Category Archives: Law

Law, Technology

Next generation technology success for 700 law firms

The appetite for next generation technology amongst legal firms shows no signs of slowing down, as Advanced today announces that more than 700 law firms have now adopted its ALB Practice and Case Management System. The most recent firm – Bernberg Peirce and Partners – follows a raft of firms looking to adopt new software to integrate and automate key processes in a bid to drive efficiencies at an operational level, as well as to improve client service levels and ensure regulatory compliance. Other recent new firms include Daniel Spring Solicitors, Howe & Co and UK & Co Solicitors.

As law firms aim to gain greater management of operations, improve visibility and productivity of their fee earners as well as delivering an improved customer experience, they are turning to new generation technology to become more digitally driven. ALB, Advanced’s fully integrated practice and case management system, helps by giving law firms total control over their working day, enabling them to manage their clients, matters and documents efficiently, record time, process accounts and monitor performance in a simple, intuitive system.

Doug Hargrove, Managing Director of Legal at Advanced, is excited to see the momentum continue as the legal sector strives to be digital by default.

“Forward-thinking law firms want to be recognised for embracing change, offering fee earners greater flexibility by supporting modern mobile working practices and delivering effortless efficiency in managing client information. We’re excited to be supporting firms as they adapt to a digital-first strategy. By choosing our solution, we are also future-proofing their investment, ensuring they have the right infrastructure as they look to incorporate new innovations such as Artificial Intelligence.

ALB is well respected for driving efficiencies through centralised diary management, performance measurement and time recording – all of which helps to improve the way client matters are managed. From a compliance perspective, functionality included in ALB’s Workflow Toolkit ensures data is consistent and compliant, and next generation client portals ensure that there is a seamless delivery of up to date digital information which can be easily consumed by the client.

Doug concludes:

“We are proud to work in partnership with our customers, focused on ensuring we can support their, and their customers’ needs, as the digitally transform their businesses to remain competitive and continue to prosper in the future.”

Law, News

Family lawyer encourages support of domestic violence campaign

A family lawyer specialising in domestic violence has shown support for a nationwide campaign aimed at challenging and ending domestic abuse and sexual abuse.

Hannah Bridgwood of national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP says the 16 Days of Activism campaign organised by UK SAYS NO MORE is an important reminder that everyone can play a part in ending domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Hannah along with support from Clarke Willmott has launched a social media campaign around the topic and is urging others to make a difference by pledging to learn about the issues, speaking out and sharing resources and information.

Taking place from 25 November until 10 December the campaign was first started by activists at the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and is now recognised by the United Nations. The campaign provides open-source tools and resources for individuals, businesses and organisations to take action and get involved in ending domestic violence and sexual assault.

Hannah said:

“16 Days of Activism is a fantastic campaign to raise awareness of domestic and sexual abuse which is one of the most prevalent crimes in the UK.

“Campaigns like this are so important to let people know that there is help out there and that what they are experiencing can be stopped.

“With statistics that state that in the UK on average two women each week are killed by their current or former partner, that every hour of every day the police receive over 100 calls in relation to domestic abuse and for every three victims of domestic abuse, two will be female and one will be male this is an issue that needs to be acted on now.

“I find so often that my clients are totally unaware of the rights they have and the laws that can protect them against all aspects of domestic abuse including physical, sexual and financial abuse as well as coercive and controlling behaviour.

“Seeking the assistance of a specialist family lawyer can help explain the many legal options for protection available as well as providing and signposting to support for the practical issues. It is also important to highlight the many other options for support available too, such as the domestic abuse charities and support services.

“At Clarke Willmott we have started a social media campaign to start raising public awareness about some of these issues.”

Hannah believes the government could do more to help victims of abuse access support. The December general election has halted the progress of the Domestic Abuse Bill through Parliament.

“The Domestic Abuse Bill pledged funding to enable all victims of domestic abuse and their children to access support in safe accommodation, to expand the legal definition of domestic abuse to include coercive/controlling behaviour and financial abuse and to prevent perpetrators of domestic abuse being able to cross examine their victims in court proceedings. Sadly the bill has been delayed due to the December election but I would urge the new government to make this Bill a priority to address this very real social evil.

“Domestic abuse can have a devastating effect on men, women and childrens’ lives. It is important to raise awareness of what constitutes domestic abuse and the steps survivors can take to escape. If anyone reading this is in immediate threat of harm, I urge them to contact the police to get protection but if you want to plan your escape contact Women’s Aid, Menkind or me so that we can help make a plan to get you and your children to safety.”

