Modern Law Magazine Issue 72

Issue 72
ISSN 2976-9396
THE BUSINESS OF LAW
“The ideal customer journey will
be seamless - it will offer choice,
and it will be trustworthy”
- Helen Luty
P06 P10 Navigating P28
Service
Wins Out!
Vouchercodes on
becoming the UK’s most
trusted voucher site
Change
President of the Law
Society Nick Emmerson
Scaling Client
Care
How three different law firms
approach client service

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“Your most unhappy customers are
your greatest source of learning”
Bill Gates
Welcome to the September issue of
Modern Law. It’s back to school, back to
work and back to reality for lots of us this
month and we have turned our attention
to all things client service-related for this
edition.
With demands and expectations ever
growing from clients, law firms – and all
those who work in the legal sector – need
to provide excellent client service as a
given, but how do some firms go above
and beyond to deliver service that stands
out, and differentiates them in such a
competitive market?
We have some fantastic insights to share,
from both within the legal profession and
beyond. Winners of the UK Customer
Experience Awards Virgin Red and
Vouchercodes provide thoughts on
outstanding customer service from a
non-legal perspective, while legal winner
Wolferstans shares its successes.
We were also thrilled to speak with
President of the Law Society Nick
Emmerson, who gives a broader overview
of client service and challenges in the
legal profession and how the Society is
navigating change in this rapidly-evolving
sector.
Regular contributors to our Editorial Board
share their views on client feedback, the
importance of reviews and maintaining
close relationships while Shaun Jardine
considers the role pricing strategy plays
and whether it is time to take a new
approach to pricing.
On the marketing and business
development side, David Gilroy from
Conscious Solutions ponders how digital
marketing can support service delivery
and Hannah Perryman from Consortium
- more than marketing provides practical
guidance on low-cost marketing tactics, in
particular social media.
Tanveer Qureshi offers a barrister’s
perspective on offering excellent client
care, considering the impact Direct Access
has had and how he ensures solicitors he
works with receive a tailored approach.
We spoke to three different-sized law
firms - Bracher Rawlins, Stephen Rimmer
Solicitors and Cripps - to discuss how
each approaches client service, and it was
incredibly interesting to hear the diverse
strategies each firm takes and the tactics
they have chosen in order to deliver them.
We also hear from legal sector suppliers on
how they ensure their latest products meet
client needs and we include our regular
Conveyancing panel featuring Angela
Hesketh from Pexa and Helen Luty from
Landmark, who this month focus on how
client demands shape service delivery.
No focus on client service would be
complete without considering the role
technology can play. For this issue’s Legal
Tech Talk section Charlotte Johnstone
spoke to Travers Smith and Eversheds
Sutherland about today’s fast-paced legal
landscape, emerging trends and how
technology is helping them refine service
delivery.
Finally in our ever-popular “10 Minutes
With…” slot, Monica Kapur from Isadore
Goldman opens up about diversity in the
legal profession, her love for travel and the
role her parents have played in supporting
her throughout her career.
It’s a bumper issue! We hope you enjoy it.
Cara Flood is Acting Editor at
Modern Law Magazine and
Marketing & Account Manager at
Consortium – more than marketing
cara@consortiumbiz.co.uk
Editorial Contributors
Julie Green, SmartSearch
Mark Holt, Frenkel Topping
Kathliya Harwood, Speech Processing Solutions
Alex Holt, The Cashroom
Antony Jaggard, Taylor Rose
ISSUE 72
ISSN 2976-9396
Editor
Cara Flood - Acting Editor
Project Manager & Events Sales
Kate McKittrick
Modern Law Magazine is published by Charlton Grant Ltd ©2023
2024
All material is copyrighted both written and illustrated.
Reproduction in part or whole is strictly forbidden without
the written permission of the publisher. All images and
information is collated from extensive research and along
with advertisements is published in good faith. Although
the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure
that the information in this publication was correct at press
time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby
disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or
disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such
errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or
any other cause.
3

CONTENTS
INTERVIEW
06 Service wins out
Moji Oshisanya, Senior Director of Customer & Content Transformation
at VoucherCodes.co.uk
08 Client-Centred Law: How Wolferstans Leads with Superior Service
David Price, Head of Client Services & Recruitment, Wolferstans
10 Navigating change
Nick Emmerson, President of the Law Society of England & Wales
24 If You Take Care Of Your Employees, They Will Take Care Of Your
Customers
Kelly Best, Managing Director - Product, Customer Experience &
Marketing, Virgin Red
EDITORIAL
BOARD
13 Frenkel Topping
Feedback is the food of champions
Mark Holt, COO, Frenkel Topping
13 Speech Processing Solutions
How customer feedback shapes our business decisions
Kathliya Harwood, Marketing Manager, Speech Processing Solutions
15 Smartsearch
Client feedback is the key to unlock future success
Julie Green, Client Services Director, Smartsearch
15 Taylor Rose
The Era of the Consultancy Programme
Antony Jaggard, Director of Consultant Services, Taylor Rose
16 Cashroom
The Power of Happiness
Alex Holt, Chief Revenue Officer, Cashroom
INSIGHT
FEATURE
17 Reimagining Legal Fees: Why 2025 Demands a New
Approach to Pricing
Shaun Jardine
21 Should Law Firms be Getting More Social? Why No-Cost Marketing
is a Must
Hannah Perryman, Senior Account Manager, Consortium more than
marketing
22 Client Care a Barrister’s Perspective
Tanveer Qureshi, Barrister, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square
28 Scaling Client Care: How different sized law firms approach client
service
Matthew Cowan, Managing Partner at Bracher Rawlins, Grant Sanders,
Partner & Practice Manager at Stephen Rimmer Solicitors, and Rachel Smith,
Director of BD & Marketing at Cripps
4

CONTENTS
INDEPTH
26 How Can Law Firms Use Digital Marketing to Improve Client
Satisfaction in 2025?
David Gilroy, Managing Director at Conscious Solutions
CUSTOMER
FOCUS
33 Elevate Client Service with Enhanced Legal Resourcing
Vanessa Jerrom, Senior Lead Consultant at BigHand
34 The Customer-Focused Approach
Zoe Fillingham, Head of Operations at Searchflow and Dee McKenna,
Head of Estate Admin & Bonds at CLSQ
FORUM
36 Conveyancing Panel
The Client Connection
Angela Hesketh, Pexa and Helen Luty, Landmark
LEGAL TECH
10 MINS WITH
42 LegalTechTalk
Andrew Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at Travers Smith, Bhavisa Patel,
Director of Legal Technology at Eversheds Sutherland
46 10 Mins With...
Monica Kapur, Director, Isadore Goldman
Disclaimer: Our publications contain advertising material submitted by third parties. Each individual advertiser is solely responsible for the content of its advertising material. We accept
no responsibility for the content of advertising material, including, without limitation, any error, omission or inaccuracy therein. We do not endorse, and are not responsible or liable for,
any advertising or products in such advertising, nor for any any damage, loss or offence caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with, the use of or reliance on any such
advertising or products in such advertising.
EDITORIAL BOARD CONTRIBUTORS
SpeechLive
5

INTERVIEWS
Vouchercodes was established in 2008 and since then has become famous
for providing its customers with impressive savings at thousands of
retailers and restaurants. They are now the UK’s most trusted voucher site,
saving users £62m a year. Moji Oshisanya, Director of Customer & Content
Transformation talks to Cara Flood about how they ensure customers
receive a personalised level of service, why reviews and feedback play such
an important role in customer satisfaction and their recent recognition at
the UK Customer Experience Awards.
You were recently recognised with a Bronze Award for
Q “Customers at the heart of everything” at the UK CXA
Awards - can you tell me about the journey leading up to
this and any significant achievements?
VoucherCodes has always put customer service at the
A forefront of our business strategy but last year as a brand
we made a concerted effort to put the customer at the centre
of every business decision, which is why winning this award was
so important to us.
Providing exceptional customer service to all our customers
is a core focus within our Customer Experience team and the
wider business. Our Code Guarantee is a perfect example of
this. We pride ourselves in sourcing genuine, working codes
and work hard to regularly test our offers so we can provide our
customers with the best possible savings. We established our
Code Guarantee because, despite our best efforts, there were
rare occasions when a customer would find a non-working code
and miss out on a saving for their purchase. To resolve this and
maintain trust, our customers can claim the Code Guarantee
and receive a £20 gift card of their choice. This is our way of
ensuring that our customers always get the saving they’ve been
promised.
We promote the Code Guarantee across our site and regularly
receive outstanding feedback from our customers about it. With
this in mind, we decided to enter the UK Customer Experience
Awards to showcase our dedication to helping our customers,
and the lengths we’ll go to to make sure everyone who visits our
site has a positive experience and gets the best savings.
The judges particularly loved how we boldly addressed the
industry wide issue of non-working codes rather than shying
away, and held ourselves accountable to our customers if they
have a less than optimal experience on-site. They were also
impressed by the positive boost the Code Guarantee scheme
had on trust between the brand and its customer base.
What does excellent customer service look like for
Q VoucherCodes?
We understand that not all customers are the same. We treat
A every customer who interacts with VoucherCodes as an
individual and put the time in to build a relationship with them,
by listening to them and creating a personalised response to their
problem. We also know our customers live busy lives, so take pride
in responding to queries within 24 hours. We want our customers to
leave happy and feeling like they’ve spoken to, and been listened to,
by a real human being.
We also like to go above and beyond to help our customers stretch
their budgets further. Whilst we know customers come to our site for
a great discount code, we also love to share money-saving tips and
tricks to help them bag even bigger savings and empower them to
take control of their budgets
How do you understand your customers’ expectations and
Q needs?
As customers and deal hunters ourselves, we can understand
A the frustration of missing out on a great deal. We take the time
to talk to our customers, ask questions, and gather feedback so we
can quickly flag any bug-bears or reoccurring issues.
We work closely with internal teams to create a permanent solution
to customers problems, to give our customers the best experience
possible and prevent the same issue impacting other customers in
the future.
How do you measure customer satisfaction? What do you
Q do with the data?
After each interaction with a customer, they’re invited to
A leave us a rating on the service they received, giving them the
opportunity to say whether the service has been good or bad, and
provide comments. We also regularly monitor TrustPilot to gather
feedback.
6

