watch some demos, and if need be ask independent experts to help you.
  • Optimise your working processes – map those processes, and ensure you have the right level of person dealing with the right task. This will not only save you time and effort, but will create a better end user experience for your clients – vital in these days of Google reviews and Trustpilot.
Reduce risk

You’ll face numerous threats to the business – cyber security challenges, internal fraud, negligence, business continuity. Make sure that you consider these in detail from the outset and mitigate the risks. It will help you obtain the best possible PII premium, as well as helping you sleep at night. Top tips –

  • Consider going for Cyber Essentials Plus rather than the basic accreditation. There are numerous organisations that can help you build the best, most cost effective and, crucially, resilient IT estate. Use their expertise.
  • Make sure you vet new recruits carefully, and build monitoring and supervision processes which keep an eye on things. This isn’t just from a negative point of view – these processes should be part of a framework which supports your employees.
  • Consider outsourcing key elements where the expertise required is not within your skill set – give someone else the supervision headache, and increase that business resilience by utilising external flexible resource.

There are many elements to consider when setting up a business, but if you keep those three in mind, you won’t go far wrong.

Put Your Feet Up

I came to a horrible realisation a few weeks ago.

It turns out that the last time I had a holiday of more than one or two days was last October. Nearly a year! And when I mentioned this to others, a surprising number of lawyers, suppliers and colleagues had similar stories to tell.

There seems to have been a period where a huge number of people just threw themselves into work, because there wasn’t much else to do.

The problem with that is that slowly but surely your reserves deplete and you become less effective, more easily distracted, stressed and in the end potentially burnt out.

I spoke with an expert on these things- Leah Steele, founder of Searching For Serenity, whose client base includes many people In the legal industry. She explained that burnout arises as a result of chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been successfully managed. She says “It’s important to take proper breaks from work. Planning relaxing, refuelling or energising activities is one of the best ways to support ourselves.”

The problem with working from home brings the additional risk that we close the laptop and then immediately start on home admin and garden work etc.

Leah says it’s important to give yourself permission to just enjoy your spare time.

I’ve spoken with lots of lawyers, particularly in smaller practices, where they find it incredibly difficult to switch off. In one recent conversation it transpired that the managing partner of a small but high quality boutique law firm was doing the firm’s cashiering herself at the weekend. Not surprisingly she was shattered!

I think holidays are a bit like a power up on a computer game. It’s entirely possible to crawl along with very low energy reserves, believing that it’s for the best. AT that stage however, even the slightest problem feels insurmountable, and a sudden need for urgency can feel overwhelming.  However a proper break with, dare I say it, minimal use of mobile phones and emails will mean that your reserves are fully restored, and once past the initial pile of emails waiting for you on your return, your focus will be back. You’ll be less likely to snap at junior staff. Your attention to detail will be there again. You will have rediscovered your mojo!

Another thing- have two weeks off if possible. I spoke with a Managing Partner today who said that the first week of two week holidays was about healing. The second was when they really felt like they were getting back to optimal mental and physical energy levels.

So is that it, Holt? You may say….”Have a holiday”. Hardly startling words of wisdom.

You’re probably right…but then why are so many people not holidaying this year?

A practical guide to the 2021 LSAG AML guidance update

The Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG) publishes anti-money laundering (AML) guidance for firms each time regulations update, most recently in January 2021. Although the document is easy to read and well structured, it is still over 200 pages of guidance. So we’ve broken down a few of the key points for you below. And there’s good news for Amiqus clients; the Amiqus platform makes it much easier to follow the new guidance.

The 2021 LSAG AML guidance is based on 36 core principles. There was a lot of focus on:

  • Vetting staff and beneficial owners, officers and managers (BOOMs)
  • Firm wide risk assessments
  • The need for enhanced due diligence (EDD)
  • Source of funds and wealth checking
  • Process documentation
  • Electronic identity checking

That’s right, the new guidance includes a whole section (section 7) focused on electronic identity and verification (EID&V) services such as Amiqus. It’s no surprise that this is the case after a year of remote working and Amiqus excels at meeting their recommendations.

Let’s dive into the guidance. If you need a refresher on any of the acronyms, we’ve included a handy guide at the bottom of this article.

