EXTRAS

Newsletter Archive

The Newsletters are in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) and you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on you computer to read them. See the bottom of this page for instructions on how to view or download PDF files.


"Business Matters Newsletter" July 2015 Volume 1 Number 1 (PDF document. Size: 383Kb)
Tips for Networking  I attend several business networking events every week. I am not a natural but I have learnerd to.........


"Law Matters Newsletter" July 2015 Volume 7 Number 1 (PDF document. Size: 183Kb)
From Vision to Tactics The biggest issues that law firm leaders face today are burnout, stress, and overwhelm. Leaders must do so ..........


"Law Matters Newsletter" November 2014 Volume 6 Number 3 (PDF document. Size: 183Kb)
Delegate, but Not Too Much  One way of getting the most out of your time is to delegate some tasks to other staff. That should come as no surprise, and it is.......


"Law Matters Newsletter" September 2014 Volume 6 Number 2 (PDF document. Size: 219Kb)
8 Ways to Stop Inflicting Stress on Your Team . Absence through stress causes costs to your firm, from covering absent staff to compensating clients for errors. Lost client confidence is .....


"Law Matters Newsletter" February 2014 Volume 6 Number 1 (PDF document. Size 101Kb) 
The 117 Firms The New Year does not bring happiness to everyone. The SRA reports that 117 firms had failed to obtain professional indemnity insurance by ...


"Law Matters Newsletter" September 2013 Volume 5 Number 2 (PDF document. Size 101Kb)
Birthday Offer Expires Soon
To mark our first 6 years in business, we have a Super Six birthday offer which expires.....


"Law Matters Newsletter" April 2013 Volume 5 Number 1 (PDF document. Size: 134Kb)
Cash is King The recent demise of Blakemores (and previously Cobbetts) reminds us of the importance of cash management. After all, insolvency means not being able...


"Law  Matters Newsletter" March 2012 Volume 4 Number 2 (PDF document. Size: 144Kb) SRA Announces First ABS Firms This morning, 28th March 2012, the SRA announced the first 3 approvals of ABS firms they regulate.These are Co-operative Legal Services, John.... 


"Law Matters Newsletter" February 2012 Volume 4 Number 1 (PDF document. Size: 143Kb) Legal Apprenticeships It is very difficult to know exactly what a paralegal is. The name is, I believe, an import from the USA, and there is no specific accreditation. They may have a degree and have passed the LPC or they may have no......


"Law Matters Newsletter" December 2011 Volume 3 Number 5 (PDF document. Size: 143Kb)
ABC of Business Planning ABC: Always Be Clear. For some law firms, their business plan runs to the calendar year. For others, it follows the fiscal year. Either way, remember: Always Be Clear. Clarity means that, however small your firm, the plan needs......


"Law Matters Newsletter" November 2011 Volume 3 Number 4 (PDF document. Size: 174Kb)
Induction Law Matters of May 2010 discussed some of the issues surrounding the first 90 days in a new job, with particular reference to Mr Cameron. This edition deals with more basic issues. It generally takes time and effort, and therefore no little expense, to make an appointment. Having done so, it is best.......


"Law Matters Newsletter" September 2011 Volume 3 Number 3 (PDF document. Size: 85Kb)
Tesco Lurking? For all the talk of "Tesco Law", Tesco have not publicly committed to providing legal services, unlike the Co-op ad W H Smith (with QualitySolicitors). Indeed their "Law Store" selling DIY legal kits has disappeared. Where they are developing a presence is in estate.......


"Law Matters Newsletter" August 2011 Volume 3 Number 2 (PDF document. Size: 89Kb)
Still in Interesting Times The Co-op is geared up to provide consumenr legal services as soon as the government sorts out the statutory instrument to allow the SRA to regulate it (sometime in 2012). Quality Solicitors is advertising heavily, Last Cawthra has joined with.......


"Law Matters Newsletter" October 2010 Volume 2 Number 8 (PDF document Size 116Kb)

Underground Leaders The rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped for 69 days happens to coincide with the anniversary of the Senghenydd mining disaster on 14th October 1913. In that instance 439 men and boys died. Their survival had an element of luck: they faced.........


"Law Matters Newsletter" July 2010 Volume 2 Number 7 (PDF document Size 120Kb)

A Changing World Sometimes thoughts come together. This week I heard Dr Paul Fifield speak to the Professional Services Management Group in Birmingham. He has some thought provoking ideas about marketing, but I wanted to deal with more general points that he raised.He mentioned the Russian economist Kondtratiev, who plotted 50-60 year cycles of boom.......