INTERVIEWS
To measure and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction, we set
ourselves some punchy targets: we aim to achieve a 24hr SLA score
of 99%, a CSAT score of 90%, and maintain an ‘Excellent’ TrustPilot
rating. Our performance is regularly monitored against these targets
to ensure consistently high levels of customer satisfaction.
We regularly look at our SLA and CSAT scores against our feedback
to analyse where we can improve our service and our website to give
our customers a great experience. We then feed this information
back to the business so solutions can be implemented quickly. We
love when we receive feedback as it allows us the opportunity to
improve.
What challenges and opportunities do social media and
Q review sites bring? How do you deal with negative reviews?
All feedback is important to us, whether it’s negative or positive,
A as it allows us the opportunity to grow, improve and make
changes. Social media and review sites offer a unique opportunity as
the customer can be honest about their experience using our site, we
love this as it means we get valuable feedback and insights.
We ensure that we take the time to respond to every single review
or piece of feedback left across social media and review sites.
Whilst this does take up considerable resource, it provides us with
the opportunity to get to know our customers and connect with
them on a personal level - we see these interactions as an invaluable
touchpoint. If a customer gets in touch, we have the chance to turn
around any negative opinions by giving a positive interaction with
our Customer Experience team so the customer can leave happy.
What channels do you offer for customer support, and how
Q do you ensure consistency across them?
We offer customer support through email, live chat, social media
A and review sites. In order to ensure consistency and maintain a
high level of customer service, we have a large team that is trained
frequently throughout the year. We also have strict guidelines for
responding to customers, including using a friendly tone of voice and
setting SLA targets of 24 hours so that all customers are responded
to promptly.
All communications with our customers are tracked through our
SAAS platform, so conversations can be easily monitored and
picked up by other members of the team. We find teamwork and
communication are key to ensuring we resolve all queries to a high
standard and that all customers receive the same high-quality service
no matter how they get in touch.
How do you train your customer service teams to handle
Q difficult or complex issues?
Our Customer Experience team is trained on a five step process
A to exceptional customer service. Our internal guide is structured
around being empathetic to our customers, listening to them and
getting to the root of their problem, so we can fully resolve their
query and give them a reason to shop with VoucherCodes in the
future. We emphasise the importance of patience and encourage
team members to imagine they’re in the customer’s shoes,
experiencing their problem. All processes are clearly documented so
the team can reference their training at any point.
For more complex issues, the team can reach out to other colleagues
from within the Customer Experience team and across the business
to investigate what’s gone wrong and how the issue can be resolved.
We have an easy internal escalation process so the team can easily
get help and support on more complicated queries, and the customer
can get a prompt response.
Can you describe a time when customer feedback led to a
Q significant change in your service or product
offering?
We recently launched a VIP programme, which was designed to
A create a more meaningful relationship with customers via a blend
of engagement and transactional benefits. One of these benefits is
our VIP Shop Twice campaign where customers receive a £5 gift card
if they shop twice during the month.
After receiving feedback from customers that it was hard to know
which retailers were included in the VIP scheme, we collaborated
with our in-house engineering team to create a solution and make
the journey easier for customers. As a result, we added a search
functionality to the VIP hub so customers could find all the eligible
retailers easily.
We also received feedback from customers that whilst they liked
the scheme, they were dissatisfied with the selection of gift cards
available. As a result we reviewed which brands were included and
expanded the options. Since making the change we’ve received some
really positive reviews about the VIP scheme from customers who are
able to nab themselves a free gift card to use on their next shopping
trip.
What strategies do you use to retain customers and build
Q long-term loyalty?
For us, trust is key. We want our customers to see VoucherCodes
A as a dependable brand, and to do this we need to connect and
build a relationship with them - we want them to know there’s a
real person on the other side of their screen doing their best to help
them. We always use a warm and friendly tone and aim to build
rapport.
Our customer service is always personalised. VoucherCodes doesn’t
offer a one-size-fits-all solution in our interactions, we tailor our
responses to each customer’s unique problem. For example, if they’re
using a travel discount code for an upcoming holiday, we’ll seek to
acknowledge that in our response so each customer knows they’re
getting a personal reply.
We also give our customers the option to contact us on whichever
channel they prefer, whether that’s email, live chat, review sites, or
socials, making it as easy as possible for our customers to get a
resolution. What really sets us apart, is that we strive to respond to
customers within 24 hours, and 99% of the time we’re successful! We
know our customers have busy lives, so a prompt response is really
important.
What role does customer service play in your brand’s overall
Q success?
Our customers are at the core of our business - that’s why
A we’ve built a customer service team that really cares about
getting to know our customers and solving their problems. We want
our customers to have a great experience when they shop with
VoucherCodes, so they choose to come back and shop with us again.
As part of the discount code industry, quality customer service is
particularly important. The industry as a whole has a struggling
reputation, with many discount sites publishing fake or misleading
offers and customers not knowing which sites to trust. By providing
our customers with great customer service, a human-first experience,
and offering our Code Guarantee we can show our customers that
we’re a trustworthy brand.
Moji Oshisanya,
Senior Director of Customer & Content
Transformation at VoucherCodes.co.uk
7

INTERVIEWS
Client-Centred Law:
How Wolferstans
Leads with Superior
Service
Hi David, thanks so much for sitting down to
Q chat with us. Firstly....can you tell me about your
role as Head of Client Services – what does it involve
and what have you focused on since joining the firm?
My background is primarily in Financial Services and
A it was there that I received an excellent grounding
in delivering outstanding service to clients; working with
two “mutual” insurance companies who had extremely
client-centric cultures.
I was very excited to bring this experience to
Wolferstans in 2021, my brief being to identify
ways in which we can develop our own culture of
client-centricity and enhance the experience for
clients. Working closely with colleagues, I work hard
to implement these improvements and drive the
development of our client service proposition.
I know Wolferstans has been very successful
Q at creating that client-centric culture you
mentioned, how do you cultivate this and what part
does recruitment play?
Empowerment is a key part – explaining to
A colleagues the moral and strategic importance of
prioritising the needs of clients, and then providing the
freedom for them to flex their approach to suit clients’
individual needs.
Of course, certain processes are unbending, and this is
a critical part of compliance – but our colleagues are
encouraged to focus on “doing the right thing”, rather
than simply “doing things right”.
This is where recruitment plays a massive part – rather
than focussing solely on a candidate’s legal pedigree,
we must bring people into our firm who understand
the importance of client experience and who have the
necessary judgement to know what a particular client
may need, as well as the skill to deliver it.
What opportunities do you see for law firms to
Q differentiate themselves through superior client
service?
Huge opportunities. It is no secret that many people
A find the idea of dealing with lawyers intimidating, and
this feeling is only accentuated when you consider the highpressure,
emotional nature of the reasons they will often be
instructing us.
The positive part of this is that we have a real opportunity
to leave a lasting impression on clients who we can help
and support throughout a stressful process, by showing
empathy and kindness alongside our professionalism and
legal expertise.
I firmly believe this approach will have clients
recommending their friends & families and returning to the
firm themselves.
What steps do you take to understand your clients’
Q needs and priorities?
We talk to our clients throughout and ask them
A what they think. This can be done informally during
conversation, or via formal channels like our extensive
programme of Net Promoter Score (NPS) Surveys.
These kinds of initiatives give us great insight into what
clients really value about our approach, but also, what
grumbles or frustrations they may have.
By having these conversations with clients from the outset
of their time with us and then regularly throughout their
matter, we give ourselves the opportunity to “course
correct” or address issues early – as opposed to waiting until
a matter has concluded before asking for feedback, which
by then may be too late.
We also love that NPS provides us with a view of emerging
patterns or trends which may indicate that a more systemic
approach is needed.
8

INTERVIEWS
What role does technology play in enhancing client
Q service at your firm?
As in almost all walks of life, the exponential growth of
A technology and its capabilities presents us with both
opportunities and challenges.
For example, we have recently launched an App for our
Conveyancing clients, providing clients with the chance
to sign and upload documents from the comfort of their
homes, via the smartphones which are now ubiquitous in our
society.
The intention here is to balance the advantages of tech (and
the efficiencies this can deliver for clients), with the need for
human connection and interaction when dealing with these
often highly-stressful transactions.
As with most tools, technology can be very useful when
utilised with skill and care, but is a pretty blunt instrument in
the hands of those who haven’t taken the time to properly
understand it.
Wolferstans gets impressive results on Review
Q Solicitors and Google Reviews. How do you deal with
any negative reviews?
We think that public review platforms like Review
A Solicitors play a very important part in demonstrating
our client-centric approach to prospective clients.
As consumers, we have grown to value reviews as a way of
understanding the “real life” experiences of others with the
service or product which we’re considering.
In this spirit, I think negative reviews also have an important
part to play. Fortunately, as you say, our reviews tend to
be overwhelmingly positive, but we have to be honest and
accept that we won’t get it right 100% of the time.
I think that our clients are savvy enough to understand that,
very occasionally, mistakes will happen, or we won’t be able
to achieve everything we had set out to. The key is to show
them that we take these kinds of issues seriously and we are
grateful to clients for letting us know how we might have
improved their experience.
By taking a humble, empathetic and, ultimately, human
approach to negative reviews, I think we give prospective
clients comfort that they will be in safe hands.
You were named as the Silver Winner for Customer
Q Service Strategy at the CX Awards 2023 – an
amazing achievement seeing you listed alongside
multinational consumer brands such as Virgin Red,
Vodafone and Whitbread. Can you tell us about the
journey that led to this award?
Again, I think recognition such as the UK CX Awards
A should act as reassurance to clients and prospective
clients that Wolferstans is doing all we can to promote a
client-first culture and exceptional client experience.
I know the awards well having judged there for a number of
years and, having seen the calibre of entries improving yearon-year,
I can honestly say that it has never been tougher to
compete for these kinds of accolades.
Our category was Best CX Strategy, and the feedback from
the judges gave us huge confidence that the planning,
investment and engagement which we put into the early
stages of our CX journey were sound and that the results we
were already seeing were impressive.
The judges particularly liked the way we had engaged all our
colleagues in the strategy and could see that we had shown
a genuine commitment to aligning all of our recruitment,
performance management and business processes with our
shared strategic vision.
Do you have any challenges when it comes to
Q delivering consistent, high-quality service?
The biggest challenge in seeking to consistently exceed
A client expectations is that these expectations are
continuously being shaped by forces outside our industry.
No longer can law firms simply benchmark their service
against regional competitors or other professional services
– more and more, client expectations of our sector are being
shaped by experiences with sectors like hospitality or retail.
In a world where some customers can order an exercise
bike on Amazon and have it delivered that same day (a real
example from one of my friends) – they are less and less
tolerant of delays which may occur while buying a house or
making a Will.
Rather than shy away from these expectations, the onus is
on us to step-up to the challenge – not by optimising for
speed at the expense of quality, but by prioritising clear
management of expectations and a relentless pursuit of
continuous improvement in our operations.
What do you see as forthcoming trends in the client
Q service area? And how can law firms prepare for
future demands of clients?
It is impossible to look past the emergence of AI and
A Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.
Some see these innovations as a force for good, whilst
others fear that they are a more sinister development – as
always, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Businesses across sectors are already recognising that,
by using AI to help clients “self-serve” generic, common
enquiries, they can re-direct resource to areas where the
human touch can really add value for clients.
The key here is to remember that your client base is not
one homogenous group and that their wants, needs and
appetite for change are likely to be diverse. It is already
becoming clear that, in general, GenZ would much rather
use an AI chatbot than pick up the phone to a customer
service team, whereas one of the biggest bug-bears of more
mature clients is the inability to contact a human being and
constantly being pushed down the Web Chat route.
Whilst technology will continue to develop at a fast pace, the
necessity to provide choice in how your clients do business
with you is unlikely to go out of fashion.
What is your main focus for 2025 when it comes to
Q client care?
Our focus continues to be on delivering exceptional
A experiences for our clients and 2025 will be another
crucial year in this journey.
One area which will require special focus will be how we
continue to equip our colleagues with the necessary skills
and expertise to identify and react to increasingly complex
issues that our clients may be facing.
We have already provided extensive training to our
teams around issues such as mental health, dementia and
vulnerability which help us to support each other and our
clients more effectively.
Economic and societal issues such as the cost of living
and a rise in homelessness mean that more and more of
our clients will be experiencing vulnerability and/or mental
health challenges when working with us, and the ability to
recognise these signs effectively and adapt our approach to
suit that client’s specific needs will be central to achieving
our client care aspirations in the coming year (and beyond).
David Price,
Head of Client Services & Recruitment, Wolferstans
9

