Solo Magazine Summer 2020

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TO INSPIRE TO PROMOTE TO LEAD SUPPORTING SOLICITORS IN SOLE PRACTICE

solo Summer 2020

IN THIS ISSUE: Professional Indemnity Insurance Questions Solicitors Indemnity Fund Closure Council Member‘s Report & more...

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contents summer 2020 4

From the Chairwoman

6

Sole Practitioners Group

20 10 Facts about a Live-in Care Package from Able Community Care 21 The Pandemic Effect: The Outsourced Transcription Provider as a Resource

8 Honorary Secretary’s report 12 Inspection of a Company's members' register for a proper purpose - time is of the essence

22 No fault divorce to be enshrined in law

14

Witnessing Wills remotely

24 Why subscribe for LawSkills Monthly Digest?

14

Biographies: Jennifer Houlihan & Anika Holm

16

Council Member‘s Report

26 How Law Firms need to adapt their marketing post Covid-19 28 Will adoption of technology in the conveyancing sector speed up following the lockdown?

18 The evolving landscape of Professional Indemnity Insurance

30 Contingency planning with Quill

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04

From the Chairwoman

We live in challenging times.

I write this as we hope to come out of lockdown gradually in July, but with the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic COVID – 19 affecting us all later in the year.

So, this is the new normal – not just a short interruption to business as usual. Many will never return to working full-time from an office, court procedures are being revolutionised online daily, and cash flow with or without government support is an ongoing tension for many.

So how can we help you, our members, get through this?

We have a four way approach: 1. INFORMATION 2. LOBBYING 3. REFERRAL 4. MEDIA RESPONSE For information, we have circulated emails and posted information on the website from the Law Society (which included Government financial assistance), our sponsors Lockton Insurance Brokers and the National Cyber Security Centre and dealt with as many individual enquiries as we are able.

I spoke on a webinar on the 26th June on Support for Sole Practitioners during the COVID-19 crisis, and on the 1st July Brian Boehmer and Mark Rowson of Locktons Insurance Brokers our sponsors spoke on The Impact of COVID -19 on Professional Indemnity Renewals. Both webinars, with the interesting question and answer sessions that followed are on our website for members to watch at your convenience.

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On Lobbying, our resident Oracle Clive Sutton the Honorary Secretary has worked indefatigably on your behalf particularly through the Law Society on the gaps in Government support as set out in his report, and we thank him for the huge amount of time he has invested on your behalf.

And we continually refer members individually or through the information on the website to those who can best help them in specialist enquiries, be that for insurance quotes, mental health challenges, or cashflow crises.

I was also concerned that the public image of the sole practitioner should be one of solid reliability for our clients and contacts, so in responding to media enquiries we have emphasised the flexibility of our small practices and the fact that for most of us working from home is simply an extension of normal procedure, so clients need not be concerned about our reliability.

Of course for some of you this has been a time without clients or cash flow and I hope that for most the government schemes have helped you to manage your businesses into survival mode. For others (for example myself as a family lawyer) we faced a sudden barrage of procedural changes requiring input in technology and therefore training and expenditure at a time of challenging cash flow and changes in how we are able to operate our offices and staff attendance.

Still others faced the challenge of being required to isolate themselves due to underlying conditions while carrying on a business online.

convalescing by my fellow Officers on the Executive Committee, especially Clive Sutton and Joanna Connolly, and Lubna Shuja Council Member.

But since the last SOLO magazine we have nevertheless been able to implement a change in SSPG administration after Charley Maserati of BYWORD needed to relinquish the contract for health reasons. We are enormously grateful for her help in the past, and on her recommendation we have divided the job into 2 areas, and appointed Anika Holm of AH Business Solutions as our general administrator, and Jennifer Houlihan of Dotted Lines Events as the conference Organiser. Both have faced unexpected events with equanimity and success – Anika dealing with the COVID-19 information and enquiries, and Jennifer negotiating successfully for the return of our deposit on the Malaga conference from the hotel.

And of course by now we would be expecting a report on another successful conference – this time in sunny Spain, but that was not to be.

Indeed, conferences of any sort in person may well be difficult for the future while we all abide by regulations national and international to safeguard our health and that of others.

However, that does not mean the Group cannot reach out to members with useful information and discussion. The new normal of Zoom or similar meetings is working increasingly successfully, and we have been delighted with the numbers at our recent webinars.

As we come out of lockdown, and conveyancing and most other legal disciplines open up once more, I hope that you will all be able to face the new challenges ahead of us.

Watch out for emails informing you of further online webinars coming up from the National Centre for Cyber Security and the Legal Ombudsman in the near future.

My own situation was complicated by a diagnosis of breast cancer in February and surgery the day after we went into lockdown, and I am most grateful for the help given while I was

I wish you all health and success in the new normal world, and the Solicitors Sole Practitioners Group will be doing all we can to inform and empower you in the future.

Join CIArb Membership of CIArb demonstrates that you have a strong commitment to professionalism and integrity and have reached a high standard of excellence and proficiency when it comes to avoiding and resolving disputes outside of court.

Join CIArb by undertaking one of our membership training courses, through our experienced practitioner route or by attending one of our Recognised Course Providers.

Some of the benefits that you as a member of CIArb can enjoy include: Development Benefits:

Professional Benefits:

• Ongoing training to support your career

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growth and progression;

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• Regional and global network of 41 branches and

• Policy, ADR thought leadership consultations

• Dedicated ADR interest groups, for example,

for regional, national and international events; and news updates on the membership portal MyCIArb area of the website.

many chapters;

Young Members Group (YMG).

Learn More: www.ciarb.org/membership | memberservices@ciarb.org CIArb is a registered Charity in England and Wales, No: 803725

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06

Sole Practitioners Group Executive Committee 2019 PENNY RABY Chairwoman and Head of Conference Penny has been a SP specialising in family law for 20 years, working with her husband Mike a Forensic Accountant on divorce cases involving business and complex asset and income tracing and Inheritance Act disputes. She won Worcestershire Family Lawyer of the Year award in 2014 and was nominated for the National Family Law Magazine Family Law Firm of the Year for 2015. She has appeared on radio and television and, with Mike, has toured their networking pantomime ‘Snow White and the Seven Small Business People ‘ internationally, including a notable performance at the 2016 SPG Conference in Prague!

Tel: 01386 555 114 Email: pennyraby@harmony-house.co.uk Penny Raby & Co, Harmony House, 7-9 Church Street, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 1DT

JOANNA CONNOLLY Vice-Chairwoman Joanna Connolly specialises in the areas of Consumer Credit, Contentious Probate, and Insolvency. Joanna is a solicitor with Higher Rights of Audience who is qualified to represent clients as an Advocate in the higher courts in England and Wales. She was previously Head of Consumer Credit Litigation at MSB Solicitors and has had extensive litigation experience both at County Court and High Court level. Joanna had conduct of the lead Consumer Credit Act High Court case Carey v HSBC Bank Plc [2009] EWHC 3417 (QB) as well as cases in the Court of Appeal.

Tel: 0330 053 9340 Email: enquiries@joannaconnollysolicitors.co.uk Joanna Connolly Solicitors, 33 Cheadle Avenue, Liverpool L13 3AE

KEM MASINBO-AMOBI Honorary Treasurer Kem qualified as a solicitor in November 2002 under the tutelage of Mr Martin Mears (former President of the Law Society). Kem has over sixteen years commercial experience gained in a variety of demanding and challenging environments. Kem’s employment history includes time spent at some of the most prestigious legal firms in Suffolk and Norfolk. A keen gardener, Kem has completed the RHS Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture and her other hobbies include reading, travelling and cooking in true “Nigella” fashion.

Tel: 01473 760 046 Email: kem@kmasolicitors.co.uk KMA Solicitors, Saracens House 25 St Margaret’s Green, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 2BN

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CLIVE SUTTON Honorary Secretary & Council Member Clive specialises in litigation covering most aspects of private and commercial work and has been a sole practitioner in Lymington in Hampshire since leaving a partnership in 1998. His other interests are as Chairman of his local Amenity Society in Lymington and Trustee of the New Forest Centre Museum in Lyndhurst. In the past he has served as Chairman of the local Citizens Advice Bureau and Churchwarden and in the early 70s as a Resident Magistrate in the Seychelles.

Clive has been an SPG committee member since 2000 and served as Chairman, and then as Hon Secretary and Chair of the Insurance Subcommittee from 2006. He was on the Law Society Council Membership Committee for 10 years and since 2017 has been the SPG Nominated Law Society Council Member, serving now on the Councils Scrutiny and Performance Committee.

Tel: 01590 672 595 Email: solicitor@clive-sutton.co.uk Clive Sutton Solicitor, 3 The Old Print Works 85b High Street, Lymington, Hants SO41 9AN

SUSHILA ABRAHAM Solicitor Sushila has lived in Surbiton, Surrey for over twenty years.

She decided to start her own practice locally because she wanted to offer quality and care to the local community. She also wanted to be free from pressure to overcharge clients in order to meet the profit and billing targets set up by some of the bigger law firms. She is married to Matthew a barrister, and they have one son who has also qualified as a barrister.