AML checking staff and BOOMs
The guidance suggests:
  • Verifying the identities of BOOMs and checking for convictions of any of the offences under schedule 3 of the regulations
  • Screening frontline AML staff both pre-employment and during employment
    • This screening may include criminal record checks, credit checks, adverse media checks, reference checking and electronic identity verification
How Amiqus can help you with this:
  • You can run criminal record checks (Disclosure and DBS), photo ID checks and both identity reports and document transfers for proof of address through Amiqus to both verify the identity of BOOMs and check for convictions
  • For AML frontline staff vetting you can additionally run credit reports, screening for politically exposed persons (PEPs), sanctions and adverse media,  as well as pre-employment information and reference gathering
  • You can set up a secondary Amiqus account with separate user access to keep staff data separate from client data at no extra cost
Risk assessment on clients and firm wide
The guidance suggests:
  • Conducting risk assessments on all new clients and matters.
  • Completing a firm wide risk assessment (PWRA).
How Amiqus can help you with this:
  • You can carry out a client’s risk assessment on their file within Amiqus. So risk assessments can be completed alongside CDD information and stored in the same place, all on the same date and time stamped audit trail.
  • Amiqus helps with writing firm wide risk assessments by making the design, documentation and implementation of your processes easier
Customer and enhanced due diligence (CDD/EDD)
The guidance suggests:
  • Conducting CDD on all new clients
  • Regularly reviewing CDD, and where risk appropriate regularly updating it
  • Applying ongoing monitoring where appropriate to risk level
  • Establishing procedures to identify PEPs
  • Applying EDD and ongoing monitoring to all high risk clients
  • Considering reliance on another firm’s CDD as a risk factor
How Amiqus can help you with this:
  • Using Amiqus, you can complete customisable international photo ID verification and watchlist checks (for PEPs, sanctions and adverse media screening), as well as UK-only identity report and banking information checks; this enables the highest level of CDD/EDD
  • The new requirement to complete full KYC checks on all clients is quick and simple to implement through Amiqus.
  • This reduces any need for another firm’s CDD, reduces your risk and makes it simple to renew CDD/EDD on a client when needed
  • Our watchlist check’s ‘ongoing monitoring’ option automatically rescans PEPs, sanctions and adverse media databases every day; it’s a powerful tool for keeping CDD/EDD information up to date and identifying high risk clients
Source of funds and source of wealth checking
The guidance suggests:
  • It’s good practice to check source of funds (even if the matter is an occasional transaction)
  • Bank statements and other relevant documentation are useful for establishing source of funds or source of wealth
  • Ensuring you establish the reason or provenance for funds
  • Conducting source of funds and source of wealth checks on PEPs or as part of EDD; it also considers these checks good practice as part of holistic CDD in general
How Amiqus can help you with this:
  • You can gather and verify bank account information and transaction history securely using our banking information check
  • Banking information is provided in an electronic format so it’s even filterable by transaction type and amount
  • Our custom forms and document request features mean you can establish a given reason for funds and combined with the banking information check offer strong support for source of funds/wealth investigation
Documenting processes, writing clear policies, reporting obligations and auditing
The guidance suggests:
  • That you are able to demonstrate your risk assessment and CDD processes as relates to any client or matter (‘if in doubt, write it down’)
  • Documenting your policies, controls and procedures (PCPs), and records/audit trails demonstrating compliance with these PCPs
  • Maintaining and retaining accurate, comprehensive records to help meet your reporting obligations and any compliance with law enforcement
How Amiqus can help you with this:
  • Amiqus is easy to use, reducing risk of user error and data is stored securely in a clear format
  • This enables accurate, consistent conduction, documentation and evidencing of your AML processes and CDD
  • It also helps you write clear policies, controls and procedures (PCPs)
  • We make your audits simpler and faster; all changes to clients’ files and custom notes are stored on a dated and time stamped audit trail called an activity log.
  • Auditors can also be added as read only users, meaning client data can be kept secure within Amiqus’ double encrypted system
  • This will also help you to meet reporting obligations or comply with law enforcement
Electronic identity and verification services
The guidance suggests:
  • Ensuring both positive and negative sources of information are used
  • That results are transparent and easy to understand so that you can accurately make risk based decisions
  • Accessible training resources are available for staff
  • Checks are customisable to increase stringency with risk
  • Data can be analysed and ‘dip sampled’ for reliability and consistency
How Amiqus can help you with this:
  • Amiqus meets all of this guidance and in many cases exceeds the recommendations
  • Combining Amiqus checks allows you to verify identities at the highest level (AV3A) of the UK government’s framework for electronic identification

Hopefully this shines some light on how Amiqus can help with meeting the guidance suggestions but it doesn’t mention the best part: Amiqus is a living solution to your compliance needs. This means we are always improving our product to better support you and align with new guidance.

If you have questions about how Amiqus can help you to follow the LSAG guidance you can join one of our free AML training webinars and ask us in a live Q+A session.