INTERVIEWS
NAVIGATING CHANGE
Nick Emmerson, President of the Law
Society of England and Wales speaks
to Cara Flood about the role the Law
Society plays in the promotion of the
legal sector as a whole, why investment
in justice continues to be a priority and
the changing needs and expectations
from clients, as technology evolves.
Nick, thank you very much for taking the time to
Q speak to us. You have been President of
the Law Society since October 2023 and a council
member since 2015 – how do you think member
demands have changed over time?
The role of the Law Society is to represent the
A interests of all solicitors and to speak as the voice of
our profession.
Since I became president in 2023, I have tried to highlight
the importance of our sector as an economic powerhouse.
Solicitors help power the UK economy by underpinning
our international and domestic trade and being a core
part of our international reputation as a great place to do
business. In 2023, the total turnover from legal activities in
the UK was £60 billion.
Legal services are also a great British export. Our legal
market is second only to the US globally. The trade surplus
for legal services alone was £5.7 billion in 2022. Our
200,000 members expect us to provide guidance and
training to help them navigate an increasingly complex
international environment. A big part of what we do at the
Law Society is ensuring UK solicitors have access to other
countries and their markets to represent their clients’
interests. Recently, we have been successful in improving
market access in Greece and Japan for English and Welsh
lawyers. Our profession also brings a lot of value to the
local communities. Solicitor firms provide local expertise
and high-quality jobs and prospects for young people. The
sector employs around 500,000 people in every town and
city across England and Wales.
“I have tried to highlight
the importance of our
sector as an economic
powerhouse”
The legal sector benefits society as a whole. We uphold the
laws that bind society together and ensure that justice is done,
helping everyone in society navigate through some of the
most complex and challenging times in their lives. We serve all
corners of society and contribute each day to upholding the
rule of law and providing on the ground access to justice.
I have continued to highlight the importance of investing in our
justice system and the legal profession, as access to justice is
a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy. That is still my
hope and ambition with the new government, which has been
the main change in my tenure.
Access to justice cannot be taken for granted. Our civil and
legal aid systems need urgent attention and investment.
Without this, justice will be delayed leaving victims without
effective redress. Another vital part of what we do is speak out
when lawyers are at risk both abroad but also in the UK, such
as with the recent far-right riots over the summer. With a new
government in power, our members look to us to inform them
on any changes to legislation and to speak out about issues
affecting them such as court delays, prison overcrowding and
access to justice.
How do you think client demands and expectations will
Q change going forward? How can law firms stay
adaptable to these trends?
AI and technology are a potential gamechanger for our
A sector. The idea is that legal processes will be streamlined
as certain elements of legal service delivery can be more
automated. As digital tools become more commonplace and
potentially more cost effective in the long run, clients may
increasingly expect tech tools to be used.
Diversity and inclusion is another area where the sector can do
more. The Law Society remains committed to promoting an
inclusive environment that supports all its members.
The Law Society is also proud to spearhead Project Rise, which
allows more part-time training to be provided for aspiring
solicitors who cannot train full-time due to disability, caring
responsibilities or other reasons. The hope is that more people
will now have the opportunity to join our profession.
How do regulatory changes impact the way law firms
Q deliver client services?
Regulatory changes can affect the way that law firms
A deliver client services in a multitude of ways. For instance,
changes in the broader regulatory environment can increase
the demand for legal expertise as clients seek professional
assurance that they are acting in compliance with any new
regulatory requirements.
10

INTERVIEWS
Some regulatory changes affect the delivery of legal services
more directly. For instance, since regulatory changes
introduced by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in November
2019, it has been possible for freelance solicitors to provide
consumers with reserved legal activities from outside a
traditional law firm.
As outlined in our 21st Century Justice project, “unbundled
legal services” is a potential change that regulators seem to
be encouraging. Traditionally, most legal services have been
provided under a full retainer and a formal agreement through
which a legal service provider would typically deal with all
matters anticipated, from initial instructions, until the matter is
concluded.
By contrast, unbundled legal services are provided under
a limited retainer, where the package of legal services is
separated into discrete parts or tasks. This offers the possibility
of lowering prices for consumers, who can carry out parts of
the legal work for themselves. However, it must be said that
this approach may not be appropriate in some circumstances.
The Law Society works closely with the whole legal sector and
other regulators to ensure that any regulatory changes are fair,
proportionate and serve the interests of the profession, their
clients and the wider public.
What role does technology play in helping firms
Q understand and serve their clients better?
Digital tools with human oversight can be used to
A provide legal services such as document analysis, risk
management, searching and pattern-finding across several
documents.
Technology can also help with the administration of justice
through the management of case backlogs, automating
document review and helping to predict case outlines.
While the most important consideration remains the quality
of service delivered by law firms, AI could support processes,
productivity and the delivery of legal services. A combination
of AI and high-calibre lawyers could together deliver expert
and more affordable legal services and access to justice for
those who would not have been able to afford them before.
“Our legal market is
second only to the
US globally”
How can the legal industry balance the use of
Q technology with the need for personal client
interactions?
At the Law Society, we recognise that the expectations
A of technology and AI in the legal sector are constantly
changing. To make sure that we are providing appropriate
support for our members and identifying where we can add
the most value, we have developed an AI strategy to guide our
work. Led by three long-term outcomes: Innovation, Impact
and Integrity, we aim to ensure that the legal profession is and
remains an authoritative voice on AI that not only impacts
positively the profession but also the UK economy.
Crucially, technology, including AI, cannot wholly replace
the expert legal analysis provided by legally qualified
professionals, nor replicate the soft skills needed to build
and maintain effective client relationships and understand
individuals’ legal needs. Strategic advice and negotiation also
require a nuanced understanding, as well as the trust of clients,
particularly in the case of vulnerable clients.
As a sector, we are in a privileged position. The legal profession
has a good understanding of what AI should and should not
do. There is already close collaboration across the legal sector
and we hope to see this continue. Another crucial step for
balancing the use of technology with the need for personal
client interactions relates to ensuring that the legal profession
across various stages of their careers and progression have the
relevant skills, education and training they need to understand
how technology can be used to best serve clients.
How can the profession ensure clients are empowered
Q to make informed decisions about their legal choices?
The Law Society offers advice on our website for the
A public including our ‘Find a solicitor’ tool which helps
individuals narrow down their searches to find a suitable
solicitor or law firm.
For lawyers and legal professionals, we have training and
development pages dedicated to providing tips and guidance
at all stages in their career such as exam preparation, career
advice and other opportunities like pro-bono week.
While the Law Society will never shy away from highlighting
the significant role solicitors play in empowering people
to make the decision that is in their best interest, we also
recognise that there is a big number of people with unmet
legal needs who would struggle to access legal advice.
That is why, as part of our 21st Century Justice project, we
called for the development of a ‘one-stop shop’ or “online
Solutions Explorer”, which would help people diagnose the
nature of their problem and signpost them to appropriate
support, as well as linking with the wider Digital Justice
System.
Nick Emmerson,
President of the Law Society of England and Wales
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EDITORIAL
BOARD
Feedback is the food
of champions
There’s a phrase “Feedback is the food
of champions” that articulates our
belief that there is no such thing as bad
feedback. All of it, good and bad, helps
us learn and focus our efforts in the
right places in order to be better for the
clients we serve.
Our Client Relationship Team operates
with that in mind - capturing client
feedback through various channels and
creating action plans to improve our
service.
But it’s also important for a business like
ours to look externally for endorsements
of our approach, especially in relation to
Frenkel Topping Group’s Discretionary
Fund Manager (DFM), who received
an ARC (Asset Risk Consultants) Award
earlier this year.
An ARC award signifies an investment
manager’s adherence to high
standards of integrity, performance,
and transparency. It’s an accolade
recognising firms that have consistently
demonstrated best practices and
delivered exceptional service to their
clients.
Recognition of Excellence: It’s a
testament to their commitment to
delivering transparent and effective
investment strategies.
Benchmarked Success: Winners
are typically those whose managed
portfolios have maintained strong
comparative performance, as measured
against industry benchmarks.
Industry Visibility: It elevates the
manager’s profile within the industry,
shining a light on their dedication to
clients and IFAs alike.
In the complex world of finance,
transparency is everything, especially
when it comes to the relationship
between investment managers and
independent financial advisers (IFAs).
It’s not just a matter of trust – it’s about
partnership, clarity, and shared success.
Building Trust: In a relationship where
IFAs act in the best interest of their
clients, knowing that their investment
manager is open and clear about
strategies and outcomes fosters trust.
Informed Decisions: Transparency
ensures IFAs have all the necessary
information to make informed
suggestion and manage client
expectations effectively.
Risk Management: When investment
managers are transparent about their
methodologies, it enables IFAs to assess
and communicate risks accurately to
their clients.
Compliance and Ethics: With
ever-tightening financial regulations,
transparent practices help ensure that all
actions meet legal and ethical standards.
At Frenkel Topping Group, we rely on
external and independent benchmarks,
as well as our own internal feedback
measures to give us a live and accurate
view of how our clients feel so that we
can be responsive and continue to make
positive change.
Mark Holt,
COO, Frenkel Topping
How customer feedback shapes
our business decisions
For any business a client-centric
culture is vital, not only to achieve
long term success, but also to ensure
customer loyalty. As such, when Philips
Dictation are developing our solutions
and implementing changes, the
customers’ feedback is at the forefront
of our business decisions. Whether
that is preferences on additional
features, ease of use, accessibility,
layout or functionality; this focus
ensures a strong and collaborative
relationship with our customers.
Furthermore, a client-centric approach
helps us to stay competitive in a
rapidly evolving industry. With so
many big changes in the last 70 years
in dictation; from analogue tapes to
installed on-premises and now cloud,
it’s important to understand what the
customer needs from their solution.
By utilising the feedback from our
customers, we recently launched a
new UI of our SpeechLive solution to
include:
Advanced reporting: Users have
access to detailed reports to gain more
insights about different user metrics
such as pickup time, turnaround time
and process time of transcriptions.
Multi-speaker support for speech
recognition: This function allows
users to record meetings with up to
10 speakers; the user will then receive
a transcript that accounts for each
individual speaker.
Ability to restore dictations from the
archive: Users can select multiple
dictations and bulk un-archive them,
or move single dictations by selecting
the option in the context menu.
Pop-out player: When users need to
play back dictations, they can switch
to a small pop-out window; this makes
it even easier to transcribe dictations
and move the player where needed.
Dragon speech recognition: We
added support for Dragon Legal
Anywhere and Dragon Professional
Anywhere. This allows users to
send dictations to Nuance’s speech
recognition servers and receive a
13
transcribed document along with the
original audio. This further enhances
the speech recognition offering in
SpeechLive and allows users to have
more choice when it comes to speech
recognition.
iManage support: Users can share
dictations as well as attachments
and transcripts with iManage. This
integration improves the daily
workflow of larger organisations that
integrate SpeechLive into their existing
document management structure.
An Integration subtab has also been
added to allow administrators to
enable/disable integrations with other
applications.
We also have several upcoming
developments such as a new interface
for our mobile app, enhanced audio
editing in the mobile app and autorefresh
of dictation lists, all to provide
our customers with the best solution
for their needs.
Kathliya Harwood,
Marketing Manager, Speech
Processing Solutions

