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opinion Small and medium-sized firms can derive practical advantages from flexible working practices just as much as larger firms can TOO SMALL TO BE FLEXIBLE? Claire Cowell is a partner in Bonar Mackenzie WS, Edinburgh www.journalonline.co.uk Flexible working in the medium/ smaller firm, once considered an impossibility or, at the very least, an impracticality, can now be seen not only as a practical solution to the drift of talented staff out of the profession but a positive boon – encouraging experienced and talented solicitors to remain in private practice. “Flexible working”, of course, is a hot topic following recent legislative changes and, in our own context, the recently published Law Society of Scotland/EOC survey. Although worklife balance policies have tended to focus on women, flexible working should not be seen as an issue excluding men. No longer are men expected to support their families simply by being at work; they are expected to contribute to their family and support their spouses’ careers by being at home. Nor is flexible working solely for the purposes of childcare; as our population ages, caring for elderly relatives becomes a more pressing issue. Flexible working may also be seen simply as a lifestyle choice. So far so pleasantly idyllic – but can these aspirations translate into practicalities in the gritty world of the small to medium sized legal firm? And, more to the point, why would you want them to? At Bonar Mackenzie we have found that we have not only retained solicitors but have attracted new and talented staff by offering a flexible attitude to working practices. “Flexible”, although it includes part time work, can also include full time hours outwith the usual 9-5, homeworking, reduced hours and job sharing, all of which are practised at Bonars.This extends both up and down the business: three of our partners, one associate and one third of our support/secretarial staff are on various forms of flexible working. There are several advantages of offering flexible working patterns: ■ Increased staff retention – the immediate impact of loss of staff is felt in the cost (and risk) of recruiting new employees (and with the loss of fee earning time involved, the impact is felt most keenly in small/medium firms without an HR department to manage this process). Factored in should also be the less visible costs such as loss of knowledge and expertise and severed client contacts. ■ Improved recruitment opportunities – once flexible working is embraced, the recruitment pool widens considerably. Research carried out in England suggests that while large firms may recruit relatively high numbers of newly qualified women, generally they are “uninterested in women returners”– a valuable pool of experienced, talented individuals to be drawn upon by firms prepared to offer that sought-after flexibility. ■ Improved morale, productivity and commitment and less absenteeism – a firm which recognises the need for its staff to balance their professional and personal commitments will be rewarded in spades with commitment both to making the arrangement work and to advancing the firm’s business goals. ■ Flexibility breeds flexibility in return – flexible workers will often assist in providing cover at busy periods or holidays, a resource of particular value to the small/medium firm which often does not carry the extra capacity to deal with fluctuating demands. ■ External perceptions – for the firm which manages this process there is the added bonus of recognition as an enlightened, forward-thinking firm, willing to embrace change. Some points in managing flexible working: ■ Flexible working must be aligned with business need, a process that requires commitment, communication and trust on both sides. ■ An excellent support team is essential in providing a continuous point of contact for the client. ■ The use of technology – voicemail, email and computer systems accessed remotely, digital dictation and mobile Flexibility breeds flexibility in return – flexible workers will often assist in providing cover at busy periods phones all make the physical location of the solicitor far less important. In a profession which equates long hours in the office with commitment, where does this leave the flexible worker? A change of perception is required which measures commitment in terms of quality of work (rather than hours present) and which reviews profitability and benefit in an overall context. It has long been apparent that there has been a drift of talent, educated and trained by the profession, away from private practice into institutions and government where they can obtain flexible working conditions without prejudicing their rise to senior levels. Flexible working should be seen by the medium/smaller firms not as a threat but an opportunity to attract talent and expertise into their business: a means to differentiate themselves from their competitors in order to recruit and retain staff, if they are prepared to take the lead and change the way they approach working patterns. The Journal: December 2005 : 9
letters Send your letters to The Editor, The Journal, Studio 2001, Mile End, Paisley PA1 1JS f: 0141 561 0400 e: journal@connect communications.co.uk 10 : The Journal: December 2005 Bonhomie in practice? Lord Bonomy’s wide ranging changes to our criminal justice system are beginning to take effect.There is little doubt that provisions relative to prevention of delay, agreement of evidence etc are resulting in considerable savings in both court and witness time, and discounting for early pleas has also worked well. However experienced agents and counsel find it going against the grain to meet the requirement on them to intimate objections to admissibility etc in advance, as this simply gives the Crown an opportunity of plugging holes in a leaky ship. My recent experience of this in a sheriff and jury case did little to allay the disquiet being encountered by defence teams. Following the disclosure of the police evidence by the Crown, I took the view that there were grounds for lodging a minute objecting to evidence obtained by the police when my client was “arrested and searched”. If successful this would severely hamper the prosecution by removing 90% of the evidence. I advised the depute at the first diet of the legal point, and relevant case law. Later the depute telephoned me to inform me he was going to “re-precognosce” the police. I objected strongly, but could not prevent this. In the event a preliminary proof was held at which I had lodged the police officers’ original (disclosed) statements as a defence production.The police gave evidence which was almost completely at odds with their original statements, and gave not only the writer, but doubtless the presiding sheriff, the clear impression that they were changing their evidence to overcome the objection.The sheriff did not accept the officers’ oral evidence and upheld the minute. Afterwards I spoke with the depute in question about my obvious concerns (perverting the course of justice, misleading the court etc), and was assured that the depute’s actings were above reproach. It was with some hesitation that I did not report the matter to the regional fiscal. It should not be forgotten that we still have an adversarial system. If a client instructs his lawyer not to alert the Crown in advance about flaws in the Crown case, would it be contrary to his human right to a fair trial to raise the objection at a later stage? Do we not have an equal duty to our clients as well as to the court? If we cannot rely on the Crown Office/Fiscal Service to act with integrity, what guarantees can we be given relative to the aforementioned scenario and, possibly more importantly, what reliance can we place on disclosure? Roy M Harley, Harley & Co SSC, Edinburgh www.journalonline.co.uk
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