Guest Blogs from our member Firms This Week

Sheffield Wills and Probate Solicitors Lewis Francis Blackburn Bray have posted a blog recently about Wills and what to do if you cant find one

http://www.lfbbsolicitors.co.uk/help-i-cant-find-my-parents-will/

Trident Solicitors of Hull specialise in Motoring and Traffic Law. Read their opinion piece about the Motoring lawyer from Scotland caught driving at 105 MPH on a motorway.

http://www.tridentsolicitors.co.uk/wordpress/105mph-and-he-still-cant-get-away/

Innovation is anything, but business as usual

I wasn't at this week's Legal Futures conference which is a shame as Neil Rose and his team always put on a good event with good speakers. I usually get the chance to catch up with a group of people who care passionately about the future of legal services even if very few of them are practising as lawyers but advising law firms on what to do. 

Luckily the twitter feed produced almost a running commentary to the Conference, entitled "2020 Vision", an attempt at predicting the future landscape, so I felt like I was following the flow of the event. What follows is my summary of the event as I saw it unfold in tweets. 

The overriding feeling is that, with the exception of Quality Solicitors, most of the brands and networks that appeared at earlier events were not present. I include HighStreetLawyer in that summary. We stayed away as our target audience of small law firms tend not to attend such conferences and our business model of targeting consumers has changed. However, new businesses attempting to mimic the arguable success of Quality Solicitors were present. Alex MIlls, of Apprentice fame. claimed that branding is everything and legal services are no exception. From my twitter communications I understand that he has 20-30 firms paying £600 per month. The Dynamo Legal site is undergoing maintenance so I will watch that space with interest. My cynicism tells me that he is unlikely to find that many firms willing to part with over £7,000 per year. 

The tweets I read about Quality Solicitors confused me further. Their newly promoted President and Founder Craig Holt appeared to claim both that "consistency of delivery of service is key" and that "it is the individual personality of the local member firms" that consumers value. Can consistency and individuality be delivered at the same time? 

Overseas brands continue to look at the UK market as a place ripe for investment. The latest is Jacoby and Meyers the largest consumer law firm in the US. Although they are hoping to build on the success of Slater and Gordon, their own Managing Attorney, Gabe MIller, admits that "it's not a given that we are going to succeed". 

Interesting models for law firm ownership were discussed by firms such as iSolicitor, Schillings and SAS Daniels. They all seem to understand the problems faced by the legal profession but, unless I missed something  which is possible, not having been at the event, nothing seemed to be truly innovative. 

So, for the time being at least, I will make two promises to myself; The first is to continue to build a network of small law firms who can collaborate on issues of importance to them and share strategy, ideas, problems and leads and to make sure that I attend Legal Future's next event in person. Reading the tweets is all well and good but nothing can make up for being there in person. 

For another view on the day, from someone who was there read http://www.conscious.co.uk/site/about/davidsblog/blogpost/Legal_Futures_2020_vision_conference.html

Don’t spend your money joining a legal brand – Four other things small law firms must do instead

When we established HighStreetLawyer.com we set out to do two things. To create a recognizable consumer brand for legal services and create a network of small local high street solicitor firms. We thought, following the introduction of the Legal Services Act and the liberalisation of the profession that both of these approaches were needed. We were wrong! The consumers of legal services whether private individuals or businesses do not want or need a unified legal brand. Legal services do not need to be provided by household names. The world is not ready for big brand law. What consumers want is good quality advice and assistance delivered locally at transparent prices in a consistent manner with a focus on great customer service.

More small law firms are finding it difficult to get insurance which will result in them going out of business by the end of this year. Other firms are being forced to close due to bad financial planning. Many firms don’t know where their next piece of work is coming from so instead of spending time on marketing to get more work, they cut costs even further making it difficult to service any work if it does come in. Work received from referral companies, if firms even receive any leads, is considered by many firms as low quality and many don’t even bother to return the calls, creating a downward spiral of externally referred work. None of these problems facing small law firms are new. They have just been brought into sharp focus because of the Legal Services Act, liberalization of the market and the changes in regulation and the insurance market.

With big brand law currently dead in the water, small law firms should be focusing on four key areas, to make sure that they are competitive in their local market.

Marketing to existing and potential client base – News of law firm closures and difficulties are filtering through to consumers. You had better remind your clients that your firm is still alive and kicking. Send them a newsletter, connect with them on social media, invite private clients in for a coffee and a free will review or organise a breakfast briefing on employment changes for your business clients. If you are not continuously marketing to your client base, someone else will.

Make sure your training and development is up to date – We all have to do CPD but make sure that you spend your time doing something that is going to add value to your practice. Focus on two areas in the next 12 months that you are going to become an expert on and find a training programme that can help you to achieve it. If you can’t find one, HighStreetLawyer will develop one for you. It’s essential to stay ahead of the game and proving expertise through knowledge is key.