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EDITORIAL
BOARD
Julie Green,
Client Services Director,
Smartsearch
Antony Jaggard,
Director of Consultant
Services, Taylor Rose
Client feedback is the
key to unlock future
success
Client feedback will always be a key driver of innovation at
SmartSearch. Our clients provide invaluable market insight in
an evolving compliance landscape, allowing us to respond to
their challenges with effective and competitive solutions. As
we look towards the future, harnessing automation tools will
deliver significant operational improvements for law firms, and
anti-money laundering solutions must embrace these changes
to remain at the forefront of the industry.
Building partnerships founded on trust is a cornerstone of
SmartSearch’s business operations. As firms evolve and shape
their practices, so must B2B service providers. A company
with excellent customer service often has an excellent team
committed to not only providing a high level of service at each
customer touchpoint but is also driven to continually improve
the client experience and supply its loyal client base with the
very best product and services.
At SmartSearch, feedback is an ongoing and open dialogue
with our clients. Feedback is collected dynamically through
one-click ratings for email interactions and constructive
conversations at quarterly Client Success Reviews. SmartSearch
is also proud to host regular Advanced User Group Event Days,
providing our clients with the opportunity to meet face-to-face
to share insight and meet the team.
Client Steering and User Forums will be key moving forward,
providing valuable insight from different stakeholders across
organisations. In-platform reporting solutions will provide
another perspective too, allowing firms to gather ‘live’
feedback from their customers.
It is vital that client feedback can be translated into action.
From understanding our clients’ requirements, whether
it be regulatory mandates or industry-specific use cases,
embedding clear feedback loops between our clients and
product teams is key. Investing time into pilot trials and
beta test phases of any new product launch ensures we can
assess the client experience and respond quickly to feedback,
ensuring a product that is not only fit for purpose, but one
that approaches its design through collaboration with our
clients from the outset. Our product roadmap aims to provide
thoughtful innovation where competitive solutions are
delivered, driven by real customer needs.
The Era of the
Consultancy
Programme
The traditional law firm model is evolving. Alongside market
consolidation, evolution of tech and the emergence of ‘legal
brands’, the consultancy model is growing, offering a fresh
approach that serves both clients and solicitors better. An army
of legal entrepreneurs is fostering a more flexible,
cost-effective, and client-centric legal experience.
At the heart of Taylor Rose’s consultancy programme is a
culture and support framework that nurtures the self-employed
journey and individual business success. The assurance of a
top 60 brand, and support of colleagues, insurance, marketing,
finance, risk and IT give advantages to those within the
programme. This model not only enhances the autonomy of
legal professionals but also positions law firms to better meet
the evolving needs of their clients, including:
Stronger together: Consultancy brings many lawyers
together, creating efficiencies of scale and investment
firepower to challenge the largest firms.
Enhanced autonomy and career control: Consultancy
allows solicitors to reap a greater share of the profits they
generate. They gain the freedom to manage their own
workload and schedules, fostering a work-life balance often
elusive in the traditional model.
Tailored solutions and deeper client collaboration:
By working independently, consultants can cultivate closer
relationships with referrers and clients, freeing up time to
devote to high-value tasks. This fosters a deeper understanding
of their unique needs, enabling the development of customised
legal solutions.
Business building support: A key differentiator of our
Consultancy Programme is the comprehensive support we offer
solicitors who aim to build their own legal businesses. Our
programme provides the freedom to operate independently
while equipping consultants with essential tools, resources,
and the backing of our expertise and recruitment team.
This support system allows solicitors to focus on delivering
exceptional legal services while we manage the complexities
of business development, team growth and administration.
Growth and Innovation for Law Firms: Transitioning to a
consultancy model empowers firms like Taylor Rose to focus
on areas of expertise and build a reputation for advanced
legal services. This specialisation can attract new clients and
facilitate growth. Furthermore, the ability to scale operations
up or down based on client demand provides greater financial
stability and agility.
As the legal landscape evolves, the consultancy model
positions law firms to adapt and thrive. By prioritising
flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and client-centricity, consultancy
programs offer businesses tailored legal solutions that meet
the demands of the modern market. As Taylor Rose exemplifies,
this model is not just a trend – it’s the future of legal service
delivery.
15

EDITORIAL
BOARD
The Power
of Happiness
From a happy client base, great things flow.
Making that fact work for you is a crucial part
of any business strategy.
For Cashroom, and for any business, happy
clients bring innumerable benefits. I’m going
to explore things from our perspective, as a
supplier to law firms, however the principles
are just as relevant for law firms and their
own clients.
Happy clients talk (almost as much as
unhappy ones!). We analyse our sources of
business, and our enquiries via client referral
are one of our top three sources of work. Of
course those kind of referrals have an added
value- firms who have been referred to us
in that way already have a level of trust and
belief in our solution. Law firm owners- are
you harnessing the power of your contented
clients as a source of new referrals? Are you
encouraging them to leave positive reviews?
Are you taking care of your star ratings?
Happy clients can be helpful in strategic ways
– case studies and testimonials on collateral
and on websites can be very powerful. Even
more valuable are those wonderful clients
who will take reference calls with prospective
clients- often forming a clinching element as
they expound the benefits of what we do to
a buyer who sees that endorsement as a final
factor before signing.
Key networking groups very much rely
upon suppliers being viewed in a positive
light by their member firms- again, word of
mouth spreads and if the group consensus
is positive, then this can lead to opportunity.
It’s also of course the case that bad
reputations spread even faster, and can be
extremely damaging! If your clients are part
of a community, rest assured that discussion
about your performance will be happening.
And of course these days, ‘community’ can
include social media activity- happiness or
dissatisfaction can spread far and wide!
Happy clients buy more services from you- if
they love our cashiering, they’ll consider our
Management Accounts. For law firms, if you
do a great job on preparing a will, chances
are the client may use you to buy their next
house. Are you capturing those cross-referral
openings and acting upon them strategically
and sensitively?
Finally let’s not forget our own staff- happy
clients create happy staff, and vice versa.
Working for people who like what we do is
a much more pleasant experience. Not to
mention the fact that happy clients stay
with you- in our case for many years. Client
retention is one of the best indicators of
client satisfaction.
So come on lawyers- make your clients happy
and watch those benefits roll in!
Alex Holt,
Chief Revenue Officer, Cashroom
What we do
Legal cashiering
Management Accounts
Payroll
Automated credit control
Statutory accounts and tax returns
Consultancy
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INSIGHT
Reimagining
Legal Fees:
Why 2025 Demands a
New Approach to Pricing
In the rapidly evolving landscape of legal services, the
billable hour remains a cornerstone of traditional law firm
billing practices. However, as we approach 2025, this once
unchallenged model is increasingly coming under scrutiny
from clients who are demanding more value, transparency,
and predictability from their legal advisers. Law firms must
now critically assess whether sticking to hourly rates aligns
with the evolving needs and expectations of their clients,
or whether alternative fee structures could offer a more
client-centric approach.
Shaun Jardine investigates further.
XX
xx
17

INSIGHT
The Problem with the Billable
Hour
The billable hour, where clients
are charged for the time spent
on their case, has long been the
standard in legal practice. Yet,
clients often feel uneasy with this
model because it inherently lacks
transparency and predictability.
Clients are left wondering how
long a matter will take and how
much it will ultimately cost,
leading to dissatisfaction and a
sense of mistrust.
In an era where consumer
choice is increasingly driven
by value and efficiency, the
billable hour appears outdated.
Clients do not measure value
by the time spent but by the
results achieved. They are less
concerned with the hours logged
and more with the outcome
and the clarity of the process
leading to that outcome. The
LexisNexis report, “The Riddle
of Perception,” underscores
this disconnect, revealing that
clients often perceive the value
of legal services differently than
the lawyers who provide them.
The report highlights a growing
disparity between what clients
expect in terms of value and what
law firms deliver, particularly
when firms focus more on billable
hours than on tangible outcomes.
What Clients Want in 2025
As we look ahead to 2025, it’s
evident that clients’ expectations
are shifting dramatically.
According to the LexisNexis
report, clients increasingly seek
a holistic approach to legal
services—one that prioritises
their needs and delivers value
beyond mere time-based metrics.
Clients are looking for several key
elements in their legal service
experience:
Results and Value:
Clients want outcomes that
align with their goals, not just
a tally of hours worked. They
are increasingly value-focused,
assessing legal services based
on the benefits received rather
than the effort expended.
Certainty and Transparency:
Clients demand clarity on costs
from the outset. They prefer
fixed fees that eliminate the
unpredictability of hourly billing.
Efficiency and Expertise:
Clients are aware that with
the rise of technology, many
legal tasks can be completed
more efficiently. If lawyers are
charging by the hour, they
expect their legal advisors to
leverage technology to reduce
time and cost, passing those
savings on to them.
Personalised Service:
The modern client expects a
tailored service that reflects
their unique needs. This
personalised approach can only
be delivered if law firms move
away from one-size-fits-all
pricing models like the billable
hour and start offering clients a
choice of service level. It can be
done!
The Case for Value-Based
Fees
Given these evolving client
expectations, it is imperative
that law firms reconsider their
reliance on hourly billing. Valuebased
pricing (VBP) offers a
solution that aligns better with
client demands. The LexisNexis
report emphasises the
importance of this shift, noting
that clients are more satisfied
when they perceive the pricing
model to be fair and aligned
with the value they receive.
To implement VBP effectively,
law firms must develop a deep
understanding of their clients’
businesses and what they truly
value. This requires moving
beyond superficial metrics
and engaging in meaningful
conversations about clients’
goals and how legal services
can help achieve them. It
also demands a willingness to
be transparent about pricing
and scope from the outset—
something that has traditionally
been avoided under the billable
hour model. However, the
rewards of such a shift are
significant, including stronger
client relationships, increased
client loyalty, and a competitive
edge in a crowded market.
Why Offering Options is
Crucial
Clients value different aspects of
legal services, which means law
firms need to approach pricing
with flexibility. A one-size-fits-all
price structure leaves money on
the table from clients who are
willing to pay more for enhanced
services and alienates those who
might find a single price point
prohibitive. Offering options
addresses this issue by allowing
clients to choose the level of
service and price that best suits
their needs.
In our everyday lives, we
appreciate having choices—
whether it’s the size of coffee
we buy, the level of service at
a car wash, or the options on
a restaurant menu. Similarly,
providing a range of options
in legal services helps clients
understand the scope of what’s
being offered, how the work will
be delivered, and what they’re
paying for. This approach also
helps guide discussions, as the
conversation can revolve around
the specific work outlined in each
option.
Some clients may be willing to
pay for comprehensive, top-tier
service, while others might prefer
to take on part of the workload
themselves to reduce costs. A
client might want a feature from
a premium option included at a
lower price point, giving insight
into what they truly value and
allowing the firm to adjust the
scope and pricing accordingly.
By creating options, firms
empower clients to make
18

INSIGHT
informed decisions about the
services they purchase, reducing
the likelihood that they’ll walk
away altogether.
When designing these options,
consider elements such as:
•Access to various levels of talent,
from partners to associates
•Assurance that a senior lawyer
will handle a critical initial phase
of the case.
•The extent of advice and lawyer
accessibility.
•Access to other departments or
teams.
•Response times, with premium
options possibly including 24/7
availability.
•The use of technology, such as
communication via a client portal
for more basic service levels.
•Flexible payment terms.
•Site visits and meetings with key
personnel.
•Opportunities for skill transfer,
such as training clients to handle
certain tasks themselves in the
future.
•Complimentary or discounted
access to webinars and seminars.
•In-house seminars for the client’s
employees.
•Introductions and referrals
through your network.
•A service guarantee or capped
abortive costs.
It’s important to consider how to
label these options. In my book,
I refer to Gold, Silver, and Bronze
tiers, similar to how American
Express differentiates their credit
cards with Green, Gold, and Black
options.
When introducing service tiers,
you may encounter colleagues
who believe every client should
receive a top-level service.
However, this isn’t necessarily
true. Every client should receive
a competent and compliant
service, but the level of service
beyond that will vary. Just like on
an airplane, all passengers reach
the same destination, but the
level of service they experience
can differ significantly. It’s the
job of a client-centric lawyer to
discover what their client values
most and tailor the service
accordingly.
Value-Based Pricing In Action
One of my law firm clients acted
for a commercial client who was
seeking employment contracts.
The lawyer provided the client
with three options:
“I can provide you with template
documents and explanatory
notes. You can create the
documents yourself, and I’ll
review them for you.” Price:
£2,000.
“I can complete the work for you
in three weeks.” Price: £5,000.
“I can have the work done for
you by tomorrow.” Price: £8,000.
The client opted for the £8,000
option, as timely delivery was
crucial for them. They were aware
that they could have had the
work done for less by the same
lawyer but chose not to. Was the
client satisfied? Absolutely! Was
the lawyer pleased? Definitely!
Was the firm happy? Without a
doubt!
The Future is Client-Centric
As the legal industry continues
to evolve, firms that cling to the
billable hour risk being seen as
out of touch with the needs of
their clients. The future is clientcentric,
and law firms must adapt
to survive and thrive. This means
embracing pricing models that
deliver transparency, value, and
satisfaction to clients.
The findings from “The
Riddle of Perception” serve
as a clarion call for law firms:
those that fail to adapt their
pricing models to reflect client
expectations will increasingly
find themselves at odds with
their clientele. Conversely, those
that proactively adopt valuebased
pricing models will not
only satisfy their clients but
will also position themselves as
forward-thinking leaders in a
competitive market.
As we approach 2025, the
question for law firms is no
longer whether they should
consider value-based pricing,
but how quickly they can
implement it and ditch the
billable hour. The benefits are
many. Happier clients, staff
and law firm owners. The firms
that succeed will be those that
put their clients at the heart of
their pricing strategies, offering
services that are not just
measured in hours, but in the
real value delivered.
Shaun Jardine
is a solicitor (non-practising) and former
law firm CEO. He is the author of ‘Ditch
The Billable Hour!’ which was published
in January 2024.
19