 

Reference

Acronym-weary? Here’s our handy guide:

LSAG – Legal Sector Affinity Group

AML – anti-money laundering

BOOM – beneficial owner, officer, or manager

CDD/EDD – customer/enhanced due diligence

EID&V – electronic identity and verification

PEP – politically exposed person

PWRA – practice wide risk assessment

KYC – know your client/customer

PCPs – policies, controls and procedures

Written by Henry Alman.

If you think the Amiqus platform could help you with AML compliance, contact Gregor@amiqus.co or visit https://amiqus.co/

Now is the time to get relationship focused

Throughout the pandemic, the encouragement has been to stay at home; this has meant that we haven’t seen people in the way we would have done before. Colleagues, clients, prospects and other business contacts. Whilst some may feel that this has had no impact on their professional relationships, many know they have focused just on what is ‘necessary’ to get the job done. Others feel that it just hasn’t been the same. Indeed you can’t engage with someone as effectively online or on the phone. A lot of body language communication is lost.

At best, many have focused only on the key people around them. Those who help them do their job and the clients they need to deliver for. As we hopefully exit the worst of the pandemic, now is the time to reassess. Which relationships do you and your team need to focus on?

In a service business, it is the people and relationships that make all the difference. Services are often highly comparable between companies.

In this article, I want to focus on external relationship building. So, whether you are reading this with yourself or your team in mind, read on.

 Just the word ‘networking’ sends shivers down many people’s spines and indeed very few people genuinely love it. However, it is essential that client facing individuals are confident and skilled enough to get to know people in the marketplace. This is predominantly done at events, both in person and online. Once people start going to some events, they hear about others. These are often unadvertised and if they build the right relationships, they are more likely to get invited to those which are often the real gems.

Throughout the pandemic of course it has been entirely online. It’s interesting to think about what has happened in this time. Have online events worked equally as well? Have they been avoided? Did you and others at work focus on deepening relationships with those you knew already? Or, did you really do no external network building at all?

A reminder of why you your team needs to network – top 5 reasons
  1. As I said, in a service business, it is the people that differentiate the business or firm, therefore they need to be visible to the market. The more people you have known and able to build relationships with potential clients and referrers, the better.
  2. Never mind new business, often individuals get invited to events by clients, they need to have the skills to navigate those well and get to know more people within the client.
  3. It builds confidence interacting with others and getting used to speaking about the business they work for and their role in it – this confidence will roll over to benefit other areas of their work.
  4. It is not good for a business to rely on just a few people to build the reputation of the company or firm, what happens when they leave/retire? Also, if it is just the more senior people then the market doesn’t get to see the diversity of people who work for the organisation.
  5. The individuals will learn more about the market place they are in, related/peripheral ones and those they serve if they go out and engage with people which can shape their work and help them service clients better.
How to get you and your team motivated to get (re)started
  • Rather than make it just another task to do, make sure all are aware of the benefits – for them personally, as well as the organisation. This article from Forbes explains the personal benefits really well.
  • Get experienced networkers in the team to share the type of events they attend and their positive experiences, including tangible clients it has led to the company or firm having.
  • Make sure everyone is clear on what your company or firm offers, not just in their area but beyond, so they equipped. A lot of what puts people off networking is the fear of not knowing what to say.
  • To this end, remind them networking is simply about engaging with other humans and the conversation should start on that basis.
  • Encourage even junior people to network; the younger the skill is built, the easier it will be. It is better to increase people’s confidence before they have specific business development responsibility.
  • Suggest they start slowly and find what suits them including type of event, format and time of day.
  • Make sure they are equipped with networking skills – considering the impact they have on others, how to build rapport and what to do after a networking event. This will help them network positively and give them confidence too.
Networking shouldn’t be seen as a ‘dark art’ that only a few can master.

Which members of your team could most benefit? Which ones can you support to start developing their network? This longer article on networking at events may be helpful too.

I offer workshops and one-to-one development work in this area, as well as many other ‘non-technical’ skill areas, so if you are interested in expert help do contact me for a conversation. There is also more information on this page.

Networking is one of my nine (often neglected) skills. I see these as pivotal to a team having to make sure a company or firm has competitive edge. You can download the free guide with a page on each here. If you are from a law firm, there is a specific version of the same guide here.

To think further about your individual career, click here to request my Nine Skills needed for career success.

About the author

Joanna Gaudoin, Inside Out Image (https://insideoutimage.co.uk/) specialises in helping ambitious professionals and their organisations in professional and financial services improve performance and achieve their goals.