Hannah can be contacted at Hannah.Bridgwood@clarkewillmott.com or 0345 209 1698.

For more information about 16 Days of Activism visit www.uksaysnomore.org

For more information about Clarke Willmott visit www.clarkewillmott.com

Law

Taylor Vinters and ThoughtRiver partner to offer premium automated contract review service

ThoughtRiver, the market leader in intelligent contract pre-screening, has announced that it has partnered with international law firm Taylor Vinters to offer a new contract review and risk assessment as a service to its customers.

Users of ThoughtRiver will be able to review contracts using a Taylor Vinters approved standard via a simple on-platform purchase. The accumulated legal knowledge and experience of the Taylor Vinters team has been codified based on ThoughtRiver’s Lexible framework so it can integrate with the ThoughtRiver platform seamlessly.

Leveraging on the speed of ThoughtRiver’s underlying contract pre-screening application, Taylor Vinters will be able to offer legal services not only at a more affordable rate for businesses but also in a fraction of the time of a traditional consultation process.

The partnership will begin with ThoughtRiver offering a full-service package to customers looking for advice on the 3rd party non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that they receive.

“This new technology allows us to take a pioneering step forward within the professional-level legal services landscape – to position law as a commercial service model.” said Matt Meyer, CEO, Taylor Vinters,

“We’re excited to have worked with ThoughtRiver to develop cutting edge new business and technology frameworks which will have a genuine impact on the service we can provide to our clients, opening up what we have to offer to a much larger audience.”

Tim Pullan, CEO of ThoughtRiver, commented:

“We’re delighted to announce the first of what I’m confident will be many partnerships of this nature. Taylor Vinters is an entrepreneurial trend-setter in its own right, and I’m proud that we will be extending our close working relationship ever further, while democratising the availability of legal services to the wider public and businesses.”

This latest news follows a series of firsts for ThoughtRiver. In September, ThoughtRiver announced an integration with data visualisation system Tableau to boost contract risk analysis for its clients, as well as the launch of its Microsoft Word plug-in, which gives legal professionals the ability to automatically review and remediate contracts directly within Microsoft Word.

L & D, Law, South East

Law Firm Boyes Turner Launches New Coaching Service

Leading law firm Boyes Turner, based in Reading, today announced that it is expanding its existing wide range of employment law and HR offerings with the launch of a new coaching service. The service is aimed at any organisation looking to offer coaching to its employees and reflects the direction that law firms need to move towards, according to Boyes Turner.

The Boyes Turner employment team has been acting for some time as an extension to human resources teams, providing them with an integrated range of employee advisory services. The coaching service is a continuation of this and has been developed in response to client requests for the firm to play an all-round advisory role, rather than offering purely legal support.

Whilst coaching isn’t a regulated industry, Boyes Turner considers regulation important. All Boyes Turner’s coaches are accredited with one of the major coaching bodies. The new service is available on a 1:1 or team basis and covers a variety of topics including executive and career coaching.

Helen Goss, Partner, Boyes Turner, commented,

“Organisations benefit from providing coaching to their employees by helping them address the war for talent in terms of attracting and retaining the best staff. It encourages employees to feel valued and so increases loyalty and motivation, improving productivity.”

The move into HR services, in addition to legal solutions, reflects the views of Boyes Turner that the future for law firms lies in advising clients on issues beyond the purely legal. As a firm with many fast-moving tech clients, Boyes Turner continually evolves and develops its services to ensure it continues to add real value, as clients’ business models change.

Helen added,

“Our clients tell us that what they want are solutions to their problems. Sometimes the solution is a legal one, but requirements are often more complex and need a broader approach. Coaching is just one way we work can work with HR to provide this. Boyes Turner is one of the few law firms to recognise that businesses increasingly want their legal teams to play a broader advisory role – and to actually offer this.”

SAR Support

Also announced today by Boyes Turner is the availability of a new service to help with subject access requests (SARs), which, like the coaching service, is designed to provide a solution to issues HR teams have told the firm they regularly encounter.

With the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018, individuals are increasingly aware of their rights. One of these is the right of customers, suppliers and employees to request to see what data a company holds about them. The new SARs service combines the expertise of Boyes Turner’s lawyers with the latest AI technology. It will provide organisations with a cost-effective solution to dealing with SARs, thus helping avoid possible fines and reputational risk.