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FEATURE
Should Law Firms be
Getting More Social? Why
No-Cost Marketing is a Must
When competition is fierce and budgets are squeezed,
law firms can’t afford to miss out on free marketing
tactics. Imagine reaching a wider audience, building
trust and establishing brand authority without
breaking the bank. Sounds too good to be true? Think
again!
There are multiple ways of marketing your law firm
without spending a penny, including optimising your
Google My Business account, using online directories,
entering free awards, producing content for your
website, networking, harvesting reviews etc. etc. the
list goes on and on.
One exceptionally good (and free) marketing tool is
social media. Yet so many lawyers shy away from using
it as a serious part of their marketing strategy, which
means it doesn’t get the strategic focus that it needs
to succeed.
Hannah Perryman, Senior Account Manager at
Consortium, spoke to Elizabeth Hendry, the social
media superwoman behind Atwells Solicitors viral
TikTok account, which has over 25k followers, to shine
a light on why more and more law firms are turning
to TikTok to reach new audiences and showcase their
people….
Firstly, how did it all start?
I conceived the TikTok account for Attwells with the aim of
recruiting apprentices to the firm. At the time, they were
struggling to attract new talent, and I knew TikTok was the place
to target that audience directly.
The firm’s culture is modern and friendly and I wanted to convey
this. The managing partner was fully onboard from the start but
it did take a while to get everyone fully involved.
How does social media fit into the firm’s overall
marketing plan?
Social media is a huge part of the firm’s marketing plan -
especially video content.
How do you measure the success of the videos?
The success of the videos is measured through the number of
CVs the firm receives and in terms of traffic to our website from
the account.
How often do you need to post?
To see a measurable impact from TikTok it’s important to be as
consistent as possible. Posting every day is optimal but if you’re
starting out then posting content 2-3 times a week is great.
What has been your absolute favourite video so far?
It has to be the ‘Man in Finance’ video that I filmed with my
74-year-old colleague Stephen who is the managing partner’s dad.
It was the biggest success hitting over 19 million views. It was so fun
to film, and he is such a great sport for getting involved; he started
calling me his agent after that!
Are there any trends with what types of videos work best?
Trends have such a short shelf-life, so you really have to jump on it
fast to give it the best chance to perform well. It’s also important
to add your own take on the trend to stand out. The most
effective way to discover what resonates with your audience is by
experimenting with different formats.
How have Attwells’ clients reacted to the TikTok account?
People have recognised the managing partner Nick and some of
the other staff members at events and in public, and the response is
really positive. One apprentice actually came up to Nick, at an event
and said: “Are you Nick from TikTok? I’d love to come and work for
you and be in your videos”. He’s now one of our TikTok stars!
Have you ever received any negative comments online? If so,
how do you manage that?
The account has received negative comments but that just comes
with the territory. I monitor all the comments and if there’s anything
that could be potentially damaging, I run it by the Compliance Team.
As a rule, it’s best to just ignore any negativity.
What would your top 3 tips be for a law firm considering
starting a TikTok account?
Ask yourself why you want to be on TikTok. Is it to get more sales,
increase brand awareness, or attract talent? Ultimately this will
determine the type of content you’ll create.
Think community first and your service second. Focus on how you
can give your audience value to connect with them.
Be patient. TikTok is amazing for exposure, but you
have to be consistent. When you put in the work it
can be SO rewarding and help you to stand out
in a saturated market.
Other than Attwells, are there any other
lawyers
worth following on TikTok?
Yes! I think @lawyerkevinkennedy,
@thatcorporatelawyer and
@thetiktoklawyer are all fantastic!
Hannah Perryman,
Senior Account Manager,
Consortium more than marketing
21

FEATURE
CLIENT CARE A
PERSPECTIVE
Tanveer Qureshi is a
barrister at 4-5 Gray’s
Inn Square specialising
in health and safety
law, business crime,
professional disciplinary
and civil litigation. He is
renowned for his expertise
in representing clients
facing complex regulatory
and compliance issues,
particularly in health and
safety prosecutions and
professional disciplinary
actions. Tanveer works as
a Direct Access Barrister as
well as via instructions from
solicitors.
QWhat’s the impact of the Direct Public Access
Scheme on client care?
It has been 20 years since the introduction of the Direct
A Public Access Scheme which allowed barristers to be
instructed by clients directly. Before this, barristers could
only be instructed by a solicitor. Over the last two decades,
direct access has provided considerable benefits to
barristers, solicitors, and most importantly, to clients. Clients
now have greater choice and flexibility when it comes to
selecting legal advisors. With direct access to barristers,
clients experience a more transparent and straightforward
process, which can lead to higher levels of trust, satisfaction
and a feeling of being more in control of their legal journey.
QYou work both on a direct access basis and referrals
from solicitors – how is your relationship with
clients different in each scenario?
Both direct access and solicitor referrals have benefits
A for the client. Obviously, directly accessing a barrister
makes the process more streamlined and can save the client
legal fees. It also allows me to build up a relationship with
the client immediately and understand their problem and
what they want to achieve. There is no risk of things being
‘lost in translation’ or delayed when communicated from the
solicitor to myself.
On the other hand, working with a solicitor gives the client
the opportunity to receive legal advice and representation
from several specialists. In complex cases, especially those
involving multiple agencies or heavy litigation, having the
expertise and sheer talent and resources of a law firm
behind you can make a significant difference.
22

FEATURE
BARRISTER’S
QWhat differences do you see in client service
delivery between solicitors and barristers?
Because barristers are self-employed and therefore
A are not subject to billing targets (except the ones we
personally set), we have the luxury of being able to take
on less work and provide clients with an exceptionally
personalised service. This is especially true as you become
more experienced and well known. And of course, most
barristers are born negotiators and advocates, that’s why
we chose this profession.
That is not to say that solicitors don’t provide excellent
client care. One thing I have noticed is the focus solicitors
put on approachability and superior quality service. Law
firms also have larger budgets than barristers and most
invest heavily in technology to speed up processes.
QDoes direct access benefit solicitors?
Absolutely. Referrals work both ways and I regularly
A refer clients to solicitors I know and trust. Over the
years, through direct access, I have developed a trusted
network of competent solicitors across the country, we
frequently cross-refer work and this has proved to be
mutually beneficial
QHow do you gather feedback from your clients?
I tend to send a questionnaire once the case has
A concluded. Like everyone else, my pride can be hurt if a
client is less than positive about what I have done for them,
especially when I know I did everything I could. But you
must step away and come back when you feel calmer and
review the case to see what you could have done better.
As a self-employed barrister, you’re responsible for all the
dealings you have with a client. So, if they are unhappy, you
must listen and learn and change the way you operate if
needed.
QHow do you tailor your services to meet individual
client needs?
My number one rule is to treat every client as an
A individual. Dealing with criminal and regulatory matters
means that some clients are incredibly frightened that they
will lose their livelihoods, personal reputation, and even their
freedom. My job is to make them feel confident that I know
what I am doing, and they can let go of the stress and worry.
That doesn’t mean I will win every case – no barrister can
promise that. But I can guarantee that I will work non-stop
to get them the best result possible.
Tanveer Qureshi,
Barrister, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square
It’s also important to be direct with clients. You have to
be honest and let them know if the end result of a trial is
unlikely to be positive. Clients need to be able to prepare
and plan for likely scenarios.
QWhat do you feel are the most important aspects
of client service?
Listening is number one. The cliché “you have one
A mouth and two ears, use them in proportion” is
so important. Clients who instruct me are often facing
catastrophic consequences and are under intense personal
and professional pressure. You need to be able to listen,
empathise, and be compassionate.
Strong preparation is also essential. Basic rules such
as never asking a witness a question you don’t already
know the answer to are key to running a trial smoothly
and persuading the Court that your client’s evidence and
argument is sound. A client facing prison, or the loss of
assets need to trust that you know their case, industry
culture, and the applicable law inside out. That’s what they
are paying you for so that’s what you must deliver.
Building a relationship quickly and establishing trust with
a client is crucial for a barrister. It not only ensures that
the client feels confident in your ability to represent them,
but it also fosters open communication, which is vital for
understanding the nuances of their case. Being personable
and approachable helps clients feel comfortable and
reassured that you are fully committed to their cause. This
trust is equally important in referral relationships, where
your reputation for doing your absolute best can lead
to continued recommendations and that all important
professional network.
23

INTERVIEW
IF YOU TAKE CARE OF
YOUR EMPLOYEES,
they will take care
of your customers
How does a reward scheme
built on good reputation ensure
good customer service? Virgin
Red is a rewards scheme for
anyone who signs up to a
Virgin account, where users can
earn points on their everyday
purchases and spend them
on a variety of rewards - from
Virgin flights to cases of wine.
Kelly Best, Managing Director -
Product, Customer Experience
& Marketing, tells us more about
why customer service is at the
heart of everything they do.
You were recently recognised with a Silver
Q Award for Best Customer Service and a Bronze
Award for Best Customer Experience Strategy at the
UK CXA Awards - can you tell me about the journey
leading up to this?
We’ve been on quite the journey – from a small
A member experience team of three when Virgin Red
launched in 2020 to now a team of 20 Reward Genies,
working remotely to support more than 2 million Virgin
Red members.
We work with Recruit for Spouses to build our team.
Recruit for Spouses is a social enterprise dedicated
to supporting, championing and finding gainful
employment for spouses and partners of the armed
forces.
The team is resourceful, resilient, totally reliable and
despite most of them never having met, they have
bonded into an amazingly tight-knit team. The UK CXA
Awards judges loved the innovation in working with
military spouses.
Virgin Red has grown rapidly since launching in 2020
and throughout the journey to where we are now, our
goal has been to assist the business with growth targets
without sacrificing service quality and staying true to
our brand values.
24