"Law Matters Newsletter" June 2010 Volume 2 Number 6 (PDF document. Size: 98Kb)
Ineffective Teams - Topical World Cup Edition On Friday morning, this Newsletter was about France. By that evening, it became about England. In any event it is not about sport, but about teams. What has changed? England with the same manager and essentialy........

"Law Matters Newsletter" May 2010 Volume 2 Number 5 (PDF document. Size: 93Kb)
The New Leader Moving to a new position and making it work is never easy. A new Prime Minister has about 100 days to settle into the job, unless "events" intevene. A new business leader has to make do with 90. And a new partner  has to establish.........


"Law Matters Newsletter" April 2010 Volume 2 Number 4 (PDF document. Size: 70Kb)
Earning Client Loyalty Recent discussion in the Gazette's Linkedin Group has highlighted the Ministry of Justice survey carried out in 2009 into the use of personal legal services (found here). The discussion centred on the 5% who found their solicitor by research, including the internet.


"Law Matters Newsletter" March 2010 Volume 2 Number 3 (PDF document. Size 88Kb)

Collaborative Selling As discussed in the previous Law Matters, selling is often seen as a grubby trade, particularly by those in the professions. Nobody likes a cold caller trying to sell cavity wall insullation you that you do not want particularly during........... 


"Law Matters Newsletter" February 2010 Volume 2 Number 2 (PDF document. Size 124Kb)

The World Beats a Path to your Door? If you build a better mousetrap that is, allegedly. Yet reality is very different, since the trap builder must sell the product either direct to end users or to supermarkets, hardware stores and garden centres. Otherwise the world's finest traps stay.......


"Law Matters Newsletter" January 2010 Volume 2 Number 1 (PDF document. Size 102Kb)

More Businesses Fail During a Recovery It may seem strange, but more businesses fail coming out of a recession than during it. The reason is generally connected to cash flow, although there is for lawyers the additional thundering........


"Law Matters Newsletter" September 09 Volume 1 Number 9 (PDF document. Size: 54Kb)
Do I Have to Spend Money on Marketing Now? In a recession, when cash is tight, it is tempting to cut back on marketing. This may be a false economy. McGraw Hill Research studied 600 American companies across a range of sectors during the 1981-2 recession. They found that companies who maintained or increased.....


"Law Matters Newsletter" July 09 Volume 1 Number 8 (PDF document. Size: 54Kb)
Mental Toughness The term Mental Toughness was first popularised in relation to sport, an area where success or failure are starkly defined. The missed penalty or letting a Wimbledon final slip from your grasp are obvious and have an immediate effect. However sometimes the attribute is needed over a much longer term 


"Law Matters Newsletter" June 09 Volume 1 Number 7 (PDF document. Size: 55Kb)
Easy as PII? In 2008 many firms had difficulty with their PI cover. Insurers closed their books early creating problems for those submitting late proposals. For many, premiums went up, both due to the position of the market, and because the Credit Crunch exposed conveyancing errors and fraud.


"Law Matters Newsletter" May 09 Volume 1 Number 6 (PDF document. Size: 100Kb)
Are you SURE that's Hay Fever? News that a summer associate at a US law firm may have swine flu ties in with the appearance of hand sanitising gel in the office wash rooms. Last week I saw a gentleman at Frankfurt airport in a face mask.


"Law Matters Newsletter" April 09 Volume 1 Number 5 (PDF document. Size: 131Kb)
Finding the Right People It is only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked. In boom times, mistakes stay hidden, but in a recession our inadequacies are exposed. This applies particularly to selecting job candidates. 


"Law Matters Newsletter" March 09 Volume 1 Number 4 (PDF document. Size: 102Kb)
Living in Interesting Times It is bad enough dealing with the recession, with several law firms in intensive care. Yet necessary fire fighting can distract from adapting strategy to the fundamental changes facing the legal profession.


"Law Matters Newsletter" February 09 Volume 1 Number 3 (PDF document. Size: 99Kb)
Alternatives to Redundancy WARNING: The ability of an employer to use these alternatives depends on particular circumstances and on individual contracts. Get it right – take proper and detailed legal advice on ............


"Law Matters Newsletter" January 09 Volume 1 Number 2 (PDF document. Size: 73Kb)
Part way into January, are you keeping your New Year’s Resolutions? If not, are these the same resolutions that you made last year….or the year before? Many people decide year after year for example to lose weight, but it never quite seems to happen. Similar problems can arise with ............


"Law Matters Newsletter" December 08 Volume 1 Number 1 (PDF document. Size: 55Kb)
Coping with Tough Times: The credit crunch impacts on clients, and in turn affects law firms. This leads to lower fee income for many areas of work. Additionally, there is less money passing through client account coupled with a big reduction in ............


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