Barry Stanton, who heads the employment team at Boyes Turner said,

“Since the introduction of GDPR we have seen a marked increase in the number of SARs that HR teams are faced with. A combination of the speed needed to respond, the large volume of data which HR teams need to review and the eye-watering fines at stake make these one of the key issues keeping HR up at night.”

Boyes Turner’s solution demonstrates how the firm is continually innovating. Barry commented,

“As a business we’ve never stood still because our clients don’t. We are among the first wave of law firms to realise we need to mirror the changes our clients are going through. This means becoming real business advisors rather than just suppliers of legal services.”

More details can be found at https://www.boyesturnerhrsolutions.com/

Appointments, Law

East Midlands law firm appoints business development role for Lincoln branch

Fraser Brown Solicitors is gearing for growth at its Lincoln branch with the hire of new business development executive, Rachel Pringle.

Rachel will be responsible for developing and identifying new revenue streams for the business in Lincoln and will build and strengthen the existing Lincolnshire client base. Her background in banking and finance will add value and enhance the services of the Lincoln team.

Having graduated from the University of Lincoln with a business and marketing degree, Rachel has 16 years’ experience in commercial and corporate banking and has held many senior roles including corporate banking manager for Handelsbanken in Lincoln, deputy area commercial director for HSBC Bank PLC in Lincolnshire and Peterborough and most recently, commercial broker for Lincoln-based Thompson & Richardson Financial Services.

On her new role, Rachel said:

“Fraser Brown Solicitors is a highly regarded legal firm in the East Midlands, not only for delivering client-tailored solutions and listening to what clients want, but also culturally, as an exciting and dynamic firm to work for, with a commercial approach and fully committed team.”

As the Lincoln branch celebrates a successful first year, the firm’s long-term commitment to investment in Lincoln and Lincolnshire is clear and to be part of that from the early stages is very exciting.

Commercial director, John Tansur said:

“The opening of the Lincoln office has been planned for a long time and the branch has had an incredibly successful first year with expansion of its team and portfolio across all divisions.

“We would like to wish Rachel a very warm welcome to the team – with her significant experience, long-standing relationships in the regional business community and great work ethic, she is the ideal candidate for this role and will help us to fulfil our vision for growth in Lincolnshire, together with partners and staff at the Lincoln office.”

Employment Law, HR News, Law

Over half of UK businesses are unaware of employment law changes, says HR experts

In five months’ time, employers will have to adhere to new employment laws proposed in the government’s Good Work Plan. However, the majority of UK businesses are completely unaware that these laws are due to come into effect.

A survey by Citation, conducted via OnePoll, has found that 59% of British employers do not even know about the Good Work Plan, which proposes a variety of law changes that will come into effect in April 2020.

Of the decision-makers at British businesses who had heard of the Good Work Plan, 42% of them only partly understood how it would affect them whilst 11% had heard of it but did not know how it would change their legal obligations.

The Good Work Plan proposes a number of employment law changes, including: Giving flexible workers the right to ask for a stable contract; extending the time required to break a period of continuous service; and banning employers from making deductions from staff tips.

If employers remain unaware in the run-up to 6 April 2020, businesses could find themselves facing fines of up to £20,000 from employment tribunals, as the government will be legislating to make this the maximum penalty for “aggravated breaches”.

Gillian McAteer, head of employment law at Citation, said: “The Good Work Plan will affect every business in the country as it brings changes to who employers need to give statements of main terms to, when they give it and what information needs to be provided.”

The former Prime Minister, Theresa May, commissioned Matthew Taylor to conduct a review of the UK employment framework. He made many recommendations about ways in which the government could future-proof the labour market given the rise of freelance work, self-employment and the gig economy. The Good Work Plan proposes a number of employment law changes based on Matthew Taylor’s recommendations.

Citation helps small and medium-sized businesses with HR, employment and health & safety support and expertise. Since 1996, Citation has taken care of the messy, complicated bits of running a business for over 35,000 clients, allowing them to focus on their business ambitions. Citation has published a white paper simplifying the Good Work Plan for businesses.

Law, Midlands News, News

Fraser Brown Solicitors celebrates stellar first year in Lincoln

Legal firm Fraser Brown is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its Lincoln office following an outstanding 12 months in the region.

The Lincoln base marks the first location for the firm outside of Nottinghamshire, and since opening its doors at Kingsley Office Park last summer, it has seen growth beyond expectations with the expansion of its team and client portfolio.