INTERVIEW
What does excellent customer service look like for
Q Virgin Red?
Heartfelt service is at the core of what we do. ‘Being
A human’ is a key principle here at Virgin and something
we strive to embody in everything we do. We want our
customer service to feel human, honest and warm.
We are always looking for unexpected ways to surprise and
delight our members with Virgin Points, creating special
moments for our valued members. We encourage the team
to let us know about celebrations and life events so we can
spread some happiness with what we do. It’s amazing how
happy these extra special touches can make our members
feel!
As Richard Branson has often said, “if you take care of your
employees, they will take care of your customers”, and this
is an ethos we live by here at Virgin. We make sure the team
feels valued and appreciated and their views are considered
when making decisions.
How do you understand your customers’
Q expectations and needs?
We use a combination of member feedback and focus
A groups to stay in tune with what our members value
most. Feedback is hugely important to us and we’re always
striving to improve and deliver better value to our members.
We collect feedback given to us by members via Zendesk
and engage with Virgin Red’s ‘Inner Circle’ community – a
group of members who volunteer to give us their opinions
on a regular basis.
We understand that our members’ expectations and needs
are constantly evolving so it’s important that we are always
listening and adapting at the same rate.
How do you measure customer satisfaction? What
Q do you do with the data?
After every interaction, we ask customers to rate
A how our contact made them feel. We collate these
comments and turn them into a satisfaction percentage.
We review every comment, whether it is good or bad, and
follow up every negative comment to try to address any
problems.
Every comment or suggestion is discussed with the relevant
department in the business and, where we can, we’ll make
changes to make the customer experience seamless and
easy.
What challenges and opportunities do social media
Q and review sites bring? How do you deal with
negative reviews/comments?
Social media and review sites present both unique
A challenges and valuable opportunities for us. On one
hand, they provide a platform for instant feedback, enabling
us to connect with our members in real time. We see this
as an opportunity to learn, adapt, and improve our services.
Positive reviews and comments are fantastic, of course,
but even critical feedback can be a gift if approached
constructively.
When it comes to negative reviews or comments, we focus
on listening first and understanding the root cause. Often,
a negative experience can be turned around simply by
engaging directly, showing empathy, and taking the right
actions to resolve it. We don’t just treat it as a one-off; we
use this feedback to identify trends and make broader
improvements where needed.
The speed and visibility of social media means that issues
can escalate quickly if not managed well. It’s crucial for us to
respond promptly and thoughtfully. Our approach is to be
transparent, human, and solution-focused. We acknowledge
issues, take ownership, and aim to resolve problems as
quickly as possible.
What channels do you offer for customer support,
Q and how do you ensure consistency across them?
We want to make it as easy as possible for members
A to contact us, so we are contactable via email, social
media, WhatsApp, phone and a dynamic form hosted on
our website.
All these contacts are channeled into ZenDesk, so the
team only has one place to work from and can maintain
consistency across all channels.
Can you describe a time when customer feedback
Q led to a significant change in your service or product
offering?
It was clear from member feedback that we needed to
A have a better training and coaching programme for our
team, so we designed a new starter induction and some
bespoke training for specific areas.
Part of our training is about bringing personality to work
and, where appropriate, having fun with members in true
Virgin style. We love surprising members with Virgin Points,
so each team member has a pot of points they can surprise
and delight members with when they feel it’s appropriate.
Customer feedback has also resulted in allowing people to
opt out of alcohol and betting offers, changing the colour
scheme to make offers easier to read and creating a magic
link to make it easier for Android users to log in.
What strategies do you use to retain customers and
Q build long-term loyalty?
For us, it’s not just about resolving issues. It’s about
A creating memorable, positive experiences that make our
members feel valued and connected – and ultimately build
long-term loyalty.
When members feel supported, appreciated, and
understood, they’re more likely to engage with the platform,
explore new rewards, and remain loyal to the Virgin brand.
This, in turn, drives growth for us because happy members
are our best advocates.
What role does customer service play in your
Q brand’s overall success?
Customer service is at the heart of Virgin Red’s success.
A Our brand is built on the Virgin ethos of putting people
first, and customer service is one of the most direct ways we
live up to that promise.
Our customer service team is empowered to go above
and beyond, whether that means resolving a query quickly
or adding a little surprise that brightens someone’s day.
It’s those moments of delight that people
remember and associate with the
Virgin Red experience.
In short, customer service is integral
to our brand’s reputation, member
retention, and overall growth.
By delivering consistently
high service, we not only solve
immediate problems but also
build lasting relationships, which
is the foundation of our longterm
success.
Kelly Best,
Managing Director -
Product, Customer
Experience & Marketing
Virgin Red
25

Digital Marketing to Im
IN-DEPTH
How Can Law Firms Us
Client Satisfaction in 2
Your first goal as a law firm should
be to provide excellent service
to all your clients. Competition is
fierce, so if your clients have a bad
experience, then it’s easy for them to
go elsewhere.
Technology and digital marketing
allow you to go one step further than
competitors when it comes to client
service, and we expect law firms to
jump on several trends in the next 12
months.
Live Chat
Many of your clients or new enquiries will likely
want to contact your employees outside normal
working hours. This is where live chat can be useful.
You can prepopulate answers to questions with
services like https://meluchat.com/, so real humans
can answer questions how your employees would
answer them. This means you can provide your
clients with a seamless 24/7 service, which will
leave them satisfied that their matter is in hand.
You can use the promo code CONSCIOUS here
https://meluchat.com/try-melu to get a 28-day free
trial with Melu.
Short-Form Video Content
Video is a powerful tool for law firms to
communicate complex legal concepts in a more
engaging and digestible way. I’m sure you have
seen successful solicitors and law firms sharing
videos on every social platform and their websites.
Those preferring to get their information in a
video format will need a lawyer at some point in
their lives, so your law firm should start thinking
about how it can utilise video now to answer FAQs,
showcase your experience and expertise and
entertain your audiences. Video content won’t be
for everyone, but you will satisfy the needs of those
clients who prefer to watch a video explaining an
important piece of information rather than reading
content on your website.
AI
AI is transforming marketing by automating
everything from content creation to customer
service, predictive analysis, and ad targeting.
Doubtless, your firm is considering using AI to write
legal documents, but in addition, there are several
ways in which AI can support client satisfaction.
You can use AI to help generate questions for your
live chat to answer, personalise your marketing
or analyse your audience's data – that could
be through reviews, social media comments or
creating customer personas based on your ideal
clients. Someone has developed a Custom GPT for
ChatGPT called “InstaGuru” where AI will give you
tips on improving your posts and feeds.
26

IN-DEPTH
e
prove
025?
David Gilroy,
Managing Director at Conscious Solutions
At Conscious we have developed two Custom
GPTs:
• The Conscious Solutions Law Firm Review Analyst
– which can be used to analyse and summarise
reviews of law firms from across the internet
• The Conscious Solutions Review Response
Generator – which can help you respond to
negative and positive reviews.
Online Calculators
Interactive content is key to engaging your clients;
you can provide helpful information to them in
another way. You might want to use polls, quizzes
or interactive infographics. One of the tools we’ve
found to be very successful for law firms is online
calculators like a conveyancing calculator. Providing
clients with more engaging and memorable
marketing efforts and meeting client needs by
providing them with information they want to
know.
Client Portals
These are crucial tools when providing excellent
client service. They can automate routine tasks like
document sharing and payment processing and
improve communication and collaboration, all of
which can help law firms better meet their clients'
needs and stay competitive.
Voice Search
The rise of smart speakers and voice-activated
devices has shifted search behaviour toward voice
commands. Voice search is becoming increasingly
popular for younger generations, and it’s time your
content is optimised for voice. By optimising your
content, you will increase the satisfaction of clients
searching for answers in different ways.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
This is no longer a “nice-to-have” for law firms but
is becoming a real deciding factor when clients
choose their firms. Firms will be expected to
showcase this information through their websites
and online presence, and we are seeing some
clients present it with videos, infographics, and
testimonials. Demonstrating a strong commitment
to DEI can enhance a law firm's reputation and
appeal to a broader audience.
Online Client Satisfaction Surveys
Feedback is so important, so if you are not asking
your clients to share their feedback with you at
regular intervals, why not? If you are worried
about negative feedback, this should be seen
as an opportunity to improve and serve clients
better. Gaining feedback is the best way to identify
whether your law firm's client service is up to the
mark and identify areas for improvement. We also
offer Law League, which allows you to gain client
feedback and benchmark your results against other
firms.
27

FEATURE
SCALING
CLIENT CARE:
How different sized law firms
approach client service
A conversation with:
Matthew Cowan,
Managing Partner at
Bracher Rawlins
Grant Sanders,
Partner and Practice Manager at
Stephen Rimmer Solicitors
Rachel Smith,
Director of BD & Marketing at
Cripps
28

FEATURE
As part of this issue’s focus on client service
we spoke to three law firms of different
sizes about how they navigate client care,
why it is so important and how building
and maintaining strong relationships is
key. We chatted with Matthew Cowan,
Managing Partner of Bracher Rawlins - a
boutique commercial firm based in London
with seven partners, Grant Sanders, Partner
and Practice Manager at Stephen Rimmer
Solicitors - a full service law firm with offices
in Eastbourne and Hastings with thirteen
partners and nearly 50 members of staff and
Rachel Smith, Director of BD & Marketing
at Cripps - a large regional firm of over 500
members of staff with offices in Tunbridge
Wells, Horsham and London.
Why is developing a good understanding of your
Qclients so important? What are the implications if
you don’t?
Rachel Smith, Cripps: Through our client listening
programme and market research our clients repeatedly
tell us that outside legal know-how, which is a given,
they expect us to understand their commercial issues
and industry. Becoming sector specialists is also driven
by competition as it allows us to differentiate ourselves
from the competition in a very crowded market. Clients
often don’t see their issues as legal issues but business
challenges which may require multiple legal disciplines.
They value lawyers who are able to have commercial
conversations, proactively identify opportunities and
potential risks, and bring in the right legal experts from
across the firm to provide a cohesive solution. Therefore,
to remain competitive and be seen as more than just a
transactional lawyer, you have to take the time to listen
and understand the long-term goals of your clients and
understand the markets in which they operate.
Grant Sanders, Stephen Rimmer: At Stephen Rimmer,
understanding our clients isn’t just an ideal - it’s central
to how we operate. Relationships are based on trust and
if we don’t invest time getting to know and understand
our clients they simply won’t trust us. We know that
trust is earned, not given, and we take that responsibility
seriously. As part of this approach – we offer a free
meeting for all new clients so that we can start building
that all important relationship .We recognise that clients
often come to us at pivotal moments in their lives,
whether they’re buying a house, starting a business or
getting a divorce. At these moments, trust is paramount,
and we work hard to earn and maintain that trust through
every interaction.
Matthew Cowan, Bracher Rawlins: We have built our
firm on the strength of deep and long-standing client
relationships. The firm is 35 years old and many of our
clients have been clients from day one. They are key to
our success. Understanding their business and what is
important to them is key to that relationship. Over 35
years the individuals at both our firm and the clients have
changed it is important to us that the knowledge we gain
is embedded in our firm not certain individuals.
What steps do you take to ensure you understand the
Q unique challenges of each client? And how do you
tailor your services to meet these challenges?
Grant: It sounds simple but we start with active listening.
During consultations, we focus on understanding our clients’
goals, concerns, and circumstances. Managing expectations
is also key—if there’s a delay, we make sure the client knows
right away. This transparency is essential in maintaining trust
and ensuring that our services align with what the client
really needs.
Every client brings unique challenges, and addressing these
effectively means we’ll tailor our service accordingly. For
instance, in our residential conveyancing practice, we’ve
introduced a “no completion, no fee” policy to give our
clients peace of mind. While we’ve implemented technology
to streamline processes and enable online transactions,
we’ve also maintained the option for face-to-face meetings.
There are lots of clients who still like to come in and meet
their solicitor in person. Offering both options allows us to
meet the diverse needs of our clients who extend beyond
Eastbourne, Hastings, and East Sussex to across the UK.
Matthew: We are a small firm and generally we try and build
discussions with clients outside the straightforward fee
engagement process. We can then adapt internally to what
they tell us and ensure the service we deliver to them is
tailored to their needs.
Rachel: We have an internal programme called Spark which
is focused on how we improve the delivery of our services.
With this programme, we adopt a client-centric approach.
Once we have identified the service area we are focusing on,
we interview a number of clients who receive that service
to understand from their perspective what works well and
where the pain points might lie. We then go away and
develop some potential solutions which may or may not
involve technology solutions. We’ll test these ideas with the
same clients to refine our thinking before developing the
solution and putting it back into our service. We did this
for example when developing our residential conveyancing
CrippsApp. Our Spark programme was recognised at the
British Legal Awards in 2022 in the Alliance of the Year
category after we developed the programme with business
consultants, Sprint Valley.
How do you identify and prioritise the needs of your
Qclients?
Matthew: We talk to them. Our clients generally know what
is important to them. It is our job to listen to those needs,
perhaps advise on matters they haven’t considered but
ultimately prioritise what is important to them.
Rachel: We run a key account programme to proactively
look after our largest clients as well as identify ones that
have the potential to grow. We conduct in-depth qualitative
interviews with them to discuss our service and how we
might improve and put in place key client plans to ensure
we act on the client insight gained. Our BD and marketing
content will invariably respond to the commercial issues
our key clients face, and it is likely that these issues will be
common in their industry, so that content becomes useful
for other companies within that sector.
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FEATURE
How do you measure client satisfaction and ensure
Q you meet your client’s expectations?
Grant: Understanding the role reviews play in today’s
decision-making process, we’ve made them a significant
part of our strategy. We’ve established a strong presence
on Review Solicitors, Trustpilot, and Google, integrating
feedback into our workflows so that every review is
acknowledged, and any concerns are promptly addressed. In
response to client feedback, we’ve even extended our office
hours to include Saturday mornings, making it easier for
clients to access our services when it suits them. Our efforts
have paid off—nearly 70% of our clients are either repeat
clients or have been recommended by an existing client.
Rachel: We run a client insights programme which has
two strands – one is for all clients and is a post-transaction
high-level review. This is an online survey, with only two
mandatory questions and half a dozen optional ones. We use
NPS as our benchmark which is supplemented by questions
to understand why they gave the score they did. This is
managed centrally and is semi-automated so fee-earners
don’t need to be involved in the process. All responses are
fed back to client relationship partners and appropriate
action taking where needed.
The second strand is in-depth qualitative interviews which
are conducted with key clients and any other clients where
the client relationship partner thinks it might be useful, e.g. if
we know they’re coming up to a retender. These are always
independent, usually conducted by our senior partner, a
non-exec director or myself. We have client plans in place
and the findings from these interviews help shape the client
plan and we’ll agree any changes needed with the client.
Matthew: We don’t have a formal process and find that
feedback comes from the continuous dialogue we maintain
with them. An example of a recent change we implemented
based on such feedback was the introduction of a bimonthly
on-site presence for one of our clients. They just like
us to be around and we pick up far more work from them
just by “being there”.
What strategies do you employ to build and maintain
Q strong client relationships?
Rachel: The role of the client relationship partner is key to
this. Every client relationship partner needs to understand
their role and expectations of that role to provide a
consistent level of service. For our larger clients we will
have two client relationship partners. This helps to keep
relationships broad and manage succession planning. In
addition, we have regular key client meetings internally
and a key account plan, plus regular communication and
structured updates with clients and our independent client
listening programme. As a firm, we have five strategic
objectives, one of which is focused on delivering an
exceptional client service and there are several initiatives
that sit within this which include our key account
programme, training and development, etc.
Matthew: For us it is all about personal contact - whether
that is going to their offices for a day and working from
there, or allowing clients to use our offices even if they aren’t
meeting us. It has to be calibrated to the amount of contact
and interaction a client wants but if you listen to them you
generally get a good feel for what they want.
Another part of our strategy at Stephen Rimmer is ensuring
that our team is happy, motivated, and empowered. We
firmly believe that happy staff lead to happy clients. When
our staff feel appreciated and valued, it reflects in their work
and in the way they interact with clients, which is why we
invest in ongoing training and support for our team. We
also encourage our teams to network and socialise with
community organisations and local charities – we want to
keep in touch with our community and be a part of it.
What continuous improvement practices do you follow
Q to enhance client service?
Grant: Continuous improvement is a core value at Stephen
Rimmer. Ongoing training for our teams ensures we stay
ahead of industry trends and continue providing services
that meet our clients’ needs. In addition to client feedback,
we also regularly conduct mystery shopping to ensure our
client service standards remain high and consistent. This
practice helps us identify areas where we might improve
and ensures that every client receives the same level of
exceptional service.
Rachel: The Spark programme I mentioned previously
started as an internal process improvement programme.
We have now introduced a Spark Client programme, so we
will work with a client on a problem they need to solve and
use our Spark methodology to help them identify some
potential solutions. This enables us to really understand
some of the commercial issues our client is facing and work
collaboratively with them to solve it. Clients like the fact
we’re being proactive and thinking beyond being purely
transactional lawyers.
Matthew: We talk about client matters both at department
and firm level on a weekly basis. We like to ensure that the
whole firm has an understanding of what we are undertaking
and then use that as a platform to break down into smaller
groups if specific issues arise.
What role does technology play in helping you
Q understand and serve your clients better?
Matthew: Very little. We are of a size where we can still
easily all talk to each other at our weekly firm meeting.
Nothing beats that.
Grant: We’ve moved from paper feedback forms to
integrated electronic solutions, driven by client preferences
and our commitment to efficiency. We regularly review
our internal processes, technology, and communication
strategies to find areas for improvement and are always
open-minded about using new technology and systems.
Rachel: Our technology team is continually working on
projects that re-imagine how we deliver legal services. We
only adopt solutions that enhance the experience of our
clients and our people and that can improve our efficiencies
and enable a more tailored and better client experience. For
example, we use tools like Introhive, a customer intelligence
platform to help us understand the strength of relationships
with clients and contacts across the firm. This helps us to
see where we may need to strengthen relationships, where
there might be opportunities we’re missing and succession
planning.
Grant: Building strong client relationships goes beyond
providing legal advice; it’s about communication and
transparency. Regular updates and check-ins keep our
clients informed, and clear communication helps manage
expectations. We keep in touch with our clients after their
transaction is finished with regular newsletters which include
up-to-date information, insights and special offers.
31

