Professional briefing - The Journal Online

Letters
Facing
up to ABS
I wholeheartedly agree with
Fiona Westwood (“Making the
most of ABS”, Journal, October,
38). Being commercially minded
does not compromise our
professionalism as lawyers – it
can, in fact, enhance it.
There is simply no logic in the
argument that only those with
law degrees are fit and proper
people to run a legal services
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10 / theJournal December 09
business and all external
business partners will have a
detrimental affect. Our clients
are the ultimate judges of our
services and our ability, and
there is no doubt that lawyers
could learn a great deal from
other professional practices and
business managers who are
likely to have a far more realistic
view of the influence of
today’s consumer.
The elephant in the room,
however, is how and what we
put in place to regulate the new
ABS and how this will impact on
traditional legal practices.
I am writing in reply to the letters
published in the two preceding issues
from Jon Kiddie and Frank Irvine. The
writers indicated their belief that
there was a significant upward trend
in abatement of civil advice and
assistance accounts.
The Board’s analysis of abatements
suggests that this is not the case. Over
the last five years, the value of civil
advice and assistance abatements has
remained close to the average of
around 3% of the total of lodged
accounts. In 2008-09, almost 78% of
firms experienced abatements less
than that average; of the remainder,
almost two thirds had abatements
totalling less than £1,000 for the year.
Granted, this may not be the
case for your two correspondents;
however, it does appear to be the
case more widely.
There are areas of law where some
firms may be aware of increased levels
of scrutiny of their accounts. We
regularly carry out trends analysis to
identify significant changes in
expenditure, reviewing the average
cost of cases and comparing
individual firms’ costs. As a result, we
identify areas where the risks might
be higher. Of late, analysis has
identified that this would apply, for
example, in mental health cases.
In his letter, Mr Kiddie pointed to
two particular issues. The first
concerned confirmatory letters, a
First, we have to set the bar
high. It is in everyone’s interests
to create a regulatory framework
that protects the traditional
ethos and values of the legal
profession whilst embracing
21st century business practices.
When regulating on matters
such as competency and quality
controls we must also satisfy the
highest possible standards of
ethics and integrity.
Secondly, we have to be
prepared to face the fact that
what is good for the corporate
entity, i.e. the ABS, is also good
for every law firm. High standards
A&A abatements:
Board’s response
point also raised by Mr Irvine. There
may be occasions where, for a variety
of reasons, you consider a client
cannot follow or may have difficulty
in understanding advice provided
during a meeting. If so, it may be
appropriate to give the advice in a
letter, following the meeting. Whilst,
in principle, such a letter may form a
reasonable charge, you should give
the advice briefly, in plain English
and focus it on the specific, material
issues. We do not think it necessary
(or reasonable) to send the client a
lengthy letter repeating much of the
advice given at a meeting, especially
where it may not be readily
understood. Where lengthy letters
are claimed, we suggest that copies
of the letters are sent in with the
account so that we can make a more
informed assessment of the
appropriateness of the charge.
Mr Kiddie’s second concern related
to account entries. Following
publication of his letter a colleague
and I met with Mr Kiddie and
through constructive discussion, it
seemed we were able to resolve many
of Mr Kiddie’s concerns over
accounting entries.
We very much hope that the
Board’s project to move accounts
online will help to reduce the need
for abatements: the built-in fee rates
make it impossible to claim on the
wrong table of fees and, in addition,
of practice are good for the
customer, good for the rule of
law and good for ourselves, and
therefore should be applied to all
forms of legal firm.
Isn’t it interesting that Fiona’s
perception of lawyers is that we
“add time delays and costs”?
She also comments that we are
not seen as leaders. As Scots we
are all familiar with the phrase
“to see ourselves as others see
us”. I can think of no better
time than now to take heed of
Robert Burns’ great saying.
Alistair Morris, CEO, Pagan Osborne
the process will improve both the
speed and quality of
communications on disputed
accounting entries. Online account
submission is already available for
advice and assistance and ABWOR,
and has the added cash flow benefit
of payment of undisputed sums on
account. Along with improvements
to the existing online accounts
package, we will shortly introduce
online accounts for criminal and civil
accounts. I am also pleased to report
that we will shortly publish
comprehensive accounts assessment
guidance in the Legal Aid Handbook,
so that legal aid practitioners and law
accountants will have at their
disposal, comprehensive and up-todate
guidance on the preparation of
legal assistance accounts.
For practitioners who do have
issues with abatements, the Board
always welcomes engagement; and
would be particularly open to
addressing any apparent trend
within a firm’s accounts. We
regularly engage with local faculties,
firms and law accountants to assist
them with any assessment issues. I
am happy to affirm that such an
invitation remains open; where we
have done this, the feedback has
been positive. The Board is currently
piloting a system of supplier
support, where it proactively
provides information to firms on
their applications and accounts,
seeking to work together, in our
mutual interest, to maximise the
likelihood of an application being
successful or an account being paid
first time.
Andrew Menzies, Director of Corporate
Services and Accounts, Scottish Legal Aid Board
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