Bits & Pieces

Referral fees

A recent Law Society survey found that of 135 firms questioned only 6 were inside the rules. I think we all know how many firms have sailed close to the wind on this for years but it now seems that the Law Society is to begin enforcing those rules.

In fact they have been busy and rules on conduct, money laundering, conflicts of interest, and client care amongst other things have been amended. This really falls outside most managers' areas of responsibility but you may wish to discuss it with your partners. There may be training to set up so that your fee earning staff are all up to date.

Data Protection Act/Data Registration

Are you registered? Solicitors will all need to be but it is a simple process. Everything is on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office and a registration form can be downloaded. The fee is just £35 (no VAT). Click here.

And beware! There are fraudulent mailings going around that try to frighten you into registering through them. They quote a much higher fee and are often easily spotted because they contain few or no proper contact details. Trading Standards will always be happy if you send these things on to them.

Risk assessment by FEs at start of matters

Do you have robust systems to take care of this? Do all FEs always assess risk for the client and the firm in every important respect? It must be a part of your operating systems, in your office manual and monitored to make sure it is being done. I know that if you are a practice manager you may not be legally trained, but you sort out the PI insurance, don't you? It is all tied in.

Many firms are now appointing risk managers. It is a very sound idea, and that brings us to......

FE supervision

I am always slightly surprised at how much FEs are left to their own devices in law firms. File reviews tend to be haphazard, workloads not monitored, and when anything goes wrong it is often too late to prevent damage. The main problem would seem to be that heads of departments are key fee earners themselves, under pressure and too busy to supervise adequately.

This will never be easy but you have to get a system in place that takes better care of it. Case management does it neatly but if you do not have that agree wih the partners on a system for the allocation of new work, the monitoring pf progress with it and regular file reviews. Your heads of department must either do this or delegate it and you should keep records of what has been done and when. Only then can you be sure that it is happening.

Management by exception

This concept is helpful and simple. Everything you do needs to be planned. From your budgets you work out all the various resources you will need - staff numbers, premises, and so on. You then monitor the outcomes. Provided all is going as you planned there will be little or no need to do anything. You are looking for exceptions, things that are turning out significantly worse or significantly better than you expected. Worse and you may need to do something to control the damage and restore things, better and you may need additional resources such as extra staff. In this way you concentrate resources where they are needed and don't waste valuable time on things that are running to plan.

Meetings

There is more time wasted in meetings that in any other activity at work. A good meeting is creative and positive. It considers problems or decisions, weighs the facts, brings several minds to the problem and produces new ideas and consensus. I have seen people happily change their view completely as a result of a good, well-argued meeting. A good meeting can be stimulating and enjoyable, but when did you last attend one of those?

The golden rules?

Keep it short. We concentrate well for only limited amounts of time - 30 to 40 minutes or so. Push the tedious stuff to the bottom of the agenda and look at the tricky problems, where the really creative thinking is needed, first.Have a good agenda, detailed enough so that everyone knows in advance exactly what is to be discussed. Work through it and make sure that each item is properly concluded before moving on.Circulate as much as possible beforehand; you do not want people's brains to be occupied absorbing new information during the meeting. Far better that they come to the meeting informed and having had the chance to consider the issues.The chairman or woman, ideally, should not have an axe to grind. I have seen too many senior partners bully meetings into doing what they themselves wanted but if that is your intention, why waste time having the meeting in the first place? The best chairpeople are referrees, there to ensure everyone is given a chance to contribute and to steer the meeting to a conclusion that all can accept. Sum up each decision and record it. That way people there cannot later claim that that was not what they thought had been decided.Don't take endless minutes. You don't need to know later who said what but you do need to know what was decided, carefully described to avoid later varying interpretations, who is going to do it and by when. The only exception is when you have not been able to reach agreement all round and someone may have had to accept a decision they were unhappy about. They may feel happier if their point of view is at least noted.You must also decide who you are going to tell, how and when - this is often overlooked but the decisions reached wil almost alwsys affect others not present.There is more but the vital thing is to keep meetings at a good pace, interesting and decisive. If people start to flag either you are going too slowly, meeting for too long, or probably both!

Money Transfer Fees

Many firms for years passed on CHAPS-type transfer fees to clients, especially in such matters as conveyancing. As banking became more computerised these fees have often been reduced or eliminated but some firms still charge, seeing it as a way to enhance revenues. I learned only today that the Law Society is taking a dim view of this and that firms should not do it. A disbursement can only be described as such if it genuinely incurred and can only be passed on at the same cost. Otherwise it becomes a fee and must be described as such, and quoted for as such in your Rule 15 letter.

Communication

Tell your people everything you possibly can. Of course there will be facts that must remain confidential to the partners but they are remarkably few. Everyone in your organisation is (in modern management speak) a stakeholder, in their own way as anxious to be part of a successful organisation with a sound future as the partners are. You will encourage and motivate them if they feel trusted and involved.

Furthermore, whenever anything in any organistion goes wrong it is almost always because somone did not tell someone something, or if they did they failed to make sure that they had understood properly. An open, communicative culture can only help to protect against such problems.

IMPORTANT NOTE

All the opinions expressed are those of the contributors, are based on personal experience and are given in good faith. The ideas and suggestions here have worked for us but every situation is different. As a result, we are sure you will understand that no liability can be accepted for anything that may arise from following advice on this site.