FEATURE
Elevate Client Service with
Enhanced Legal
Resourcing
The problem with inefficient resource
allocation at law firms
Lawyers are your firm’s most valuable asset, but not if they’re
overworked, underskilled, or assigned to the wrong tasks.
Law firms face challenges in retaining and utilising lawyers
due to limited visibility into their skills, experience, and
development needs. Lateral hiring and associate attrition
negatively affect profits, while inefficient resource allocation
leads to billing write-offs. As clients become more businesssavvy,
effective work allocation is essential to enhance
internal efficiency and foster profitable, long-term client
relationships. Improved talent and resource management can
address these issues.
BigHand recently conducted market research that uncovers
several emerging trends around talent management in legal
industry. The report launches on our website soon, so keep
your eyes peeled! In the meantime, exclusively for Modern
Law readers, we can reveal that:
- 36% said that partners picking resources based on personal
preference was a challenge for their firm.
- 41% have no or only partial access to information relating to
the different skill sets of each associate.
The data highlights the need for tools that surface
availability, skillsets and billable rates to support robust work
allocation processes and increase resourcing for profitability
and efficiency. Adopting resource management technology
helps firms address these challenges by offering a solution
that improves allocation based on data-driven insights.
Resource management systems help firms identify underutilised
associates and overworked lawyers at risk of burnout,
ensuring the right people are assigned to the right matters at
the right time.
“We can assure clients that we will always have people that
are skilled and trained and available to work on their matter,
irrespective of geographical location. It presents a powerful
message that we will be able to support them through what’s
going on in the wider market with the team and resources
we already have in place, rather than increase local hiring or
increasing costs.”
- Sam Larkins, Head of Resource Management (EMEA) at
Norton Rose Fulbright
The BigHand Resource Management team have deep
domain expertise with over 50+ years of market experience
collectively and our dedicated support team is available 24
hours a day 5 days a week. We collaborate closely with our
clients to ensure our tech is meeting their unique needs.
After receiving feedback from BigHand clients, we saw a
demand for a feature that would enable equitable work
allocation for client matters and enrichment activities.
We developed the Opportunities Board to allow firms
to equitably promote work that supports lawyer career
progression by aligning with their expertise and aspirations.
By positioning our clients at the heart of our business, we’re
proud to have a strong Net Promotor Score (NPS) of 80%+.
As law firms continue to navigate the complexities
of modern legal practice, solutions like BigHand are
indispensable. Providing data-driven insights, promoting
transparency, and maximising efficiency ensures both firms
and their clients reap the benefits. Keeping the needs of
both lawyers and clients at the forefront not only helps
firms become more profitable but also more resilient in an
increasingly competitive market.
“I would recommend BigHand Resource Management to
other firms. Largely due to the fact that it allows firms to
see real-time capacity. We can see who is available and
make sure that we’re allocating the work to the right level,
therefore increasing the firm’s profitability.”
- Fran Perry, Resource Manager at Womble Bond Dickinson
A client-first solution for modern law firms
We pride ourselves on listening to our customers and
placing their feedback at the centre of our tech development
to deliver truly client-led solutions. BigHand Resource
Management helps firms to meet client demands to allocate
the right people to the right work at the right price. You can
easily demonstrate the depth of your talent by collecting
data about each lawyer’s skills, experience, and workload
across all practice groups and regions. Clients can feel
confident that lawyers with the most relevant skills and
experience are staffing their matters:
Vanessa Jerrom,
Senior Lead Consultant at BigHand
33

FEATURE
The Customer-Fo
In the fast-paced, high-pressure world of
conveyancing, exceptional customer service is a
necessity. Leading UK property search provider
Searchflow and provider of leading property
data, insight and expertise CLSQ consider how
they ensure they deliver top-tier service and
how a client-centric approach can transform the
customer experience.
Cara Flood spoke to Zoe Fillingham, Head of
Operations at Searchflow and Dee McKenna,
Head of Estate Admin and Bonds at CLSQ.
Hi Dee, thank you for joining us. Could you start by
explaining how you think client expectations and
demands have changed in the industry, and what changes
are likely to come in the next five years?
Well traditionally, conveyancing clients have been
primarily focused on price and speed – looking mainly at
the cheapest headline rates and average service levels.
However, this has changed more recently, particularly as
transaction times are protracting. We are seeing more
customers who are much more focused on customer
service – will they get a quick response if they contact their
conveyancer and can they access accurate case tracking to
see granular updates on their case. This level of excellent
customer service sets us apart – trust is built in, with
communication – good or bad – a key facet of what we
offer. I can only see this trend towards quality continuing
into the future. Competitive pricing is, of course, important
– but value and service are coming to the fore.
Home-working and hybrid working are also here to stay
and technology can help to ensure teams are able to
continue to deliver a seamless service. With our platform,
anybody in a registered law firm can access any of their
team’s cases, which delivers full visibility and means
continuity of service if, perhaps, someone is away. Cases
can also be back-dated by 30 days, which gives clients
an opportunity to address any human errors.
Welcome Zoe and thank you for taking part. You head
up Searchflow’s award-winning customer service team.
Can you tell me about the role training and recruitment
plays in ensuring you provide an excellent service to
your customers?
Yes, SearchFlow’s in-house Quality and Training
team routinely elevates our 40 customer service
specialists’ expertise by providing targeted training and
development, to ensure they excel in product knowledge
and customer understanding.
A thorough training programme is in place for the
whole team - which covers our products, processes
and expectations in detail - and we schedule individual
coaching sessions following monthly performance
reviews and audits.
We have Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) across the
customer service department, who regularly engage with
our suppliers to enhance knowledge of their products.
This enables our SMEs to more comprehensively address
our customers’ queries and utilise their knowledge to
create training material on these areas for the wider team
– therefore, ensuring the whole department can deliver
exceptional customer service.
Dee, what steps does CLSQ take to ensure you
understand the needs and priorities of your clients?
The first step, and the most important, is to listen. We
have channels at every point of the process for clients
to communicate their feedback and then we take a
proactive approach to acting on it. It’s not just feedback
for feedback’s sake – we use it to develop and enhance
our proposition. We take a collaborative and a holistic
approach to working with all our clients, taking the time
to identify their pain points and to deliver solutions that
meet their needs.
And how about you Zoe, how does Searchflow monitor
and assess what is most important to your clients?
SearchFlow’s Account Management team has regular
dialogue with customers; this, alongside attending
and holding events, industry news monitoring and
undertaking market research, means that we have a deep
understanding of our customers’ needs and concerns,
and we know what’s important to them.
SearchFlow built a cross-departmental task force for a
continuous feedback loop of customer insight from all
avenues - service, sales and business intelligence. This
taskforce is a foundation of continuous insight. Through
34