Get the best deal on your outgoings – Cutting costs can only go so far before you have no more costs to cut if you are going to deliver a good quality service. Unfortunately, small law firms have very little buying power when it comes to supplies that they need on a recurring basis, even though most firms are buying the same set of services from a fairly small group of suppliers. Collaboration through a buying club can help save you money. It can even save your client money if the costs are a disbursement that you normally pass on, making you more competitive.

Revise your business plan or if you don’t have one, start one – Banks and insurers used to recommend that their law firm clients have a business plan that deals with business continuity, risk management, succession planning, financial management, business development and sustainability. Now, they are insisting on it. You don’t need a MBA to produce a decent business plan that helps you to highlight the area that your business needs to focus on in the short and medium term and to set some goals for the longer term. As your firm evolves, make sure your plan is up to date and still reflects your realistic aspirations.

Without the need to spend time and resources creating a brand that no one currently needs, we are devoting our attention to helping small law firms develop their own brand through marketing, stay competitive through training and procurement and run a strong business by having a relevant business plan and strategy. Email gary@highstreetlawyer.com to find out more. 

Sharing is Caring - Social Collaboration for Solicitors

Our Enterprise Social Network, HSL Workshare, has now been live for six months. To mark our half anniversary we held a webinar for current and new users. We wanted to share the reasons why we felt the need to launch our own bespoke ESN, when strong public networks such as LinkedIn and free source build your own platforms like Yammer already exist. We also wanted to understand what benefits our users get from collaborating and what our growing user base wants to see next on HSL Workshare.

Having spoken to many small law firms over the last few years there are a number of areas where collaborating with other like minded professionals can really help. There are also a number of areas where collaborating by joining with a larger network is a total waste of time and money.

HSL Workshare is focussed on three main areas; Networking, Training, Procurement

Networking - HSL Workshare allows our member firms to share ideas and strategy with each other. Problems shared often make them easier to deal with, especially when you know that others have similar issues and maybe solutions that work for you too. Member firms can also promote their areas of expertise to other users and attract work from firms that don't do what they do.

Training - HSL Workshare provides a place for receiving training and development both through structured webinars and documents stored online as well as receiving tips and advice on various practice areas and strategic disciplines including marketing and management.

Procurememt - Small law firms have little bargaining power in purchasing the ongoing services they need to be in business and serve their clients. As a network of small law firms, we are able to provide discounted services to our members via HSL Workshare.

HighStreeetLawyer, through HSL Workshare is dedicated to giving small law firms a fighting chance at improving their workflow, management efficiency and service delivery. They don't join a brand, lose independence or pass hard earned cash to a marketing organisation. In essence, HSL Workshare is like one of our HighStreetLawyer Strategy Days, all day every day.

Even though it is free to use, you can only join if you have received an invite. Drop me a line at gary@highstreetlawyer.com if you want to see if the hype is true. 

Introducing HighStreetLawyer Workshare

Law firms will survive the changes taking place in the legal profession by tackling the three key drivers for change as identified by Professor Richard Susskind in his latest book "Tomorrow's Lawyers An Introduction to Your Future". These are "the more for less challenge", "liberalisation" and "technology".

More for less - consumers of legal services want their services to be provided cheaper and there will always be someone willing to provide a cheaper service. How can small law firms provide services more efficiently without damaging profit margins? 

Liberalisation - the Legal Services Act has potentially opened up the legal market to new competition, which at first glance assists consumers. Can small law firms compete with the new market entrants? 

Technology - technological advances can come in a variety of guises. It may be consumer facing technology or back office technology.Either way it has to be available in a way that is efficient and drives bottom line benefits to small law firms. In other words, it has to be both affordable and effective. 

We have recently launched HSL Workshare as a response to these issues. HSL Workshare is a collaboration platform for our member firms and other invited users to share referrals with each other. They can also benefit from shared strategy groups and marketing and compliance advice. 

HSL Workshare is ideal for specialist firms looking for a network of larger firms to refer work to their specialist area. It is also suitable for firms looking for lawyers with expertise that they don't themselves have. even small full service firms will benefit from the strategic groups and the chance to network with other like minded individuals.   

We are looking for more users to help us test this platform over the next few months. With no ongoing obligation other than a few minutes of your time to load your profile and check your messages, HSL Workshare is an easy way of getting involved in the HSL brand as it continues to grow. Please contact me gary@highstreetlawyer.com or 02080902454 to arrange a 10 minute demo. 

Tomorrow's Lawyer Today - the future of Legal Services is here

In his book "Tomorrow's Lawyers - An Introduction to Your Future" Professor Richard Susskind makes some stark predictions about the changes being experienced by the legal profession in England and Wales.

The most worrying issue is that by 2020, Susskind does not see small high street law firms in the legal landscape unless they  identify a market that requires their services and responds to it. In order to work out what that market is, those lawyers who want to survive beyond 2020 need to work out what differentiates them and how this message can be brought to the target market.

