Everyone’s game
FEATURES
Could SME firms benefit from moving ownership of clients from partners to the business? Patrick Wingrove reports
Barry Davies at Swansea firm Douglas Jones Mercer, tells Patrick Wingrove about the lessons he learned when his firm was investigated by a legal regulator
Phil Snee at Linetime speaks about attaining competitive advantage with better collaboration, between colleagues and with clients
Wayne Johnson at Encompass speaks to LPM about how firms can ensure compliance with the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive at a reduced cost
GET YOUR COPY NOWISSUE IN BRIEF
The world has changed considerably since our last issue, LPM readers. The general election brought us a hung parliament, the idea of Jeremy Corbyn being electable doesn’t seem completely silly anymore, and I have taken over as this magazine’s editor (I’m not sure which of those changes our office found most shocking).
Further uncertainty after the election will likely impact the legal industry and firms should be looking for ways to become more competitive. And perhaps a good way to start is by looking at who owns the firm’s clients.
Though clients once unquestionably belonged to partners, many legal leaders want to shift ownership over to the business as a whole – which creates tension, since a partner’s value rests on his or her client following. But clients should be shared across the business, because as long as they’re ‘owned’ by partners, firms can’t find out what other services they might need. Find out how other SME firms have made the transfer – and how they’ve benefitted as a result on p33.
INTO YOUR CIRCLE
Who should own a law firm’s clients, the firm or the firm’s partners? For some in legal, clients unquestionably belong to partners – which has a (traditionalist) logic to it, since lawyers are often clients’ key point of contact and valued by their client following. But this view is bad for business, because it stops firms selling more services to clients and puts existing revenue streams at risk.
Scott Garner, head of business development at south east firm Rix & Kay Solicitors, says partners having ownership over clients gives too much influence to one person – which can hinder firms’ ability to deliver real value and put them at risk of losing clients.
HOW TO HANDLE AN SRA INVESTIGATION
In a world where law firm regulation is stricter than ever, it’s enormously important for firms to maintain high regulatory standards. But if a compliant firm is investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, what should it do? Barry Davies, practice director and COFA at Swansea firm Douglas Jones Mercer, says he learned some hard lessons after receiving an SRA letter telling him the firm would be visited within a week.
WORKING TOGETHER
Greater competition and financial pressures are significant drivers for law firms to introduce efficiencies and become more cost-effective in an increasingly uncertain legal market. Phil Snee, development director at Linetime, says that a key way for firms to do both is by improving collaboration across the business.
AT ONE WITH THE FOURTH
Compliance is a growing burden. As well as having to comply with UK legal regulators, firms face a barrage of new regulations from the European Union – including the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive, which came into full effect on 26 June 2017. Wayne Johnson, CEO at Encompass, says the new regulation has a wide-reaching effect on the legal industry – impacting the steps firms need to take when onboarding new customers and keeping records up to date.