In addition to being wife and mother, running her practice in Surrey, and her role on the SPG Executive Committee, Sushila is also ‘Cllr Sushila Abraham’, having been elected as Lib-Dem local councillor in the Borough of Kingston in a by-election in February 2013 and then re-elected in May 2014. Sushila was also President of Surrey Law Society and was elected as Law Society Council Member for Surrey. She is also a Board member of the Membership Board at the Law Society and a Trustee of ICLR representing the Law Society. Sushila is a very community minded person and had run cookery classes for local school children, which she called “Suzie’s Kitchen”, believing in the importance of teaching life skills.

Tel: 020 8390 0044 Email: office@sabrahamsolicitors.co.uk S Abraham Solicitors 290a Ewell Road, Surbiton Surrey KT6 7AQ

SUKHJIT AHLUWALIA Head of Marketing Sub-Committee Having worked in some of the most prestigious banking and consultancy organisations, Sukhjit opted to provide a more personal one to one service and believed that this could be best done through his own practice.

He has been based in Goodmayes in Ilford since 2003. In his private life, Sukhjit likes to get involved in a number of charitable activities, working with organisation to assist people from all backgrounds and ages in reaching moral excellence either in their private life or in their professional capacity.

Whilst he is quite a shy person, Sukhjit has been part of two documentaries exploring the changes that have taken place in the traditional arranged marriage process. His children are still young and take up a great deal of his time but when he does have time for himself, Sukhjit likes to sit, read a good book and watch the world go by.

Tel: 020 8215 0884 Email: sukhjit_ahluwalia@ae-law.co.uk Avery Emerson, Gloucester House, 335 Green Lane, Ilford Essex IG3 9TH

MOSES AJAYI Solicitor Moses was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1987. He has also been admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Moses is a Sole practitioner and specialises in Human Rights and Immigration. He is also engaged in general civil and criminal matters on a private fee basis. In his spare time he enjoys sailing and has participated in many sailing events around the world. He also enjoys discovering new places and spending time with his family.

Tel: 020 7733 6506 Email: brazenglow@aol.com Slade & Fletcher Solicitors 1st and 2nd Floors 348a Camberwell New Road London SE5 0RW

DAVID BARTON Editor of Solo David qualified as a solicitor in 1982.

For 20 years he was a partner in a medium-sized mid Kent firm from which he retired in 2003 to start his own practice as a sole practitioner.

Since then he has specialised in solicitors’ professional misconduct and criminal road traffic work. In April 2002 David was awarded the Higher Court’s (All Proceedings) Qualification.

From 1996 until 2016 David was one of the SRA’s external prosecutors. He also advised and represented solicitors and their firms in regulatory difficulty, and now does that exclusively.

David is married with 3 grown up children. He is a keen cyclist, golfer, walker, traveller and reader.

Tel: 01580 292409

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Email: davidbarton@dblaw.co.uk David Barton Solicitor Advocate Limited Flagstones, Biddenden, Kent TN278JG

RAHIL CHAUDHURI Solicitor Rahil Chaudhari is a Senior Solicitor at Arlingsworth Solicitors. Rahil secured an LLM at University College London and then went on to train and work at some of the most prestigious law firms in the City before joining Arlingsworth in 2005. Rahil is a highly experienced and versatile solicitor and has practiced in the fields of immigration, family, commercial, employment and litigation for the past 20 years.

He now specialises predominantly in immigration, human rights and company law. Rahil has become a leading authority in these areas. Rahil’s client base spans a wide range of sectors from multinational companies to private individuals. Rahil always works tirelessly to achieve successful results for his clients and he is driven by providing exceptionally high standards of client care.

Tel: 01273 696 962 Email: rahil.chaudhuri@arlingsworthlaw.co.uk Arlingsworth Solicitors Ltd, 145 Islingword Road Brighton, East Sussex BN2 9SH

DORCAS FALODE Solicitor Dorcas is a Sole practitioner, at home and abroad. She recently celebrated 10 years of being a SP with offices in London and Lagos.

She flies in and out of the UK on a regular basis dealing with a variety of cases. She specialises in Immigration Law dealing with entry clearance cases, family reunion, visitors’ and students’ visa applications. The practice also deals with family and education cases, giving a voice to the weak and defenceless. Dorcas is married with four children. When she is not busy attending to clients, she works as a counsellor, nurse, cook, taxi driver, tutor of her four young adults. She loves to travel and finds shopping very therapeutic.

Tel: 020 3223 1061 Email: df.solicitors@yahoo.co.uk DF Solicitors, 791 Sidcup Road London SE9 3SB

DAVID HINDE Solicitor David is a dispute resolution specialist with over 20 years’ experience dealing with civil and employment law matters. After reading law at the University of London he trained and qualified in the City of London working at leading law firms before starting his own niche practice as a sole practitioner based in Covent Garden. Acting for individuals and SME companies he has dealt with a wide-range of cases ranging from judicial review in the European Court of Justice to contract and

property disputes in the High Court and County Court. He is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and speaks French. Married with a son who keeps him very busy when not in the office, he is also a school Governor of his local Primary School and enjoys reading, cycling and the cinema.

Tel: 020 7112 5209 Email: admin@hinde-law.com Hinde Law Ltd, 71 - 75 Shelton Street London WC2H 9JQ

HAMISH MCNAIR SRA Liaison Lead Hamish is based in Fulham, London.

Having initially specialised in copyright and trade mark work, both in the City and New York City, his practice now includes conveyancing, wills trusts and probate, as well as litigation. Married with three children, when Hamish is not in the office or involved in SPG matters he enjoys open-air swimming, sailing, overnight bike rides, and also has a passion for the theatre.

Tel: 020 7371 7896 Email: hamish.mcnair@mcnairlaw.co.uk McNair & Co, EBC House, Ranelagh Gardens London SW6 3PA

OLUWAKEMI MOSAKU Solicitor Kemi was called to the Nigerian Bar as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1989 and admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 2004.

She has a varied work experience which includes working in the immigration department of the Home Office, private practice both in legal aid and privately funded matters in the UK. Her last role was head of immigration department in a firm before setting up as a sole practitioner. She specialises in Immigration and Human Rights Law. She also undertakes family law work and landlord and tenants. Outside of work Kemi is a trustee in a thriving charity and enjoys spending time with her three sons. She also enjoys keeping fit, music, networking, reading biographies and current affairs.

Tel: 01634 780 230 Email: info@emeraldsolicitors.co.uk Emerald Solicitors, The Old Courthouse, 1 The Paddock, Chatham, Kent ME4 4RE

TAHIRA SHAFFI Past-Chairwoman Tahira has been a practicing solicitor for 20 years. She set up as a sole practitioner after being made redundant in 2010. She has found the SPG to be an extremely helpful point of contact on so many issues which are affecting the whole profession whilst

paying particular attention to the needs of Sole Practitioners. Tahira understands that being a sole practitioner can be a lonely experience but networking with like-minded individuals makes all the difference. She is glad that there is an independent body outside of the Law Society that is working hard to look after its members interests. Tahira is based in Bury, Greater Manchester where she lives with her family. She has lots of interests outside of the law including politics. Tahira was previously an LEA school governor and has stood as a candidate in the local elections and is passionate about civic duty and putting something back into the community.

It is a lot to juggle with but Tahira is proud of the work of the SPG because she believes in better representation for Sole Practitioners!

Tel: 0161 222 6092 Email: info@mikhaellaw.co.uk Mikhael Law, 197 Rochdale Road Bury, Lancs BL9 7BB

LUBNA SHUJA Council Member Lubna qualified as a solicitor in 1992. She was a partner in a high street firm in West Yorkshire for many years and then started her own practice in Birmingham in 2007 undertaking mediation, family and civil litigation.

Lubna became a CEDR accredited Mediator in 2005, and is dual qualified to conduct both Civil and Family mediations. Lubna is also involved with various regulators and she Chairs a number of Disciplinary/Professional Conduct Committees.

She is a Law Society Council member where she represents the interests of sole practitioners, Chair of the Law Society’s Membership and Communications Committee, and she also sits on the Law Society Board.

Tel: 0121 551 7866 Email: info@legalswan.com Legal Swan Solicitors, 1st Floor, 168 Hamstead Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B20 2QR

NICHOLAS WOOLF International Arm Nick was admitted as a solicitor in 1979 and was a junior partner in two firms in London before starting his own practice in the West End in 1987. In 2011 he moved on to create a niche international commercial and family practice in Chancery Lane. He is a Member of the Solicitors Family Law Association and has trained other professionals on family law matters and anti- money laundering. Nick is married with four children and he has a range of hobbies which include travel, music, tennis, reading and photography.

Tel: 020 7242 6018 Email: info@nicholaswoolf.com Nicholas Woolf & Co Solicitors 87 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1ET

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Honorary Secretary’s report Summer 2020 On the subject of Executive Committee meetings, these are now being held on an ad hoc basis as and when there is matters to be discussed arising out of events. We had a very successful meeting on Zoom with most of the committee members present, which took place on the 18th May. It is likely that the next meeting will also be on Zoom.