Doubling in size in the last twelve months, the Lincoln team expansion has seen the appointment of senior figures including director and solicitor of corporate law, Ed Capes, who is celebrating a very successful first-year anniversary with the company this month, and head of commercial property – Anthony Ogley, who moved from the Nottingham HQ to the Lincoln base as second full time director back in July, to further fortify the Lincoln team and strengthen the firm’s commercial property offering in the region.

Other significant hires include legal assistant Will Murray who joined the residential team back in May to assist with the department’s growing portfolio, and Rachel Pringle who joined the team as business development executive in September to support the continued new business growth of the firm’s Lincoln base and further develop relationships in the region.

Growth is expected to continue into 2020 within the Lincoln team where further recruitment is planned to support this and complement the overall growth of the firm.

Since joining the firm in October 2018, Ed has been involved in a number of high-profile deals, including successful major transactions working with leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment firm – Foresight Group, providing legal advice in relation to Lincolnshire-based companies – volcanic chocolate company FIRETREE CHOCOLATE LTD, commercial printing company Your Print Partner and halal baby food company For Aisha.

Another significant deal recently completed involved providing legal advice for Blackfinch Ventures for its investment in Lincoln-based tech start-up – Tended. Tended creates safety solutions and intelligent wearables that can detect accidents and notify emergency contacts with GPS location, it was recently named one of the UK’s most innovative exciting tech start-ups by Tech Nation.

Ed said:

“My decision to join Fraser Brown and be at the forefront of the firm’s expansion into Lincolnshire represented a major milestone in my career.

“Lincoln is a honeypot for investment and economic growth, and opportunities presented in the area are plentiful. The team have worked to establish and develop relationships with local businesses and the professional community in order to embed themselves in Lincoln, which we are extremely proud to be a part of.

“We are delighted with the progress we’ve made to date which would not have been possible without the support of our clients, our network of contacts and our hard-working team and we look forward to nurturing and developing those relationships over the next 12 months and in the years to come.

“Our new appointments are a statement of intent for future expansion, and Rachel’s role as business development executive will really help us to fulfil this vision for growth.”

Patrick Wood, managing director at Fraser Brown said:

“Opening a Lincoln office has long been on our agenda and we were keen to venture out of Nottinghamshire and establish ourselves in Lincolnshire’s professional community.

“The Lincoln office has had an outstanding first year. Our cultural values have helped shape and cement the firm in the Nottingham legal market for many years and have been reflected in the offering from our Lincoln office.

Fraser Brown has been established for more than 200 years and operates from four offices across the East Midlands in Nottingham, Bingham, Radcliffe-on-Trent and Lincoln offering services in commercial and private law.

For more information please visit: http://www.fraserbrown.com/

Appointments, Law, Midlands News

Grantham law firm appoints new commercial solicitor

JMP Solicitors is expanding its commercial team at its Grantham office with the appointment of a new solicitor, Robert Cox.

Having graduated from Keele University with a degree in Law and American Studies, Robert brings over 30 years’ legal experience to the team having worked in Melton Mowbray for 17 years at Oldham Marsh Page Flavell, and in Grantham for 16 years, at Close Kendall, Trumans, and Nelsons Solicitors.

Robert will bring a breadth of expertise to the role, in which he will be advising clients on all aspects of business and commercial law, with a particular interest in business start-up and litigation. He will look to bring a modern approach to legal problem solving, providing advice for all types of businesses, from well-established companies through to new start-ups.

On his new appointment, Robert said:

“JMP Solicitors is a modern, friendly firm providing legal services to businesses and personal clients and I’m very much excited to be part of such a forward-thinking and approachable team. It’s important to ensure that clients receive a friendly and helpful service, to guide them through legal obstacles, with minimal risks to keep costs down.

“I grew up in Grantham and to now be based here in the area where I live for work, so close to family and friends is very exciting- I look forward to putting my skills and expertise to good practice for a new challenge.”

Ian Howard, managing director at JMP Solicitors, said:

“We’d like to give a warm welcome to Robert on joining the JMP team. With his extensive experience and enthusiasm, he is an ideal asset to join our commercial division to lead and support its ever-growing portfolio.

“With Robert’s background working in the counties of Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, he has a whole collection of contacts within the business community which will help with new business development and building key relationships in the commercial sector.”

For more information please visit: https://www.jmp-solicitors.com