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The five biggest practice management

and regulation pitfalls for small firms -

how to avoid them

Tuesday 22 March 2016

MacDonald Burlington Hotel, Birmingham

Karen Bailey, principal, Bailey Wright & Co

Matthew Moore, solicitor consultant and

director, Infolegal Limited

Ravinder Singh-Chumber, partner, Rashid & Co

Solicitors

Ranjit Thaliwal, founder and senior partner,

Thaliwal Solicitors

The five biggest practice management

and regulation pitfalls for small firms -

how to avoid them

Ranjit Thaliwal, founder and senior

partner, Thaliwal Solicitors

Planning Mental Health Niche Area

(But with a Huge National Impact)

• Recent figures indicate that there were 6708 suicides in the UK andIreland (Source: suicide statistics report 2015 – Samaritans)

• The greatest cause of death for males between 24 and 49 is not Cancer,Heart Disease or road traffic accidents. It is suicide.

• 1 in 4 people suffer from Mental Health issues at some point in their life.

• Approximately 1/3 of GP time is used to assist persons with Mentalhealth issues

• Awareness and support are key.

• What we do is represent those detained on section in psychiatric units inthe Midlands area at Mental Health Tribunal hearings.

Planning - Pitfalls and Management of Small Firms

• Plan ahead – 6 months, 12 months, 3 years etc.

• Do appraise the bottom line namely the true profit in a department after offsetting costs on an ongoing basis.

• Remain open to change and diversification / evolution.

• Take advice from peers, colleagues and other businesses that you are close to.

• Rewrite the plan if there are dramatic changes e.g. Legal Aid contract / regulation / cost implications etc.

Planning – Your Staff Team

• Ultimately your quality is driven by the knowledge, experience and skillsets of your staff team and therefore they are core.

• Plan a personal road map for each staff team member and help them toachieve key personal targets e.g. gaining a Panel Membership, moving onto more complex cases etc.

• Synchronise with the road map by looking ahead to give them theopportunity to experience appropriate cases with appropriate support.

• Plan ahead with recruitment namely if a staff member is qualifying thenlook at that point to bring on another Trainee Solicitor / Paralegal in orderthat the balance of your team remains correct.

• Encourage and support awards applications, pro bono work and otherinitiatives as part of the personal development plan.

• Do not forget to plan ahead for yourself and set personal targets year onyear.

• Be specific in the plan e.g. that you want to be shortlisted for an award,being involved with a new initiative complementary to your work, executesome pro bono activities, become more active in the local Law Society etc.

• It is a useful bench marking tool which you can re –examine and use forself appraisal. Do not make the targets too hard and unachievable but atthe same time do not make them too simple!

• Plan to be robustly appraised, be open to criticism, to change and bechallenged.

Planning – Plan Ahead for Yourself

• Do something out of the box and out of your comfort zone.

• Try your best to aim for the top of the league as even the underdogs can be winners!

Planning – Concluding Note

• Planning for a smaller practice remains critical and will often have to bedynamic and liable to regular change.

• Having a system e.g. Lexcel is a helpful framework.

• Take advice from others both within your firm and externally. This canreally help (in my case Fosse BBC).

Plug! Attendees and donations welcome!

The five biggest practice management

and regulation pitfalls for small firms -

how to avoid them

Karen Bailey, principal,

Bailey Wright & Co

Making client care a reality

Matt Moore, solicitor consultant and

director, Infolegal Limited

Perceptions of quality

Quality

Input Output"Real" quality “Perceived" qualityExpertise, accuracy and Presentation

appropriateness of advice Sense of concern TimelinessCommunication

Building client care

Attitudes

Skills Systems

Examples

• A sense of urgency

• Helpfulness

• Being interested in the client

• Respect for the client

• Communication skills

• Listening

• Time management, etc!

The five biggest practice management

and regulation pitfalls for small firms -

how to avoid them

Ravinder Singh-Chumber, partner, Rashid

& Co Solicitors

Cyber risks

Matt Moore, solicitor consultant and

director, Infolegal Limited

Cyber risks

• The SRA has reported 100 large scale losses by law

firms over the last year (£50,000 - £3m)

• Uncertainty as to who pays for the losses, with

increasing concerns from qualifying insurers re their

exposure

• Email hacking the source of most risks

• Phishing, vishing and smishing

Beware

• The Friday bank phone call to Accounts

• Text requests from the Managing Partner when they are

out of the office

• Spoof emails to and from clients

• Late changes of bank details

Your response

• Good security software protection

• Failure to install updates leaves holes in your system

• Password disciplines - use of strong passwords

• Social media – too much information

• Liaise with your bank

• Awareness training for all partners and staff