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TO REGISTER YOUR PLACE www.lsn.co.uk/lpmconf2016 Delegate fee: £220+VAT “Interesting event and quite an eye opener as I have come from the corporate world into legal. I didn’t realise how behind the legal world are in their thinking and evolution.” 12.45 Time to eat (and network, of course) 13.45 STREAM 1 Reshaping business models within SME law firms • What are clients looking for and how they value legal services • How do law firms price work and remunerate for work? • Changing the remuneration models of lawyers and re-evaluating how the firm’s fixed costs contribute to the lawyer’s ability to generate fees for the firm William Robins, operations director, Keystone Law STREAM 2 Building effective social media penetration to win more clients • Utilising social media for brand exposure to support future growth • Managing risk, confidentiality and security when embarking on a social media strategy • Understanding the importance of metrics to measure success of social media campaigns • Driving engagement and turning engagement into results Mike Ames, founder and lead consultant, Flair Consulting 15.30 Networking break 16.00 The war for talent – avoiding brain drain at your firm • Finding the right calibre of candidates in an ever increasingly competitive market • Direct recruitment approaches vs traditional agency route • Creating cohesive teams with instant gratification culture • Creating an honest approach to career planning and progression within a firm • Employment strategies that enable the firm to attract people from diverse backgrounds • Developing a diversity and inclusion policy that drives employee engagement • Driving strategy forward with the next generation in mind Shaun Jardine, CEO, Brethertons Rebecca Normand-Hochman, founder and director, Mentoring Collegium, Institute of Mentoring 17.00 Summary and closing address 17.10 Drinks reception 14.30 Using technology to drive efficiency • Ensuring your firm’s mobile platforms are robust enough to enable agile working • Embedding sufficient, accurate and timely management information platforms to support the business and enable the business to compete in the future • Creating platforms to enable on-boarding for clients via your website • Effecting process management to enable change to take place and create uniformity across the firm Tony Parish, chairman, G3 Comms Frank Saxby, practice director, QS Barwells Sally Holdway, head of innovation, QualitySolicitors Moderator: Rupert Collins-White, editor-in-chief, Legal Practice Management magazine “Very welcoming and friendly as always. I met plenty of people in a relaxed atmosphere.” “Good, informative and with interesting delegates as well as speakers.”
COLUMNS APRIL 2016 A MESSAGE SPONSORED EDITORIAL FROM THE MARKET JANINE PARKER, THE BROKER ABOUT Paragon Better broking for legal Contact Janine on: 020 7280 8200 www.paragonbrokers.com With the April renewal nearly complete, initial feedback is that rates continue to decrease and premiums continue to reduce. As the echo of 2005 resonates sharply, it prompts the question: how much longer can this continue? In this article I will consider a general view of the insurance market and try to suggest where we might be headed. Mergers and acquisitions in both the underwriting and broking community continue at pace. The result is that the dynamic of our market is changing. Whether they're brokers or insurers, merged companies seek efficiency savings to balance the books after acquiring a company. This takes time and is often disruptive to a business when companies with different cultures have to jostle for position in the new entity. Staff unrest is not unusual, and sometimes the underwriting of risk can temporarily take a back seat while more pressing operational challenges are addressed. Likewise, for brokers, the constant fear that any rationalisation programme may mean the loss of your job is a harsh environment to work in, and certainly work in at your best. Yet, across all classes of business in the insurance market, rates continue to soften and customers are benefiting from this. The number of brokers has perhaps reduced as a result of merger activity, but new insurers continue to enter the market, meaning an abundance of capacity and the ability to keep pricing low. Interest rates are low, so insurance is still an attractive investment opportunity for those seeking a consistent return on capital. But what happens when interest rates start to rise, whether this is tomorrow, in a year or over the next five years? What happens when more attractive investment opportunities present themselves and the availability of capacity begins to slow? Less choice would be the logical assumption. Fewer insurers, fewer brokers, less competition – will this lead to higher pricing? Perhaps. Perhaps not. To return to the PI market, can this level of pricing cover the current claims and those that will manifest themselves in the future? There are rumblings that certain insurers are considering their position in our and other similar markets. The nature of insurance is cyclical, and solicitors in particular have experienced the rough end of this. Insurers will be acutely aware of what happened in 2007 and 2008 and will be wary of walking into the same problems that came from having under-priced books of business in 2005 and 2006. And with the rapid development of cyber fraud, there is a further issue that must be tackled. It is worth noting at this point that despite numerous warnings, insurers are still paying significant claims for monies disappearing from client accounts due to cybercrime. Whether it be an email hack or a phone call, this often results in a large PI claim where monies cannot be recovered. Any change of bank details, whether communicated by phone or by email, must be re-verified with your client. Even when the email or phone call appears genuine, always check and check again. It will be on your claims record for many years to come. On a positive note, there are rumours of new entrants coming into the market this year. These are not usually announced until May/June, prior to the renewal season, but any additional competition, certainly in the short term, can only be good for the profession. As always, do all you can to ensure your claims record remains good as, should the market turn, it is this that insurers will be focusing on. <strong>LPM</strong> 17 LEGAL PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
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