That meeting announced the retirement of Charley Maserati and her partner, Nick, who have provided sterling help to us as administrators over the last few years, particularly in relation to past conferences.

We are very grateful to them for their help.

I always start my reports by looking at the previous one to see where we were. Reading the previous report, as far as I can see we were living in a parallel universe talking confidently about our conference in Malaga in June 2020, which would now have taken place more than a month ago.

Curiously the one item in the previous report, that was prescient to the present situation was the prospect that the Annual General Meeting would have been dealt with by some form of Skype connection for those who wanted to be involved from the UK and had not been able to go to Malaga. I was a bit worried about how this would work, but I am sure there is not one of us now who has not been involved in a Skype or Zoom or Microsoft Teams Meeting.

Touching firstly on the 2020 conference we have to be very grateful to our Chair, Penny Raby and her colleague Jennifer Houlian who has worked tirelessly engaging with the Malaga hotel to discuss firstly a potential delay in the conference to September, but when that became impractical, then a possible rebooking for next summer, but now that that also is not a clear situation, to manage to disengage from our relationship with the hotel, and the recovery of the significant deposit which we had already paid.

We therefore approach a future conference with no obligations one way or another and can make a reasoned decision as to whether to go to Spain next year or in the foreseeable future or hold next year’s conference in this country. A preliminary decision will be made by the Executive Committee at their next meeting.

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They have been replaced by an Anika Holm who is providing excellent administrative backup to me as secretary. She deals with the telephone queries, and is keeping the emails in order, reminding me who needs a reply. I can say that there is a steady stream of queries from sole practitioners both active, potential and retired all requiring some form of advice which can be quite often easily given and hopefully can be reassuring.

So can I take this opportunity to say that if anybody does feel they want to share any problems with the Group then email info@SPG.co.uk which will be seen by Anika and myself and I will either reply to it or pass it on to one of the other officers or another member of the committee if it is more specialised.

Do email even if you don’t have a problem, but merely wish to pass on a particular view which you think would be helpful to the Group and other sole practitioners.

Anika’s work will be supplemented by Jennifer Houlian who will deal with conference organisation which has always demanded a lot of concentrated work leading up to the conference and it will help to have this function and the general administrative function separated.

Also dealt with at the last committee meeting was the question of the Annual General Meeting which was to have been held at the Malaga conference.

This has been dealt with on the basis of a resolution circulated to the Executive Committee and which was passed unopposed. The resolution was firstly to the effect that there should be no AGM called for 2020 and that the next AGM of the Group shall take place at the same time in 2021.

Secondly that all the provisions in the constitution relating to election and re-election of officers be

postponed to the AGM to take place in 2021 and that in the meantime all officers and committee members retain their respective positions.

This is in line with the position adopted by many organisations and we are fortunate that our Chairman, Penny Raby, has agreed to stay on for an extra year and that our Vice-Chairman, Jo Connolly, has also agreed to continue her vice chairmanship for the extra year which will mean that if she takes up the chairmanship role she will have been an officer for three years when she completes her chairmanship.

Many of you may know informally, but not formally, that in April Penny underwent a cancer operation (which if the conference had gone ahead she would have been prepared to postpone until June).

Shortly after that she contracted coronavirus symptoms. Thankfully she is now well on the way to recovery and gave a very good presentation at a recent Zoom conference putting forward the sole practitioners’ position in relation to the lockdown.

I should add that our executive committee has not been unaffected by the virus and that at least two members and their families suffered from the virus in the early part of the pandemic but hopefully are now fully recovered.

At an early stage in the lockdown we were asked to make a comment to the Gazette as to its impact on sole practitioners. Penny’s view leading the Group was that we should put a positive spin on this showing that sole practitioners can be flexible in responding to unexpected circumstances and servicing their clients’ needs whatever arises. There obviously were, and are, many members of our Group who have been badly affected by the virus and the lockdown effectively shutting down some aspects of legal work particularly for those who are in niche practices where their work is affected.

However looking back we think the positive response that we gave has been important.

This may have contrasted with the somewhat pessimistic response which may have been given

by The Law Society, which may have had the effect of putting clients off going to High Street solicitors, and which was possibly an unfortunate impression to give to the public.

The Group have passed on all Government and Law Society recommendations as to coronavirus

09

and the grants that were available. At an early stage, at the request of two of our members we made strong representations to The Law Society to try to emphasise the difficulties of those who worked as directors and shareholders, through a limited liability company and whose earnings by way of dividends, as opposed to directors fees, were not taken into account in the calculation of the grant - open to small firms with earnings of less than £50,000 per annum. The representations were well received but unfortunately have not been acted on by Government, presumably because of the difficulties of calculating how the grant should be made. I find there is a significant pressure group building up, supported by over 200 MPs, to try to remedy this injustice.

Finally I hope as many of you as possible have been able to survive the coronavirus lockdown and to be able to work as much as possible from home and stay safe.

Professional Indemnity Insurance Questions My other hat is as chairman of a committee of one dealing with our relationship with our preferred insurance brokers who are now Locktons. It was disappointing to lose contact with Richard Brown who had supported us for many years through his various organisations. Incidentally, many of you who remember him at conferences will be pleased to know that I have heard from him again that he has emerged from gardening leave as a consultant broker.

Our relationship with Locktons got off to a good start in early 2019 with their immediate support for us at our 2019 conference followed by their support at our autumn 2019 meeting at The Law Society. Obviously we were hoping that they would have a presence at the Malaga conference but they have accepted the inevitable with very good grace on the basis that they have made it clear that they see their relationship with the Group as a long-term relationship, even though the formal agreement between us is currently on a year-to-year basis.

I have been pleased to be able to report to the officers and in particular the Treasurer that the full amount of the payment due to the Group from the agreement with Locktons for last year has now been received. Whilst not providing specific details in this article, as opposed to the AGM, I can say that this is in line with the higher of the projections which Locktons made and whilst for this year it was lower than our usual annual receipts, the projections look good for the future because

Locktons are receiving a lot of support from sole practitioners as a result of their promotion and the service that they are now providing the Group.

Incidentally during a recent insurance Zoom seminar organised by SPG in conjunction with Locktons on “The impact of Covid 19 on PII renewals”, it was gratifying to see the comments page coming up with various people, unprompted, commenting on the good service that they had from Locktons in the last renewal round. In addition the webinar is available to view on the SPG website for anyone who missed it.

firm’s remote working processes and policies and be told frankly what risks are involved in remote working with individual firms and what has been done by the individual firms to mitigate those risks by way of supervision of work and communications.

In addition insurers would be looking very closely at the financial viability of firms bearing in mind that the minimum insurance terms with which every insurer has to comply is to provide six-year run-off cover, regardless of whether the run-off premium is paid on the cessation of business. This unknown quantity is clearly causing aggravation to insurers who would like to be able to quantify the risk much more accurately.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited

by Nick Gurney Champion, the Chair of The Law Society Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee, to listen in to the regular insurance Features which help negotiations over the run-off brokers roundtable with The Law Society premium are the fact that the firm has kept good representatives. Factors that came out of this records and will store those records into the discussion are that the market has hardened future. This of course is much easier these days recently. That hardening took place a year or so on the basis that everything can be scanned onto ago so there may be more of an uplift on those a disc rather than all the previous firms papers renewing after 18 months rather than those who having to be stored in a garage somewhere. have renewed within the last year. Insurers are unfortunately not coming into the market looking n Honorary Secretary's report continues on page 11 for business. If anything they are leaving the market. There was also a discussion as The Ultimate to whether minimum Post-Completion Service premiums would have is FINALLY here! to raise to a minimum of £5000 per year, regardless of the amount of business.

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As ever the advice from brokers is to provide very detailed answers to questions in the proposal form and to start the process earlier bearing in mind that there is less appetite to take business from people who have started late and have not provided full information.

Obviously insurers will need to take into account that much work is being done, and indeed in the future will be continued, on a remote basis and so insurers will want to question the

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There are around 6,500 languages spoken on this globe, and as easy travel and the internet bring us closer and mix us humans all up, the need for translation and interpretation has never been so important. But why not use an automatic translation from the internet? Simply put, they’re great for literal translations, but not for accurate meanings.

Even with advanced AI software we are still nowhere near getting software to translate as well as a human translator. Try typing in “mañana, mañana” & you’ll get “tomorrow, tomorrow” technically correct, but the actual meaning is “later” – a few days perhaps years, probably not tomorrow.

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Honorary Secretary’s report Summer 2020 continued Solicitors Indemnity Fund Closure That brings me finally I hope to the last subject which is the perplexing issue of the closure of SIF. The story so far is that, as many of you will know, and many of you will have paid to the old Solicitors Indemnity Fund, there was a residual balance from the Fund on closure in about 2000 which has continued to pay out for losses sustained after the termination of the minimum terms run-off of six years.