Coupled with the existential threat, law firms, large and small, are also facing unprecedented changes in the way they practice and how they are run. A new compliance regime is now in place, with every firm requiring Compliance Officers for both the legal practice and the business management elements of it's work. Accreditation schemes for bread and butter conveyancing and probate work will soon be essential for any firm that hopes to continue doing these types of work.

Referral fees are being banned for personal injury work at the same time as the fees that pesonal injury firms can charge are being slashed. Firms are worried about how they will get work and whether there will be a knock on effect on referral fees for other areas of work.

At the same time, the profession is being opened up to external investment but most of this is bypassing small firms. The future for small legal practices certainly is confusing.

HighStreetLawyer.com plans to address all of these issues and more at its conference Tomorrow's Lawyers Today. With speakers from the world of Banking, Regulatory and Compliance as well as the Managing Director of HighStreetLawyer, the conference will look at all of these topics from the perspective of the small legal firm and propose methods to ensure that those firms planning on surviving post 2020 have the means to do so.

Full details of the conference can be found on our CPD site www.legal-focus.co.uk
http://www.legal-focus.co.uk/courses.html?eventId=48&task=event_register&type=reg_individual

2013 - A challenge ahead

2012 not only saw the first full year of the Legal Services Act and the launch of a number of new legal service providers but also the implementation of an entirely new compliance regime. 2013 brings the introduction of a ban on referral fees payable by lawyers to the introducers of work. We asked a select number of small law firms to participate in a survey at the end of December and the results have helped us to form our opinion on the challenges that face them for 2013. The survey is still available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RWD77JF

Every firm has by now had to nominate it's COLP and COFA. Such compliance officers will have to deal with Outcomes Focussed Regulations. Where previously a set of hard and fast rules governed the compliance of law firms, partners now have to interpret guidelines and make judgements of their own decisions. It is unsurprising therefore that about 250 firms have not yet nominated their COLP/COFA before the 31 December deadline http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/hundreds-delinquent-firms-move-closer-colpcofa-action. In our survey, half of our respondents informed us that they were taking on both the COLP and COFA role.

Each week seems to see the launch of a new marketing initiative for legal services. Google backed US company Rocket Lawyer launched in the final quarter of 2012 and it's rival Legal Zoom is also dipping its toes into the UK legal market. Various comparison sites now exist and there is now of course TV advertising of legal services.

In 2012, more firms joined the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme and various lenders have now made CQS accreditation a requirement for membership of their panel. Without CQS, firms will simply not be able to act for certain lenders. Over a third of firms we surveyed admitted that they had to turn work away this year as they were not on a certain panel. From April 1 this year, firms without CQS will not be permitted on Santander's panel. Of the firms we surveyed only 40% had received CQS accreditation, although a further 40% intended to apply.

100% of our respondents would consider applying for accreditation of a probate scheme if The Law Society were to introduce one. Although firms are not exactly embracing these schemes there is a reluctant acceptance that to protect their ability to work, firms will have to carefully consider membership of as many schemes as possible.

Small, successful high street firms who wish to remain as such need to use the coming year to capitalise on their strengths and remove the effect of their weaknesses. Ironically, the fundamental strength of being a small law firm is paradoxically also its weakness. Because of their size small law firms have great local knowledge, years of experience often having acted for families or businesses for many years and the potential to give great customer service and be very caring towards their clients. Conversely, their ability to compete in marketing terms with larger organisations is stymied, even ridiculed by their size. With the same compliance regime for every firm, regardless of size, small firms will use up a far higher proportion of potential fee earning time with management and compliance issues. Marketing budgets of small law firms are dwarfed by those of large new market entrants. The only effective way to counter such competition is for smaller firms to take advantage of some kind of collective marketing, deciding first on whether social media, TV or price comparison is the forum to attack.

Of our surveyed firms, almost 70% had a Twitter and a Linked In account. 60% are actively sending enewsletters and approximately 40% are still sending brochures. At this rate, there must be a huge amount of material being sent by small firms to potential customers. How do firms distinguish themselves, especially when a lot of the material is fairly generic?

My prediction for 2013 is that lots of small law firms will find the challenges too much to face and will look for the chance to be taken over or leave the market. Small law firms should focus this year on existing client bases and not blow in the wind trying to attract new clients. Getting to grips with the effect as well as the cost of compliance will also be a great benefit. My hope is that small law firms play to their strengths and realise the great head start that that they have on new market entrants but accept the fact that that reducing cost bases and outsourcing back office functions may be necessary and productive. My new years resolution is to work with the firms that wish to remain strong, profitable and competitive.

Gary Yantin 
Gary Yantin is the founder and Managing Director of HighStreetLawyer.com, the consumer facing legal brand and umbrella group for small high street law firms.