Legal Practice Management
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JULY/AUGUST 2020 LPMLEGAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Face each challenge with a partner you trust One of the UK’s leading managed service providers to the legal sector • Public, Private & Hybrid Cloud solutions • Windows Virtual Desktop • IT strategy consultancy • Security consultancy SUPPLEMENT INSIDE: JULY/AUGUST 2020 ENDLESS POSSIBILITY THE ONLY MAGAZINE FOR LAW FIRM MANAGERS LPMLEGAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT EXPERT COLUMNISTS AND ADVICE FROM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT REGION FOCUS Find out how SME law firms in Scotland differ to the rest of the UK COLUMN Chris Mullen at Arc Pensions Law on the strengths of a specialist firm New wave The competitive tides are rising – how are SME law firms adapting to SRA new rules and NewLaw? BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR SME LAW FIRM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Contract Express 8.5 has landed Introducing Expertise Automation PLUS • Custom dashboards • Template mark-up wizard • SharePoint online integration • Enhanced DMS integration Find out more: legal-solutions.co.uk/landed IN PRACTICE ISSN 2398-9742 Follow us and talk to us on Twitter @LPMmag JULY/AUGUST 2020 WELCOME he big news of the month? LPM is going About us digital! From our next issue (September) Tonwards LPM will be getting a new look and a fresh new start as we enter the world of Kayli Olson is LPM’s editor. She spends most of her time the future. What does this mean for you in the UK picking up British LPMers? Our website will get a slight face lift slang and playing boardgames. and more content will be published directly [email protected] online at www.lpmmag.co.uk. This means bringing news and insights to you faster – Richard Brent is the editor- in-chief. He likes to meet as including all new case studies and special many people as possible, so resources new sections. And the digital LPM do contact him at pdf will now be sent to you 12 months a year [email protected] instead of 10! SME law firms have been Emily Nash is head of client becoming increasingly paper-light and it’s now services for LPM. Get in touch time for LPM to follow suit. Don’t worry, if you with her for all things LPM: like LPM’s print edition, our pdf will remain [email protected] print-friendly should you want that physical touch. Watch this space for more updates Sarah Cox is Burlington about LPM’s digital journey and thanks so Media’s client services director. much for your continued support as we start Want to get involved in LPM? the next leg of this adventure! Contact her on: In this issue: read up on how recent changes [email protected] to Solicitors Regulation Authority rules has impacted SME law firms – especially as competition from NewLaw comes knocking on your door (p14). Wonder what it’s like to be a law firm in Scotland? Get the inside view about your peers north of the border on p25. 0800 014 2445 Kayli Olson, editor [email protected] @LPMmag | [email protected] Burlington Media Group 20 Mortlake High Street London, SW14 8JN COLUMNS FEATURES Kirsten Maslen at 34Thomson Reuters reviews 19 Chris Mullen at Arc Feature: How are SME law the competitive landscape and on the firms responding to trends in use of technology for SUPPLEMENT 05Pensions Law 14 strengths of a specialist firm regulatory and competitive SME law firms INSIDE: pressures? Kayli Olson reports ENDLESS Scott Brown at REAR VIEW POSSIBILITY 07Accesspoint on how to Region Focus: What does bring your brand to the 25it take to be a successful Data story: What stops forefront SME law firm in Scotland?Kayli 36high potential junior Olson reports lawyers from becoming high Kate Arnott at MHA on achievers? 09what law firms need to INDUSTRY VIEWS know about the impact of Covid-19 on accounts and tax Nicola Anthony at Miller 28Insurance on compliance Nick Hayne at Quiss and insurance in a new digital 11discusses what firms need to world know about cybersecurity in the legal sector Emma Cummins at Paris 32Smith says Bundledocs helps the firm be more efficient and drives good client service 3 LEGAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Data driven solutions The competitive edge The Web360 package provides your firm with valuable insights as well as the essential building blocks to a seamless website to PMS integration. Website Forensics Client tracking and enquiry data seamlessly injected into your PMS. Website Integration Seamlessly pull client populated webform data directly into your PMS. FormShare Our custom FormShare forms enables firms to use Adobe PDF Forms as an efficient method of electronically capturing data. Synchronise your Website and PMS data View our video at accesspoint.media/web360 Your gateway Contact us on: 0203 189 2645 to successful accesspoint.media marketing IN PRACTICE Follow us and talk to us on Twitter @LPMmag JULY/AUGUST 2020 SPECIALIST VIEWS Chris Mullen, managing partner at Arc Pensions Law, says if a full-service firm is a super-tanker, a specialist firm is a speedboat – it’s fast and agile when it comes to adapting to change he house of law has many rooms. Among law firms