The powers that be say that everybody knew that this fund would come to an end at some stage in the future. However not many people who were around and thinking about matters at that time remember being told that! The Fund is effectively controlled by the SRA as a protection for the public, and the SRA have now taken the view that their regulatory requirements do not require the protection of the public beyond the first six years of run-off following closure of the business in question. The SRA have been working on the assumption that there are very few claims which extend beyond the six years. If that is the case, then why has the residual SIF fund now started to run out of money. As solicitors we all know that many claims extend beyond the initial six years limitation period.

I have been getting numerous concerns from retired solicitors some of whom retired more than six years ago who were worried about waking up on the 1st of October 2020 and finding if an unlikely, but as solicitors know, potentially disastrous claim

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TLS CANNOT TAKE ANY ACTION AGAINST THE SRA BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL TECHNICALLY ONE ORGANISATION, BUT THE SPG IS ABLE, TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST EITHER ORGANISATION

comes in after that date they could find their personal assets and financial retirement plans at risk, following the withdrawal of cover.

The SRA had already extended the closure of SIF once to the 30th of September 2020. Discussions have been held within The Law Society about this but no plans have been in place to put in hand to create some form of scheme to help the retired solicitors and they were left to make their own approaches to insurers. The insurers were not prepared to hand out ad hoc policies without all the necessary background material as to the risk, to enable them to do so as this would involve extensive investigations which were not under way.

As a result of this and facing the oncoming express train coming down the tracks, The Law Society asked the SRA for a further three years extension to the fund. Having given one extension it was unlikely the SRA was going to give another, but they may have been persuaded by the argument put forward on behalf the Group, that whilst the SRA had made their decision, there had to be a chance for The Law Society, in the light of the current pandemic, to have further time to be able to put together a scheme to provide some protection for retired members.

On that basis the SRA has given a non-renewable extension of the Fund for a period of one year to the 30 of September 2021 which needs to concentrate every one’s mind to some formal scheme. I have already had discussions on behalf the Group as far back as February with Locktons as to the sort of possibilities which are available using the balance of the funds to provide some sort of block premium for a form of policy, possibly with a limited form of cover, to at least provide protection against the worst losses which might be suffered from a post six-year run off claim.

The difficulty is that neither The Law Society nor technically the Group formally represent those ex-members as many of them are now no longer active and practising, but as far as the Group are concerned they are likely to have been sole practitioner members when they closed without finding successor practices.

You will be glad to know that we have Lubna Shuja as Chair of The Law Society Membership and Communications Committee (“MCC”)

and a member of the Board nominated as a Council member by the Group, and also myself as a Council member, but outside the internal steering group, and monitoring the position on behalf of the SPG. I have personally been in correspondence with the SRA who are supportive of the need to assist as much as they can to find a future solution and I believe The Law Society accept that this has to be achieved. I know from recent discussions that Nick Gurney-Champion is working to set up and agree a scheme which will continue to provide ongoing cover although investigations into this in the past have felt that there would be significant difficulties funding any such scheme.

I hope that Locktons can take a prominent part in coming up with such a scheme which will take account of the resources that are available and put proposals which can be considered by the profession as a whole and by sole practitioners in particular.

For those of you who remember as far back as far as the Founders Fund, to which I believe original members each contributed £50 to form the Group many years ago, the Executive Committee has taken the view that that would be an appropriate fund to support those retired members by way of any legal advice required to support the SRA and now The Law Society do the right thing by those retired members. That fund has always been £15,000.

The Law Society cannot take any action against the SRA because they are still technically one organisation, but the SPG, having been put in the position of having to leave the formal relationship with The Law Society, is able, if necessary, to take action against either organisation. However, having said that it can be said that the SPG relationship with both organisations is the best that it has ever been in recent years, and we have to get the best deal for retired members as a result of that cooperation but in the knowledge that if the deal is not what it should be the Group has the resources to question it.

As I have said for many years at the end of my client care letter, if you’ve managed to read this far then thank you.

Clive Sutton Honorary Secretary

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Inspection of a Company's members' register for a proper purpose - time is of the essence is no fee for a member (sections 116 and 117, Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)).

› The Problem

In order to determine who the members of a company registered in England and Wales are it is possible to do so by inspecting the company register. Indeed this is likely to be the only reliable and accepted source of information and can be of considerable importance.

I have advised clients on a number of occasions to seek inspection of a company’s register in cases where membership of a company has been an issue and potentially disputed and carried out such inspections. This is essential to establish who the company’s registered shareholders are.

The law on the right to inspect at first sight appears very clear. However, there are some grey areas illustrated by the recent case of Houldsworth Village Management Company Limited v Barton [2019] EWHC 3590 (Ch) (“Houldsworth Village”).

The Court in this case sought to further clarify the law and illustrated that it may be an uphill task for a company to refuse a request for access.

› The Law

Any person is entitled, on payment of the prescribed fees, to inspect a company’s register of members and index of members and to be provided with a copy of the register (or any part of it), but these rights are subject that person submitting a request that contains certain prescribed information, including the purpose for which the information is to be used. There

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Where a company receives a section 116 request for access, that complies with the Act, it has five working days from receipt of that request to allow inspection and/or provide a copy of the register or, if it believes that the request is not made for a proper purpose, to refer the request to the Court (section 177, CA 2006). Under section 117(3) of the CA 2006, if the Court is satisfied that the inspection or copy is not sought for a proper purpose, the Court must direct the company not to comply with the request by making a “no access order”, and it may make a further order regarding the company’s costs. If the Court makes a no access order and it appears to the Court that the company is or may be subject to other requests of a similar purpose (whether made by the same person or different persons) it may, direct that the company is not to comply with such a request (section 117(4), CA 2006).

The CA does not define a “proper purpose”, the question of what a proper purpose falls to be decided by the Court. In Houldsworth Village, Judge Hodge QC approved principles in two earlier Court of Appeal cases and an unreported case called The Hut Group Limited v Zedra Trust Company (Jersey) Limited.

The guidance as to the proper purpose test applied to sections 116 and 117 of the CA 2006 are as follows: The criminal penalties imposed by section 118 of CA 2006 emphasise the importance the legislature attached to the right of access to the share register.

The expression “proper purpose” in section 117(3) CA 2006 ought to be given its ordinary and natural meaning.

The purpose should first be identified. That will normally be described in the request but the Court is not restricted to the purpose in the request. The Court will determine the purpose of the request on the balance of probabilities on the evidence before it.

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After the purpose is established the Court will consider whether it is proper. The test of whether the purpose is proper is an objective one made by the Court on the basis of the evidence before it and will often depend on the precise facts and circumstances.

The Court may have regard to the guidance note issued by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, which might provide useful guidance in a particular case.

The test for whether a purpose is proper does not depend on whether it is in the interests of the shareholders. The person (whether a shareholder or not) making the request may have his own interest in making the request.

The onus is on the claimant company to satisfy the Court on the balance of probabilities that the request is improper.

If the Court is in any doubt it should not make a no access order.

It is for the person making the request, rather than the Court, to consider whether access will be of value to that person.

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The Houldsworth Village case is particularly interesting as Mr Barton, who was a member of a leaseholder owned management company (responsible for the management of residential apartments) made a request to inspect the company’s registered members. He stated that it was to “contact my fellow members with a view to seeking a general meeting of members and proposing resolutions to remove and replace the existing directors and managing agent”. The company opposed the request and sought a declaration under section 117 CA 2006 that Mr Barton did not have a proper purpose in requesting an inspection of the register of members.

It is of note that although Mr Barton did have a particular purpose in requesting an inspection of the register of members he gave an undertaking to the Court confirming the purposes stated above. That factor was particularly persuasive given that an undertaking to the Court has criminal sanctions for its breach.

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What makes the case of particular interest is that Mr Barton in another and earlier case had made another request for access in respect of another company. That request had been refused by the company and that Court upheld the refusal. The reason given for the refusal by the Court was that Mr Barton’s purpose in that case was to contact other leaseholders to ask them to support his challenging the service charge and removing the managing agents. It was held his request was made to further his interest as a leaseholder and not as a member of the company. In that case the Court had further concluded that Mr Barton wished to obtain the information to harass the company and harm its members. Mr Barton had failed to provide proper evidence in that case (Pandongate House Management Co Ltd v Barton [2019].

In the Houldsworth Village case, however, Mr Barton’s request was upheld, as it was perfectly proper to make a request seeking to remove persons as a director of a company proposing a general meeting and take action to replace or remove the existing directors and managing agent.

› Time and Caution

Seeking to bring about the resolution of a change to the board composition is a shareholder’s right. The cases also emphasises that it is difficult for a company to resist a request to the members’ register. The Court of Appeal has said that it should exercise its discretion to grant a no-access order sparingly and with circumspection.