She does this by helping them master and strategically use the business skills of Personal Impact and Relationship Management. These skills are necessary for professional success.

Before establishing Inside Out Image, Joanna worked in marketing and consultancy in large corporates. She understands the business world and its challenges. She now helps organisations and individuals understand how to succeed in it.

Do awards really matter?

No matter where you work, things have changed in the last 18 months.

We are all rethinking the way things were done before. Perhaps not doing certain things that we now realise took up time or didn’t add any value to our business. We are possibly continuing to do some things but now doing them in a different way because it works better. I can’t think of any profession that hasn’t had to flex in the last year!

Events and face to face meetings come back onto my agenda. I have now been considering what have we really missed out on. As well as, what do we need to get back to.

There were some truly great attempts at events from home however some things as well organised and attempted as they were, are just better face to face.

We are approaching our first face to face awards event in September.

Cashroom are delighted that we have received nominations for two of The Scottish Legal Awards. Support Team of the Year and the Legal Technology Award. Pre-covid my opinion of these events was that they were a bit of a jolly. You spent time travelling there and back to the event out of the working day and then basically had a night out with your colleagues or possibly some client entertaining. Not a hardship however I probably never truly thought about the real benefit of these events and this year I think they mean just that bit more.

Some professions have clearly had a tougher time than others but that aside, it’s been rough. With your work colleagues you have virtually been inside their home, probably seen various room in the house, met some family members and maybe even tried to help with lockdown and home-schooling tips over teams.

We have all been pretty stressed out at different times, maybe we were a bit shorter with people than we would normally be. Maybe we couldn’t support each other like we normal do as the mental load of home life was just too much. Maybe we all even resented each other a little bit feeling like others had it just that bit easier than what you were dealing with. Awards aside, the prospect of getting around one big table with the people you work with and raising a glass to say thank you for being there for each other and that you made it is something to be excited and proud about!

The award nominations however are crucial here as it is a thoroughly well-deserved pat on the back.

Despite the hardships, the stress and the world going crazy we did a good job, in-fact we did a great job! We rallied, we problem solved, we came together as a team and supported the industry more than ever before. Our technology helped us do this securely and efficiently. Ultimately though, the people at Cashroom just ‘got stuck in’ and stayed that way and persevered for a year. The team at Cashroom didn’t just ‘do their job’, everyone truly went above and beyond. The property market went mad and we had our busiest two months ever! Cashroom transferred 1.2 billion pounds of client money in March and 1.6 billion pounds of client money in June. Despite this being at the end of a crazy year we absolutely smashed it. Securely, efficiently, and compliantly!

Awards aside, now is the time to step back and blow your own trumpet. You made it and your team rallied. You survived a period in history that people will look back and talk about. It might have been a bit messy but you have come out the other side. No matter if Cashroom win an award at any of the events this year. We are going to go out together and raise a glass to not just surviving – we thrived!

How does Extech Cloud support lawyers branching out alone?

Individuals and businesses need to adapt to the pandemic-related changes and for some ambitious entrepreneurs within the legal system, this means leaving their legal firms and branching out to begin solo ventures, which can be daunting. When it comes to Cloud-based legal IT Solutions for start-up legal firms, the message from the team at Sussex-based Microsoft Partner, Extech Cloud, is “You are not alone”.

Extech Cloud has legal IT knowledge and experience

Despite the fact the legal industry is ahead in some areas, when it comes to IT systems and IT support, we have found it’s often lagging behind. This could be due to consultants and previous IT companies opting for what’s easier, instead of what’s best for the law firm. Or simply a lack of the necessary IT knowledge and expertise.

Extech Cloud provides tailored and SRA compliant legal IT services for law firms. We have completed hundreds of cloud transformation projects, including providing IT Cloud Support for legal firms. The Extech Cloud team is always on-hand to provide legal industry businesses with everything they need. We work closely with clients to help them take steps towards a new way of working, through cloud transformation.

Extech Cloud supports start-up businesses with IT solutions

We also understand what it’s like to start up a business on your own. Not only do we provide Cloud IT solutions to many start-up businesses, but Managing Director of Extech Cloud, Andrew Hookway, initially ran a large corporate firm for 10 years, before deciding to go his own way and creating Extech Cloud.

How can Extech Cloud support your start-up legal firm’s IT system?

Do you need to transfer all work to the cloud? Do you need to find new and innovative solutions for working remotely? We possess the IT knowledge and expertise required to run a successful start-up legal business. Extech Cloud provides customers with all necessary services under one roof. It can help new businesses get up and running in no time.