themselves, there’s every category imaginable, from the magic circle Tand major international firm, down to the Specialising gives us the ability to focus wholly smallest virtual, one-partner shop – and and exclusively on a single market and dedicate everything in between. Yet there’s one category that receives little attention, despite its growing all our efforts to servicing the clients in that importance. That is the specialist law firm, market sometimes called boutique. As the co-founder of Arc Pensions Law, a specialist pensions law firm now celebrating our fifth anniversary and two- fluctuating demand is no longer like trying to turn time winner of the British Legal Awards’ Boutique a super-tanker, but more like pointing a law firm of the year, I’m surprised. I’m surprised speedboat on a new heading. by the lack of attention to this segment of the UK It’s an unexpected pleasure to work law firm market and more surprised by why more 3 alongside people who really understand specialist lawyers don’t consider setting up or what we’re trying to achieve and the clients we joining such a firm, given their many advantages are working for. With the exception of our three to the traditional one stop shop. marvellous PAs, we’re all pensions lawyers. A firm When Anna Rogers, former head of Mayer run by pensions lawyers, staffed by pensions Brown’s pensions department, and I, former head lawyers, serving pensions clients. Communication of Pinsent Masons’ pensions team and latterly the is easy, understanding comes rapidly. The joys of international firm’s senior partner for nearly 10 having everyone pulling in the same direction. All years, first conceived of Arc Pensions Law, the our eight partners joined from major City or reasons for establishing a new, dedicated international law firms, and none regrets the pensions law firm seemed incredibly strong. move. As many specialist lawyers will attest, Specialising gives us the ability to focus working in large, multi-disciplinary firms, you can 1 wholly and exclusively on a single market feel an awful long way away from management’s and dedicate all our efforts to servicing the clients thinking, when they seem primarily focused on in that market. My previous firm, like many large pursuing international mergers or adding as many firms, then operated across 10 sectors, eight countries as they can to their roster of overseas jurisdictions and multiple service lines (so many, offices. How many specialist partners can in fact, that different practice areas had to be honestly say their management team has a deep consolidated into large, rather meaningless understanding of what they do? ‘conglomerates’ for management purposes). So, long live the specialist law firm. With around Developing a coherent, focused strategy was all twenty people at Arc, we may be small, but we but impossible, given the complexity. What a pride ourselves on being able to service our relief, at Arc, to be able to really understand our clients’ needs as well, if not better, than firms fifty market and get deep into the detail of how best times our size. Dedication to a market we to service our clients’ needs. understand well, a coherent and clear strategy It also give us simplicity of our operation and unity around that strategy – that’s the holy 2 and the agility that comes with that. Rapid trinity of successful law firm management. It’s no decision-making, short chains of command and surprise this sub-sector is growing fast and now most of our operational requirements outsourced. boasts market leading firms across many Even with two ‘real’ offices, one in London and specialist areas – IP, tech, employment, private one in Leeds, it’s still true that, five years on, our client, tax, planning, litigation, environmental, longest contractual commitment is the lease for insurance – the list is long. To me, the only our photocopiers! Much of our operation can be surprise is that more experienced, specialist expanded or scaled back very rapidly, according partners don’t quit their larger multi-disciplinary to need. That’s an attribute that has come into its firms to find greater fulfilment and a more own in this current Pandemic. Adjusting to rapidly enjoyable life, in a specialist law firm instead. LPM 5 LEGAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Helping you to help them We help you to deliver the best service to your clients with an efficient, integrated practice and case management solution. Practice and case management P4W @TikitGroup Tikit Learn about our intelligent software ecosystems at tikit.com COLUMNS JULY/AUGUST 2020 SPONSORED EDITORIAL Introducing an effective intranet portal is a great way to ensure all of the team is able to get on board with any branding strategies from the start Brand awareness SCOTT BROWN, THE MEDIA MASTER ew opportunities as well as challenges website to appeal to your audience, think about have arisen in recent months, how much more effective it will be to have specifically from the new advertising integrations that allow your site to have a more Nrule that prohibits solicitors from joined-up approach to your workflow, as well as making unsolicited approaches to members of attract a wealth of new clients.