Advice should be taken by a company as soon as a compliant request is received given the period of only 5 working days to either provide a copy of the register requested or to file an application with the Court in order to determine purpose of the access request. It should be remembered it is the company’s legal obligation to proceed to the Court to determine whether access should be denied. Further, it is an offence to refuse inspection or fail to provide a copy of the register, otherwise than in accordance with an order of the Court. In the case of an offence both the company and every officer would be liable to a fine, and for continued contravention, a daily default fine (s118 CA 2006). © Nicholas Woolf Director and Principal, Nicholas Woolf & Co

Elizabeth J. Soilleux MA, MB, BChir, PhD, FRCPath, PGDipMedEd

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Witnessing Wills remotely

It was done in car parks, over the fence, outside the windows of the testator and many other ways to comply with the Wills Act 1837. There was an increased demand during the lockdown for Wills to be prepared and signed. Testators were getting very nervous as they wanted their Wills drawn up and it was difficult for those who could not get out of their homes.

The Witnessing of Wills during COVID-19 became very difficult with practitioners using all methods to keep the demand of social distancing and seeing that the testator was signing the Will in their presence.

The government has now allowed the witnessing of Wills to be done remotely. This will be by a new legislation in September and Wills witnessed in such a way will be legal and backdated to 31st January 2020. You will still require two witnesses to prevent fraud and undue influence. This comes with caution and the Law Society has put out guidance to minimise fraud and abuse. This

change is there for two years. This is a welcome relaxation, but it also comes with difficulties that practitioners will face and should be carried out with caution. If in doubt the Law Society’s practice advice team is there to assist.

I would suggest that practitioners do read the practice note put out by the Law Society. Please log on to My Law Society or sign up so that you can access the practice notes. The Law Society is regularly providing guidance and practitioners are advised to keep themselves updated regularly on this.

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Sushila Abraham Solicitor

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Biographies

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Jennifer is a Events specialist with over 17 years’ experience delivering events for brands like Marriott, Samsung, Microsoft, Radisson, Co-op, Muller and National Trust to name a few. After a varied and successful career, Jennifer set her sights on a new challenge and set up her own business in 2019. Dotted lines Events offers three primary services: Event management, Operations consultancy, and new

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Anika is a qualified legal secretary with over twenty years’ experience in business administration, working for numerous large UK companies, including the legal sector. Anika’s passion for independence and variety drove her to establish her own business in 2016 so that she could support multiple companies to help grow their businesses. Anika is the founder and owner of AH Business Solutions, which offers

a range of services to help business owners and networks become more productive. She achieves this by freeing up more time for leaders to focus on their companies dreams and goals.

Originally from Denmark, Anika loves nothing more than giving people the most precious gift of all, time.

Anika Holm, AH Business Solutions

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Council Member‘s Report A REPORT FROM LAW SOCIETY COUNCIL MEMBER LUBNA SHUJA

The last few months, during which we have had to adapt to different ways of working during the Covid-19 pandemic, have been incredibly challenging and difficult for many members of our profession. I am pleased to be able to report that, although the Law Society moved entirely to remote working, as did most organisations, it was still business as usual with a plethora of support provided to members to help them through these unchartered times.

The Law Society Council met remotely on 3 June 2020 and again on 15 July 2020. The Law Society Board and the various Law Society Committees have also continued to meet remotely so work has continued apace despite the lockdown.

The Law Society AGM has been deferred to 15 October 2020 when it is hoped (perhaps optimistically) that Council members may be able to meet in person again. I set out below details of the main issues discussed at the Council meetings and the key decisions made. You will be able to find a copy of the CEO’s reports, which contain more detailed information, on our website at www.spg.uk.com.

Covid-19 Response The Law Society responded quickly to the concerns, queries and uncertainties expressed by members about the actual and potential impact on their practices, clients, work, livelihood and wellbeing by providing them with guidance and support all of which is available on the Law Society website. This covers information ranging from a Business Continuity Toolkit, physical safety when attending courts/police stations/ prisons, meeting regulatory requirements, dealing with guidance for practice areas such as conveyancing/Wills which were impacted in relation to electronic signatures and virtual execution of documents, through to a LawTech, Cybersecurity and fraud prevention hub. The Law Society engaged closely and often with the government and other stakeholders, including the SRA and the Bar Council, which resulted in significant wins for the profession.

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Between 10 March 2020 and 20 May 2020, the Law Society Covid-19 pages received 151,000 unique page views which was testament to the value members had found in the information provided. On 24 March 2020 alone there were 40,000 unique page views of the website.

that you can download to print), information on PII renewals and other Covid-19 related material.

There is also guidance on managing cashflow, reducing costs and/or supplementing income.

The focus of guidance for members now is the Return, Restart and Recovery Campaign.

It was agreed that a 75% discount would be offered over a period to firms who were renewing their accreditations in the Criminal Legal Accreditation Scheme, CQS and Lexcel if they had a Legal Aid Crime Contract. This applied to more than 1,000 firms and many have taken advantage giving them some relief during a time of financial hardship.

The New Law Society Website and My Law Society

The Law Society also worked hard to scrutinise the impact of emergency legislation and monitored the impact of social distancing on the administration of and access to justice.

Changes were made to the Coronavirus Act in the areas of criminal justice, domestic abuse, immigration and the definition of “key workers” as a result of interventions made by the Society.

Loans were also made available to firms who had not initially qualified for them, and self employed members could be furloughed and/or be eligible for other benefits.

I would urge you all to look at the Law Society website which has a great deal of information that you will find useful. There is a Practical Framework on Return to the Office, a Safe Return to the Office Toolkit for Firms (which contains a risk assessment template and Covid-19 posters

The new Law Society website was launched on 2 July 2020 and is now live. There is a significantly improved search function, redesigned content and new navigation based on member feedback.

You will need to register on My Law Society to be able to access the full range of services and benefits available to you as a member. The registration process is simple and I would urge you all to sign up as soon as possible so that you can access and receive regular information on areas that are of interest to you.

The website continues to be developed and further improvements will be made over the coming months. This will include the launch of “Law Society Learning”, the new Learning Management System which will host new bitesized e-learning modules as well as full digital courses which will allow members to develop their own learning.

There has already been a significant increase in demand for online events and it is likely more webinars will be provided in the future in addition to some face to face events. The lack of a

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need to travel to attend online events is clearly attractive to members across England and Wales and will become part of the “new normal”.

Practising Certificate Fee Reduction In acknowledging the demands on members’ money, the Law Society took the decision to consult with the membership on its intention to take a 10% reduction in its part of the practising certificate fee for 2020-2021.

The Law Society receives around 30% of the practising fee. The largest portion (around 70%) covers the total costs of the SRA, part of the costs of the Legal Services Board and the Legal Ombudsman, the full cost of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, and certain levies under the Legal Services Act. Although the Law Society proposes to reduce its portion by £3m, proposed increases elsewhere will result in a flat practising fee overall.

This planned reduction is part of a package of support which equates to approximately £4m. This is made up of a reduction in the PC fee by the Society, driving down operating costs by £3m, along with offering free training programmes and additional free to access webinars and support to help members deal with the challenges they and their firms will be facing.

Access to Justice Courts are now required to complete a risk assessment and make it available to users. The Law Society is working with HM Prisons and Probation service on how face-to-face prison visits can be safely restarted as well as with the judiciary and other stakeholders on increasing the number and type of face-to-face hearings that can be held in courts.

The Law Society is also monitoring the longerterm effects of the pandemic on access to justice and the rule of law. It has contributed so far to inquiries by the Women and Equalities

Committee on the impact of people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on homelessness and the private rented sector, and the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry on the human rights implications of the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Public Affairs and Political Engagement The Law Society and its campaigns were mentioned 17 times in Hansard and 32 times on social media. There has been high-level stakeholder engagement on priority issues with: • The Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC • The Justice Minister, Alex Chalk • The Profession and Business Services Minister, Nadhim Zahawi • The EU Committee Chair, Hilary Benn • The Shadow Justice Secretary, David Lammy • The Shadow Attorney General, Lord Falconer • The Liberal Democratic Justice spokesperson, Daisy Cooper • The Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Clive Betts.

The Law Society President, Simon Davis, made written representations to the Lord Chancellor, the Chancellor and the Housing Secretary in relation to legal aid firms, business rates and access to justice.

Regulation Work on regulatory issues has continued including influencing in relation to the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), engaging on the economic crime levy and responding to the Mayson report as well as preparing to engage on the LSB’s three-year strategy.

Wales The Law Society’s response to ‘Making Justice Work in Wales’ welcomed the Thomas

Commission’s long-term vision for the future justice. It noted that as the body of Welsh law grows, it is important that due consideration is given to the distinct needs of the Welsh public and the legal profession in Wales.

International The Law Society has issued a joint statement on Hong Kong and a statement on Egypt delivered before the UN Human Rights Council. Oral evidence was also given to the EU Services subcommittee of the House of Lords.

Governance Robert Bourns, the Chair of the Law Society Board, was confirmed to remain in post for a further three years. Due to the AGM being postponed to October 2020, Simon Davis remains as President until then. This has impacted on Council elections which have also been moved back, such that new Council members will take office at the AGM. Also that month, Council will elect a new Deputy VicePresident and the existing office holders will each move up a rung as Simon Davis steps down. As he remarked – by then he will be not only the longest serving President, but also the one who has spent the most time working from a spare room!