Concerns such as setting up with the right equipment, cabling options, or a more significant threat such as cybersecurity are inevitable when running your own business. However, the team at Extech Cloud are experts in helping the legal sector to adopt new technologies. They keep ahead of competition.

Can Extech Cloud help large law firms with more complex IT infrastructure?

Although the team at Extech Cloud works with start-ups and small businesses, we have also completed digital transformations for much larger legal firms such as Hunters Law LLP. The large legal firm contacted Extech Cloud looking for a solution to upgrade its servers and overall infrastructure, when they were informed it was not possible by another IT company.

The team of experts at Extech Cloud has spent years working on, and refining, the journey to the cloud. This makes it a simple and smooth transition for businesses, like Hunters Law. It also helps smaller start-up legal firms, to work effectively at anytime, anywhere. To date, the team has completed hundreds of cloud transformation projects, saving customers thousands of pounds, improving their overall performance, and making their staff happier as a result.

Contact Extech Cloud for IT Support today

We don’t just work with legal firms; we have helped companies in a range of industry sectors with Cloud IT solutions. If you’re thinking about transitioning your business to the cloud and you need some support, talk to an Extech Cloud specialist and transform your business for the better. You can call 01444 443200, email info@extech.co.uk or fill out our contact form for a call back.

Holy risk profile, Batman!

Has there ever been a time more fraught with difficulty for your friendly neighbourhood lawyer?

KAPOW! Connectivity and technology issues.

As the pandemic struck, firms had to adapt speedily to have people working remotely from each other, and from their clients. Many were not ready to do anything other than send people home with a laptop. The risk inherent in this approach was massive- there was cyber threat due to the lack of secure tech being utilised. There were issues around monitoring and supervision. There were few procedures in place to enable collaboration between colleagues, and between fee earners and the finance function of the firm.

BLAM! Resourcing issues.

People were furloughed. People were isolating. Clients went quiet. Then suddenly clients started demanding more services than ever. The conveyancing world reacted to the Stamp Duty holiday and firms were swamped with work. People continued to be off ill occasionally, and the work kept pouring in. The original Stamp Duty holiday was extended, which meant a huge spike of activity in March, and the respite that had been expected after that original deadline never landed. There was huge risk of burnout. There were problems resourcing the spikes of activity from both a fee earner and finance function perspective.

WHAMMY! Cyber Fraud.

Aside from the tech risks from cyber criminals, there were also significant increases in Cyber crime activity. Those dastardly delinquents were seeing the chaos of Covid as an opportunity. The pace at which lawyers were having to work. The pressure from clients wanting to complete before deadlines. The number of financial transactions, and the sheer scale of the funds moving around- all of these had the Cyber villains salivating.

ZING! Client satisfaction challenges.

There were the initial challenges around communication- telephony models were not optimal, and clients and prospective clients struggled to contact their lawyer. Then there were problems of efficiency- when it comes down to it, Mr and Mrs Bloggs want to

move house and they don’t expect it to take six months. They don’t care that there are search backlogs. They want the keys to the new house! On the day of completion, they don’t expect to be sat on the driveway of their new dream home, waiting till five pm for the keys because the firm cannot process the money transactions swiftly enough.

All of these things are risks.

All of them create financial risks, security risks, resourcing risks, reputational risks, negligence risks.

And in the background for all these challenges which are stressful in themselves, there is the impact each will have on the price of the firm’s safety net- their PII policy. In an already hard market, firms need to have a credible answer on these issues. You need to give the insurer and brokers the compelling story that will enable them to achieve the best possible renewal terms for you. That review will look at the way the firm has been performing in all these areas, and they’ll also be interested in changes the firm has made to address any flaws.

Firms should be looking to mitigate risk by, for example, ensuring their internal and external communications are secure; create processes for the safe (but speedy) transfer of client monies; and flag to their PI insurer the steps they are taking to reduce their risk profile.

Or… (and I’m baised!) they could send out the Cashroom Signal! We moved over £1.6bn of client money through our secure portal payment process for our client law firms during June, helping them deal with an unprecedented spike of activity and keep their own clients happy in the process.

Our team were true superheroes and we are looking forward to helping the market answer the challenges to come.

Check out Lockton Solicitors for more information.

Scottish Office
  • Craglea House Quarrywood Court, Livingston Village, Livingston.
    West Lothian.
    EH54 6AX
  • 01506 401289
  • info@thecashroom.co.uk
English Office
  • Suite B, West Lancashire Investment Centre, Maple View, Skelmersdale,
    Lancashire.
    WN8 9TG
  • 01695 550950
  • info@thecashroom.co.uk
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