Please do have a look at the new Law Society website and register on My Law Society. If you would like any further information on Law Society activities, or wish to discuss any issues affecting sole practitioners, or indeed, if you would like me to raise any matters with the Law Society, please do not hesitate to contact me on info@legalswan.com or on 0121 551 7866.

Lubna Shuja SPG Law Society Council Member Chair of the Law Society’s Membership and Communications Committee Member of the Law Society Board 27 July 2020

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The evolving landscape of Professional Indemnity Insurance - How Sole Practitioners can navigate the challenges ahead To navigate the challenges of a hardening insurance market, if you have not already done so, Sole Practitioners should now prioritise the preparation of a high-quality Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) submission ahead of the coming renewal period.

The insurance market has been awash with capital, leading to increased competition for business and a subsequent suppression of the rates insurers could charge. This has resulted in unsustainably low premiums compared to the claim payments being made by insurers, but sadly times are changing, Insurers have exited from writing the class, appetites from active insurers have changed also. Claims activity has been the main catalyst for the significantly changing market conditions that we are experiencing. While frequency of claims has remained fairly consistent, severity of claims (the total value of losses experienced) has reached unprecedented levels.

The spring renewal period gave us a very good idea as to what to expect going into August and September. Analysis of insight and trends from Lockton’s portfolio indicates increased premiums within all layers, but in particular the working layer (the excess layer above your compulsory Insurance limit) where there is a lack of insurer options. I am pleased to report that sole Practitioners fared better than larger practices, with increases imposed for the compulsory insurance 17% below the average increases experienced by the profession.

Interestingly increases imposed were greater for sole practitioners that were not undertaking conveyance, rather than those that do. This is possibly because the rate charged for those practices undertaking this practice area is already higher. There was a reluctance from primary insurers to offer long-term policy periods and those that did offer extended policies tended to apply an increase for the additional periods.

It is important to highlight, that the Insurance market conditions were hardening well before the Covid-19 outbreak. We believe this process is now likely to accelerate due to the pandemic, leading to a further hardening market. While the sourcing of coverage may become more difficult, the legal profession in England and Wales are fortunate that they are not experiencing reduced coverage in addition to increased premiums, as practices are protected by the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTC) wording.

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What to expect in the coming months We expect underwriters to adopt an even greater level of caution when they review enquiries in the forthcoming renewal season, with an even greater scrutiny as to a practice’s financial position. Peer reviews amongst underwriters will be conducted as standard, certainly when insurers are assessing new enquiries, This means that more than one underwriter will be assessing your presentation. regardless of the size of a practice and the proposed premium to be charged.

As a result, it is likely more questions being posed, including those related to Covid-19, and the responses will need to be reviewed by at least one other underwriter. This means the process of obtaining terms may take longer, especially considering most insurers will be working remotely.

Some insurers have already released question sets relating to Covid-19, while others have developed more detailed supplementary questionnaires. All of these focus on three key areas: People, Finances and Risk, some of which will naturally interlink.

Navigating the challenges The insurance market is adapting quite well to a new way of working, however, things are naturally taking a little longer than they would have done previously.

What is clear is that it will be more difficult to obtain insurance terms, due to a combination of factors; the hardening market conditions, increased peer reviews and greater caution from underwriters.

Any practices that are traditionally ‘last minute shoppers’, or provide minimum information to insurers be warned, as this could result in you falling into the Extended Policy Period.

Despite the air of negativity in this piece, the insurance market is still active, it is however becoming much more selective. Underwriters cannot return a profit for their organisation if they do not write any business, but they will need greater convincing and will want to align their company’s capital with well-run firms. At Lockton, it is our job to provide them with the reasons to do so, but you cannot be blasé, we encourage sole practitioners to approach your renewal in the right way.

We believe taking these three key steps will help you navigate the challenges ahead: 1. Start early – While we would expect insurers to prioritise their existing clients, it is still important that you prepare your presentation earlier than

in previous years. We recommend having your presentation prepared at least two months in advance of your renewal date as the process will generally take longer.

2. Prepare a quality presentation for insurers’ consideration – this will help you stand out from the crowd. Make sure all the questions in the proposal form are sufficiently answered. Time will be limited so expect any prospective insurers to make a quick decision and potentially not offer any terms if your presentation is missing key information or if it is poorly presented. We recently did a webinar for the SPG, that covers off what you may wish to include, the recording can be found on the website www.spg.uk.com 3. Select your representative carefully and do not approach multiple agents as you may actually be doing your professional peers – and yourself a disservice.

You may wish to consider the following key elements when selecting your representative: How many insurers can the broker access Directly for you?

• Speaking directly to an insurer will help speed up the process and means your key message does not get diluted or misinterpreted.

• It is important that you do not want multiple brokers going to the same insurers as this will reflect badly on you.

• You may also want to establish how they intend to engage with the underwriter too What is the experience and size of their team?

What is the extent of their service proposition?

What is their claims infrastructure? While no one wants to have claims, you should know if your representative has the resources to support you when needed.

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Once you have selected your representative, ensure you establish an action plan with them, which covers who they will be approaching directly and the anticipated timeline for responses.

We have up to 11 different options with leading strongly rated insurers for Sole Practitioners, some of these provide exclusive premiums to us, lower Run off Rates or both but we may have to be appointed for you to appreciate these. To find out how Lockton can assist you with your forthcoming renewal please do contact me or one of the Lockton Solicitors team. We would be delighted to hear from you.

Proud to be the approved insurance partner for

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We provide the following benefits to the membership: Reduced run-off rates Competitive Minimum Premiums More Choice – We have up to 11 direct options for sole Practitioners Consultative & Honest Approach – If change is not right for you we will advise More than a Transactional Service – Our team are dedicated to servicing the Legal Profession, and will provide support and guidance all year round

Please get in touch with a member of the Lockton Solicitors team today to discuss how we can assist you and to explore options for your forthcoming Professional Indemnity Insurance renewal.

Playing our clients’ tune since 1966.

T: 0330 123 3870 E: Solicitors@uk.lockton.com

Lockton Companies LLP. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

A Lloyd’s broker. Registered in England & Wales at The St Botolph Building, 138 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AG. Company No. OC353198.

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The Pandemic Effect: The Outsourced Transcription Provider as a Resource Dictation versus typing

The pandemic, and its subsequent lockdown, hit many law firms hard. As a result, this has made firms re-evaluate business continuity planning, and to look at what efficiencies can be made to improve the bottom line.

The simple fact is we can all speak considerably faster than we can type: “The average person types between 38 and 40 words per minute” i; and a “good rate of speech [for dictation purposes] ranges between 140 -160 words per minute.” i i

Do you really have time to type?

These statistics show that simply dictating a document/email, is approximately four times more cost effective than typing. Add to this formatting and editing, this cost saving could stretch further.

As a sole practitioner you have to provide great service as well as spending time driving your business forward.

Taking typing out of the mix allows practices more time to concentrate on increasing chargeable hours, whilst leaving more time to deal with WIP, release valuable lock up, social media or marketing.

An immediate fix One aspect that has been in deliberation for many years is fee earners typing their own documents and emails. Consider the following: Did you know that a Grade A Solicitor (at £409 per hour) who spends two hours typing their own documents/emails could lose their firm (after the deduction of transcription costs) up to £570.30 in chargeable time? Similarly, a Grade D Solicitor (at £138 per hour) could lose their firm up to £163.80.*

You will find that outsourcing your typing needs are considerably cheaper than direct employment (i.e. salaries, NI contributions, leave, unproductive time, sickness absence etc.). Outsourced transcription also enables fee earners to work remotely and dictate on the go, without the need for specialist equipment or software licenses.

They also provide a great business continuity solution to enable law firms to access typing support that expands (or contracts) with your firm’s specific needs on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Testing the theory Some of the more established transcription companies have smartphone apps that allow you to dictate direct from your mobile phone allowing you to trial without purchasing any equipment.

Why not take five minutes of your time to investigate? *Based upon court approved rates for London. Typing costs deducted using OutSec’s standard rate.

Citations: https://www.livechatinc.com/typing-speedtest/#/ https://clearly-speaking.com/what-is-theideal-rate-of-speech/

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WHY USE OUTSEC? OutSec is the perfect solution for sole practitioners who need typing assistance on a pay-as-you-go basis, as it provides a cheaper alternative to employment and to:

Allow fee earners to concentrate on chargeable hours rather than typing emails, file attendance notes, amending documents and frees time to release valuable lock up.

Enable fee earners to dictate from home, from the office or on the go, by using the free OutSec app for iOS and Android.

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Provide a business continuity solution, enabling firms access to typing support in times of absence and for upscaling support at times of high workloads, thereby reducing delays to clients.

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Provide cover 24/7, copy typing, formatting services, can transcribe meetings/conferences, podcasts, webinars and video calls (Teams/Zoom/Skype).

OutSec have been providing transcription services to the legal profession since 2002. At OutSec we take data security and confidentiality very seriously, which is why we employ bank level security and are ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials certified.

WITH OUTSEC there are no contracts, no monthly fees or minimum charges. You just pay per minute of dictation.

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No fault divorce to be enshrined in law Neil Sullivan

Legislation, now awaiting Royal Assent, for “no fault” divorce has recently been backed by the Commons with a significant majority

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he Bill, which when passed will be known as the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 20201 removes the need to find fault in the marriage and allows a statement of “irretrievable breakdown” to suffice. The latter requires currently establishment of one or more of five “facts” – three relate to conduct (adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion and two relate to the period of separation; two years if both spouses consent, five years if not) in order to start divorce proceedings.

This legislation follows a long campaign by Resolution and other groups, to reform outdated laws (inter alia the Matrimonial Causes Act 1953 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004), which although hotly debated and eruditely analysed2 will help to reduce conflict between separating couples.

respect to paternity. On occasion of course, fabricated accusations of adultery may weaponise the biological identity of the children, and under current law, this might be used as a tactic to accelerate the divorce process. For example, there may be the accusation that the man is not the father of the child or that he has been unfaithful and fathered a child outside of the marriage.

Both of course relate to the matter of trust, which can easy easily be assumed or earned, but when lost, is impossible to regain – once the spectre of paternity has been raised, it is impossible to reverse and constantly raises its head at a time when the best interests of the child should be foremost. The debate in the Lords4 was fascinating.

The current process incentivises one of the spouses to make allegations about the other to avoid waiting for the mandatory two-year period of separation. This can result in unnecessary conflict, discord and acrimony, which may involve the children of the marriage and damage their chances in life3. The new legislation removes the needs to provide supporting evidence of one or more of the above conduct or separation facts with a statement of irretrievable breakdown.

This legislation also removes the ability to contest the divorce.

Fortunately, the availability of DNA testing for paternity (or other biological relationship such as siblingship) is one of the few areas in divorce proceedings where unequivocal evidence can be obtained to support the case. If the parentage of a child is at issue, then a DNA test becomes a vital piece of information to help alleviate either genuine or vexatious claims and minimise any harm to children from the break-up, whether this is under either the current or the new legislation.

Indeed, a DNA test can only be to the benefit of children, who have a fundamental right to be sure of the identity of their biological father, irrespective of circumstances.

There are many genuine circumstances and reasons for an irretrievable breakdown to occur between two people and this may on occasion relate to the biological identity of a child with

Any DNA test should be conducted by a Ministry of Justice accredited provider (such as ourselves) and if you have such a case, please contact us, we are highly experienced and would be happy to help!

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Dr Neil Sullivan General Manager www.dadcheckgold.com To discuss DNA testing to establish paternity or other biological relationship, please call 0191 543 6334 or e-mail: sales@dadcheckgold.com Complement Genomics Ltd, the provider of the dadcheckgold service, is accredited by the Ministry of Justice as a body that may to carry out parentage tests as directed by the civil courts of England and Wales under section 20 of the Family Law Reform Act 1969.

1 https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/ cbill/58-01/0125/20125.pdf

2 https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2019-21/ divorcedissolutionandseparation/documents. html and the Impact statement from the Ministry of Justice https://publications. parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-01/0125/ Impact%20Assessment%20-%20 Divorce%20Bill.pdf paragraphs 67-69 inclusive.

3 https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ epdf/10.1111/jcpp.12893

4 https://www.theyworkforyou.com/ lords/?id=2020-03-17a.1390.2

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Why subscribe for LawSkills Monthly Digest?

What do you do that using LawSkills Monthly Digest will help?

One of the key reasons for being satisfied at work is personal development.

Not only is it a requirement for lawyers to be and remain competent throughout their careers but it always provides confidence if you are fully aware of the developments occurring in the areas of law in which you practice or in which you are interested.

From 1 November 2016 the SRA expect you to: 1. Reflect on the quality of your personal practice by reference to the competence statement to identify your learning and development needs 2. Plan to and do address your identified learning and development needs 3. Record and evaluate your learning activity so that if the SRA conducts a regulatory review or receives a complaint about a competence risk you can demonstrate that you have taken steps to ensure your ongoing competence 4. Make an annual declaration to confirm you have completed 1-3 above Within A2 of the competence statement, it says you must maintain an adequate and up-to-date understanding of relevant law, policy and practice.

LawSkills Monthly Digest is a tool which summarises all the key developments over the previous few weeks in the areas of Wills, Probate, Trusts, Tax and Elderly Client and drops a full report into your email inbox to read when convenient. It includes commentary, statutory and practice developments and recent case summaries with practice tips.

Receiving and reading LawSkills Monthly Digest will ensure you have a record of your compliance with competence statement A2 and will provide evidence should a regulatory review arise. More than this your work will benefit from the knowledge and reassurance you gain from having this powerful tool at your fingertips. It saves you scouring newsletters, digests, magazines, books, statutes, case law etc and brings it altogether in one place for ease of access.

What are the core attributes which you want to develop?

When reflecting on your competence for the purposes of preparing your development plan you will have identified some attributes you wanted to develop – knowledge, skills or attitudes. LawSkills Monthly Digest will help you develop your knowledge. Change actually hurts the brain. The neocortex, the part of the brain responsible for executive functions and called on to undertake new, demanding and complex tasks, has limited capacity and can ‘run hot’ from dealing with continuous new activity.

Lawyers’ brains are in danger of ‘overheating’ all the time as the law never stands still. Let LawSkills Monthly Digest ease the strain by saving you having to undertake the research to develop your knowledge.

Do you experience challenges today which LawSkills Monthly Digest will help you address?

For those of you undertaking Probate work, the last two years have been difficult due to the radical changes effected by HMC&TS. LawSkills Monthly Digest has provided regular updates about the changes in practice and given practical advice about how to deal with them. It will continue to do so.

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For those practitioners preparing Wills, the corona virus has caused all sorts of practical legal difficulties. The requirements of self-isolation and social distancing created much debate over how to continue to provide an effective Will service which produces a valid Will at the end of the process. LawSkills Monthly Digest has provided advice and commentary on the practicalities of compliance with s.9 Wills Act 1837. LawSkills will continue to monitor the new temporary rules relating to video witnessing of Wills and report on those in the coming weeks.

LawSkills has been providing reliable support to private client practitioners for over 25 years and saw that the fear of making a mistake was never greater than now. The volume of material to keep under review can be overwhelming – let LawSkills Monthly Digest take the strain. Sign up for your subscription without delay and become part of the growing number of subscribers who find the service invaluable.

Gill Steel www.lawskills.co.uk | Twitter: @gillsteellaw LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gillsteel Gill has been immersed in Wills, Probate, Trusts, Tax & Elderly Client law for the entirety of her long career as a solicitor, trainer & consultant. Her website www.lawskills.co.uk curates articles and training information dedicated to the practitioner and there is a subscription page to sign up for LawSkills Monthly Digest dedicated to developments in Wills, Probate, Trusts, Tax and Elderly Client.

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How Law Firms need to adapt their marketing post Covid-19 During the initial stages of the Covid-19 crisis many lawyers paused or reduced their marketing activities because they were worried that - if they promoted their services to help those affected by the crisis - they might be seen as taking advantage of the situation.

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YOUR MARKETING MUST BE AIMED AT WHAT YOUR CLIENTS PERCEIVE TO BE THEIR CURRENT NEEDS

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But how can you update your marketing to be appropriate and relevant for the current situation without appearing opportunistic? Here’s my guide to the 3 important criteria you need to meet:

ATTRACTING CLIENTS IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE

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If not, marketing is the most obvious way to increase your visibility and attract these enquiries to you (and away from your competitors). But if you adopt a ‘business as usual’ approach to your marketing, and continue with your previous strategies and messages, it could backfire. Your old marketing messages may seem out of touch with the current situation – meaning that (at best) they will be ignored, or (at worst) you could be criticised for only focusing on your own need to ‘sell’ your services.

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Your marketing must be aimed at what your clients perceive to be their current needs. This means something they both need and actually care about right now (despite, or because of, Covid-19). Take data protection advice, for example: business owners probably don’t care (at the moment) about having a review of their policies to be able to tick a “compliant” box. But if they are trying to move their business to an online model they do care about making sure they have the right policies in place to allow them to do that safely.

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Since the need for legal services is continuing (and in some areas, growing) then the question becomes: is your firm visible enough to be attracting a big enough share of these enquiries?

1. Current needs of your clients

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However, there have been many individuals and businesses with a greater need for legal services during this time. During March 2020 some high profile firms were already reporting an increase in enquiries for wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

And, as furlough was announced (a word few of us had heard prior to March), employment lawyers had the opportunity to help clients with new challenges. It's also likely that, in the coming weeks and months, there will be increased demand for advice in areas like contractual disputes or family matters arising directly from Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown.

marketing messages – it’s about repeating the (right) message in different ways until you find what works.

A final thought: you might feel that stopping or reducing your marketing until everything is back to ‘normal’ is the safe option. But what’s the true risk of doing that for your firm, your staff, and ultimately your clients?

With these three elements in place you can continue marketing your legal services effectively during and post Covid-19 and successfully attract new client enquiries.

To discover more about how to attract more clients and increase your fee income and profits (during and post Covid-19), come to my FREE online session ‘The 3 Step Accelerator Plan For Law Firms’.

Register here: www.thebusinessinstructor.com/plan

Current Needs

2. Context of your message The way you promote your services must be appropriate in the context of what’s going on around us. This means that promoting yourself with the usual “We can help with xyz, call us today” is unlikely to work. Not only could it appear tone-deaf to what’s happening in the world, but it might even seem like you are trying to cashin on people’s problems. Instead, you need to take the approach of ‘give before you ask’, which means providing value before you ask someone to pay for the next step. But at the same time you must avoid giving so much information to your prospective client that they don’t see the need for further help, or will think they can do it themselves.

3. Consistency of marketing It’s not enough for someone to hear or see your marketing message once. They need to see it enough times – and at the right time – to be motivated to pick up the phone and speak to you. But you don’t need lots of different pieces of content or

About the author: Michelle Peters (The Business Instructor) is a former practising solicitor and the creator of the Profitable Practice Programme for sole practitioners and small firm owners who want more clients and to increase their profits without working more hours. In addition to working privately with lawyer clients, Michelle frequently runs webinars and workshops to help lawyers identify what is slowing them down from having more of their ideal clients and higher profits, and what to do about it.

Michelle is also the author of the No.1 BestSelling Book ‘The Client Magnet Strategy for Lawyers’ which is available on Amazon, or you can download the first four chapters FREE here: www.thebusinessinstructor.com/book

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The 9 ‘accelerators’ you can install into your practice to attract and convert more of your ideal clients and increase your profits without working more hours How to create a Profitable Practice Gameplan to take what you’ve learned from the workshop and turn it into a strategic plan to achieve your practice growth goals in the next 12 months

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These workshops are presented by former practising solicitor Michelle Peters, The Business Instructor.

Michelle is the author of the no.1 best-selling book on Amazon ‘The Client Magnet Formula for Lawyers’ and the leading authority on helping lawyers double their profits without working more hours

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Will adoption of technology in the conveyancing sector speed up following the lockdown?

Although the conveyancing industry has been steadily evolving in terms of technology, it is still viewed by many as being “behind the curve” and not in step with the increasingly digital demands of today’s society. Earlier this year the Council for Licensed Conveyancers released a paper suggesting the conveyancing process will be completely digital by 2030, but it’s fair to say that the current homebuyer perception is of a slow and manual process with multiple stakeholders all requiring separate management, rather than of one integrated process.

Right now with many staff having been on furlough and the necessity of working from our homes, conveyancers have had to rely more on more on technology to fill the gaps. Can we expect this to continue as business begins to get back to normal?

Registry now accepts (temporarily) virtual signing on deeds and has brought in more flexible procedures for identity verification, estate agents are offering virtual viewings and many of the search providers are offering services to support conveyancers during this lockdown.

The benefits of technology

There are also other technologies being explored such as live chat and chatbot options to provide great customer service at a distance.

New technology offers many advantages to the conveyancer. Benefits include the completion of manual tasks within a fraction of the time usually required, greater accuracy and elimination of the need to repeatedly supply the same information, improved transparency and a compliant audit train. Technology can be used to automate the more routine tasks providing a greater level of accuracy.

For example, over recent years we have seen the automation of a number of conveyancing processes.

It’s very easy to complete a digital AML check and the stamp duty (SDLT) process has been fully-automated.

These online services provide a speedy alternative to conveyancing teams, reducing error and providing a full audit trail. This allows conveyancers more time to focus on the more complex and specialist areas of the conveyancing process.

Has anything changed during the lockdown?

There are a few positive examples of how further progress has been made in recent months. The Land

What can we expect next?

Other developments supporting distanced (and more efficient) working are already in the pipeline … for example, the Land Registry (along with the Law Society, Council for Licensed Conveyancers and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) is working hard to improve cryptographic and biometric checking of identity.

Only time will tell, but having got to grips with online documents and checking, it could be an ideal time for the conveyancing industry to embrace the next steps to moving online. Recent technical developments to support traditional conveyancing processes may be more-readily adopted in an industry that’s already changed its working practices in light of our current circumstances.

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Contingency planning with Quill The SRA expects law firms to ‘continue to meet the high standards the public expect’ and have ‘appropriate contingency plans in place for disruption’ during the Coronavirus pandemic. It should be no surprise, then, that as the UK’s largest combined legal cashiering and payroll bureau, we’ve always been hot on our business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) planning.

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nd for good reason: if you were the back office for 7,000 professionals with annual billing of £1 billion, or responsible for generating 8,000 payslips with transfer of over £54 million to employees’ bank accounts, you’d be hot on it too.

As we’re coping with difficult times, this forethought is serving our clients well. Our contingency planning benefits clients by helping them maintain compliance standards.

That, coupled with our cloud-based legal accounts, practice and document management application, has meant Quill and our clients have simply switched to a work-from-home model with no service disruption whatsoever.

Of course, the SRA admits these are ‘mitigating circumstances’ and acknowledges that some processes – financial management duties mainly – may not be completed on time. As such, a level of leniency is afforded around deadlines.

However, its focus remains on protection of client monies so cashiering tasks still need to be done. You need a contingency plan in case we hit a second spike, or if your cashier is unable to work for health or shielding reasons.

We’ve collated some practical notes on the actions we took to keep our software servicing end users, and our outsourcing staff servicing legal cashiering and payroll compliance.

Hopefully there’s inspiration for your own BCDR reviews: SMS SYSTEM We use an SMS alert system to send messages to any group of managers, teams, offices or rolebased employees. SMS is still the easiest and quickest cross-platform messaging tool, and you can alert staff by job title or location to attend an office or stay at home.

Even before the pandemic was a pandemic, we checked our staff’s personal details were up-to-date in our GDPR-compliant database.

With a return to physical premises unlikely until later this year, if you haven’t already done so, now’s the time to check your own employee list and set up a similar text alert system. We use intellisoftware.co.uk.

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HARDWARE & SOFTWARE In the run up to lockdown, we examined workingfrom-home arrangements team by team. This helped us to iron out a few problems with regards to equipment.

It was only after we closed our offices that we realised one of our failings. We’d earmarked a pool of laptops that were put to good use during the trials but we hadn’t accounted for the fact we’d need every item in one pool simultaneously.

Anyway, the problem was easily solved and we’re repurposing our hardware replacement strategy to a laptop-only model as we may end up with more home working and hot desking, and fewer desks in the office; a possibility for many organisations.

Is your own infrastructure fit for purpose? Cloud software has become a necessity. That’s what we offer – a web-based complete practice management system. Even better, to help accommodate audits and reviews, it’s provided with a free accountant’s licence. Clients using Interactive empower both their staff and accountant to work anytime, anyplace, any device with an online login thereby eliminating any impact from unforeseeable disaster.

Our own cashiering team utilise Interactive to manage clients’ accounts as well. Whether you need cloud access to your matters, documents, legal forms, bundling tools or accounts, Interactive’s got you covered.

PHONE SYSTEM Phones are the bane of every company but essential for communicating with existing and would-be consumers. Fortunately, we’d moved our phone system to the cloud several years ago.

Clever functionality facilitated the diversion of our office phones to corresponding mobiles or landlines at home.

Now we’re enhancing our phone system by installing a soft phone on every laptop or PC. Together with a headset, every member of staff has our entire phone system functionality and address book to hand. We can receive and transfer your calls from home to home more

readily. Take our phone system advice and check out gamma.co.uk.

OUTSOURCING SERVICES Knowing that we’re the financial compliance backbone and payroll service provider for many businesses, getting our staff socially isolated urgently whilst remaining in direct contact with clients, colleagues and team leaders was paramount. And with the SRA stressing the need for contingency measures, we’ve had considerable interest in our outsourced cashiering services during the outbreak. The same applies to our outsourced payroll and typing services.

The bottom line is this: we’ve always had fully operational legal cashiering, payroll and typing bureaus on hand throughout lockdown. If you’re working on a skeleton staffing level, or looking for a contingency plan short- or long-term, we can bridge the gap for as long as required or be retained on standby in case a future need arises.

INSURANCE Early on, we reviewed our insurance cover regarding empty offices and home working. Our brokers, romeroinsurance.co.uk, have been truly fantastic and advised us to regularly inspect our offices so our policy stays valid. Insurance cover has also been extended to address companyowned computer equipment being used by employees at home. Is your insurance policy suitable for your new set up? Perhaps a check in with your own broker is due?

For further assistance with your BCDR planning, contact Quill today.

Email info@quill.co.uk, call 0161 236 2910 or visit www.quill.co.uk.

Julian Bryan joined Quill as Managing Director in 2012 and was also the Chair of the Legal Software Suppliers Association from 2016 to 2019. Quill has been a leading provider of legal accounting and case management software, and the UK’s largest supplier of outsourced legal cashiering services to the legal profession for over 40 years.

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