FEATURE
cused Approach
establishing this internal taskforce, we have a robust
understanding of our customers, and a foundation that
has enabled us to build the framework for our Service
Excellence Matrix – which has become an important
benchmark we use to measure our customer service
team’s success.
The continuous feedback loop between all our internal
stakeholders and customers means that we can continue
to provide the outstanding service that makes our
customers feel cherished and respected, now and in the
future.
Dee, what do your clients consider most important
when choosing a conveyancing related service or
product?
Clients are increasingly looking for value and service.
Online case tracking is hugely important, but not all
platforms are created equal and some can be quite out
of date while others offer real-time granular updates.
An accurate case tracking system is an important
consideration for clients, who want to stay on top of
their case, quickly and easily. Then, when they do need
to speak to someone, it’s important that a conveyancer is
accessible and responsive.
Zoe, is providing a personalised service important
at Searchflow, and how do you meet clients' unique
needs?
At SearchFlow, we understand that no two firms are the
same and each of our customers has different needs and
expectations. We work with each firm to truly understand
what they need from us and build a bespoke and unique
service around this.
We want to be tremendously creative in how we provide
a personalised service through human interaction –
particularly using our many Subject Matter Experts
(SMEs).
Even with the recent rise in artificial intelligence, we still
believe that investing in our people to remain humancentric
is incredibly important, as we know that this is
what our customers truly want and need. Our team's
expertise extends beyond products and the industry to a
deep understanding of our customers.
Dee, what role does technology play at CLSQ, in
enhancing customer service?
Technology is crucial as an enabler, making the process
faster and more straightforward, but it is not the be-all
and end-all.
Our integrated data services and underwriting
expertise provide a bridge between some of the UK’s
top mortgage lenders, conveyancers and insurers,
empowering robust instant decisions and streamlined
processing to deliver an enhanced customer experience
and greater efficiency across the property ecosystem.
This is only possible with technology, but it’s the use of
technology alongside our expertise that makes a real
difference.
Looking specifically at our technology, our upgraded
Restful API delivers streamlined integration and features
a wider product range, with policies that enable
conveyancers and estate administrators to serve their
clients with greater accuracy and efficiency.
Backed by AA-rated insurance and world-class customer
service, our PIPA platform is one of the most intuitive
in the market, able to provide instant quotes for
the majority of cases, with more complex situations
automatically referred to our experienced underwriting
team for assessment.
And how do you balance the use of technology with a
personalised, human experience?
We have the experience to understand when technology
can take the strain and when human intervention is
required. Clients can self-serve on our platform in less
than 60 seconds. At the same time, it is sophisticated
enough to enable the creation of more bespoke policies
online. These are then assessed by our team of expert
underwriters and provided with a fast response. Most of
our clients complete the majority of transactions online,
but human expertise is available and accessible when
they need it. Technology expedites the process but only
when it’s supported by a team who know what they’re
doing.
Thank you very much to both Dee and Zoe for sharing
your insights, it was great to hear more about how a
focus on customer service shapes your organisations.
Thanks to a thorough training programme and ongoing
coaching, our team of 40 customer service specialists
excel in product knowledge and customer understanding,
including the creation of our 17 SMEs in a variety of areas
of conveyancing products and services.
Another benefit of our SMEs is the improvement on
supplier touchpoints, decreasing total emails - therefore
resulting in quicker query resolution for customers.
35
Zoe Fillingham,
Head of Operations
at Searchflow
Dee McKenna,
Head of Estate Admin
and Bonds at CLSQ

FORUM
The Client Connection
A Forum Discussion
In this edition of our Conveyancing panel our participants shine a light
on how client demands are shaping service delivery in the conveyancing
sector. They consider the balancing act between delivering great value
and great service, and of course the role technology can play.
This issue’s opinions are from:
Angela Hesketh
FCILEX/Cilex Conveyancing
Practitioner/Licensed
Conveyancer and Head of
Market Development UK, Pexa
Helen Luty
Head of Customer
Experience, Landmark

FORUM
How have client expectations and demands changed
and what do you think will change in the next five
years?
Helen: Having been a service professional for longer than I care
to mention, I have seen a lot of change. The obvious ones for
me are, firstly: the expected speed of response, which has gone
from days to just hours. The advances in technology mean that
we now seem to expect immediate gratification in everything.
The second change comes as a sad consequence of the first.
It’s the level of disrespect that some customers show when
expectations aren’t met. I find it really sad that some people
think it’s OK to be abusive to customer service advisers.
At Landmark Information Group, we have signed up to
the Institute of Customer Services “Service with Respect”
campaign. We are committed to supporting our colleagues by
refusing to accept poor behaviour. Luckily, it’s an extremely rare
occurrence for us, but we stand firmly with those organisations
who suffer it far more often. \
Over the next five years, the biggest change will undoubtedly
be how we use technology to support customer services. We
need to find the balance between continuing to support our
customers with the necessary human touch, whilst augmenting
that service with technology where appropriate. It’s an exciting
time for the customer experience; getting it right will be
transformative, but we must learn from others who may be
getting it wrong. The ideal customer journey will be seamless - it
will offer choice, and it will be trustworthy.
What trends in customer service do you see
emerging in the sector?
Angela: One clear trend is the increased role of technology in
streamlining processes, but there’s also a growing recognition
that technology cannot and should not replace human
interaction in customer service. Instead, technology’s role
is to reduce friction, automate repetitive tasks, and improve
accuracy—allowing our lender and conveyancer clients to
focus more on personalising their service and fulfilling their
client care responsibilities. As regulations evolve and the focus
on Consumer Duty intensifies, the challenge for businesses is
to meet or exceed customer expectations. We see an emerging
demand for solutions that integrate technology without
losing the human touch—creating continuity and enabling
professionals to dedicate more time to high-value, customercentric
interactions.
Helen: Clearly AI is here to make an impact, and many
organisations are making use of it - some really well, and others
not so. For me, I see the trend in customer service moving back
to focus on people.
There will never be a replacement for human compassion
in customer service - ultimately that will be the biggest
differentiator, and customers will vote with their feet. ICS
research shows that 31% of customers prefer excellent service,
even if it costs more. Investing in the right customer service
professionals to service your customers will be the best
investment. If AI is to bring new value, it will be to help our
people deliver that personal service to our customers.
What do your clients consider most important
when choosing a conveyancing related service or
product?
Helen: We have many longstanding customer relationships,
some for more than 20 years. We know for those customers
that it is as much about the relationship as it is the product or
service.
Ultimately though, a product or service should do what it says
on the tin - it should be easy to use and enhance the customer
experience. It should be available whenever the customer
needs it, and on the odd occasion when it might not work
as expected or additional support is required, it needs to be
supported by an excellent customer experience.
Our award-winning and ServiceMark-accredited Customer
Experience teams are hugely experienced and knowledgeable
- truly the experts that the industry experts who are our
customer rely upon.
“Over the next five years,
the biggest change will
undoubtedly be how we
use technology to support
customer services”
37
37

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FORUM
How do you ensure all team members are aligned
with the goal of understanding and meeting client
needs?
Angela: To keep the client at the heart of everything we do, we
ensure regular feedback loops and touchpoints. We engage
with our clients frequently, through both formal and informal
channels, and carry out research at key points in the journey
to validate our approach. Internally, communication is just as
vital. We ensure team members stay aligned by documenting
and circulating insights from customer interactions for those
unable to attend meetings. Weekly company-wide meetings
keep everyone updated on key developments and client
needs. We also host regular collaboration days to encourage
team members to engage in open discussions and share their
experiences. This collective focus ensures that everyone is
fully invested in delivering solutions that meet client needs and
expectations.
Helen: We lead from the top. We set clear key performance
indicators for service delivery. We monitor and report on
satisfaction levels, and most importantly, we celebrate success.
We circulate customer feedback, and we involve our people
in service design. After all, they are on the frontline day-to-day
and know what needs to change.
What steps do you take to understand the needs and
priorities of your clients?
Helen: It’s important to us that customers feel connected to
our whole team, so we take a holistic approach to ensure that
the right person is dealing with the right aspect of the customer
journey. This increases our first point of contact resolution rates
and minimises unnecessary handoffs.
The difficulty with this approach is that we must ensure that we
are not duplicating actions and contact across roles, so we have
implemented a unified service platform to provide visibility
across our teams of customer activity.
Our Customer Success Teams are responsible for
understanding our customers’ needs and priorities. They
hold regular calls with their contacts to understand current
challenges, upcoming projects that we might be able to assist
with, look at training needs, and discuss current usage and
requirements.
Our aim is to have multiple contacts at each of our customer
accounts to enable accurate temperature checks, and to ensure
that we aren’t missing any opportunities to assist. For us, our
customers’ success is our success.
How do you measure customer satisfaction? And
what steps do you take in response to the data you
collect?
Helen: After inbound support calls, we send a satisfaction
survey. 12% of our customers respond to those surveys to tell
us whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the service
received. We have achieved an average satisfaction rating of
97% over the last 48 months.
If we were to receive a report of dissatisfaction, the Customer
Relationship Manager would contact the customer to
investigate further. We strongly believe in continuous
improvement, so we regularly review our processes and
training to ensure that any mistakes are not repeated. Any
amendments to a process are then documented and rolled out
across the entire team.
We also take part in an annual benchmarking survey with
the Institute of Customer Service. The result of this survey
benchmarks us against the UK Customer Satisfaction Index
(UKCSI), the UK’s largest cross-sector customer benchmarking
survey.
This years’ results show that we are ahead of the average
UKCSI score in all customer priorities: experience, complaints,
emotional connection, ethics and customer ethos. This is hugely
important to us as an organisation, and we look to continually
improve on these results year on year.
39

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FORUM
What role does technology play at your organisation,
in enhancing customer service?
Angela: Technology is central to our operations, enabling us
to deliver a robust financial infrastructure that supports our
clients in the home-buying process. PEXA provide a secure
environment for the direct transmission of funds without
the need for conveyancers to take the risks associated with
use of their client accounts. Our technology also offers full
visibility and transparency around financial transactions for our
conveyancer clients, while synchronising the lodgement of
title registration with the Land Registry, further streamlining the
process.
However, our technological solutions don’t stand alone. They
are enhanced by the ongoing support from our customer
service team, who are there to assist clients through the
journey. We look to provide training to ensure our clients are
well-equipped to maximise the benefits of our technology.
Additionally, our open API platforms allow for seamless
integration with existing systems, ensuring flexibility and ease
of use. This blend of cutting-edge technology and personalised
customer support allows us to meet our clients’ evolving needs
and enhance their overall experience.
Helen: Our unified customer service platform includes
integrated telephony and webchat. This has meant that
we have been able to answer calls more quickly as stored
telephone numbers are recognised. The system recognises
the number and populates the screen for the customer service
adviser, to save search time. If there is an open case, it will ask
the caller if they are calling about it, and that case is presented
to the customer service advisers. This not only enhances the
customer experience, but the adviser experience, too.
Webchat is a new service for us. Uptake is currently slow, but
satisfaction is high in those that use it. Our advisers manage
calls, emails and webchats.
How do you balance the use of technology with a
personalised, human experience?
Helen: This is not a dilemma for us. We are delighted to provide
a personalised human experience for every interaction.
Our customers have diverse requirements and work in critical
areas of expertise, and so it is important that they feel like they
are being treated as an individual.
Angela: We believe that technology and human touch must
go hand-in-hand to create the most effective and seamless
experience. As a company providing financial infrastructure
to the home-buying industry, we prioritise the efficient, safe,
and direct transmission of funds. However, we recognise
that technology alone cannot solve every challenge. Home
buying is a stressful, complex process for consumers, and
our technology becomes most valuable when coupled with
the human support we offer to our lender and conveyancer
clients. This personalised approach ensures that our clients
can navigate their roles effectively and deliver a better, more
supportive experience for their customers. By integrating
technology with human insight and care, we foster a balanced,
holistic service that enhances the overall journey for everyone
involved.
“The ideal customer
journey will be seamless
- it will offer choice, and
it will be trustworthy”
We strongly believe that if our customers wish to speak to an
adviser, there should be someone available to help.
41

LEGAL
TECH TALK
Charlotte Johnstone
Senior Content Manager, LegalTechTalk
In today’s rapidly evolving legal landscape, client-centricity and technology are emerging
as pivotal themes for law firms as they navigate future challenges and shifting consumer
expectations. Speaking with Andrew Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at Travers Smith, and
Bhavisa Patel, Director of Legal Technology at Eversheds Sutherland, it’s evident that law
firms are focusing more than ever on how to improve client relationships, refine service
delivery, and stay ahead of emerging trends.
At Travers Smith, the firm’s dedication to client satisfaction is clear, with the firm deploying a
robust feedback system, ranging from informal relationship meetings to detailed client interviews.
These insights enable the firm to tailor its approach, adapting to individual client needs and
preferences. As they stress, delivering high-quality legal work is a baseline expectation—what
sets a firm apart is its ability to foster strong relationships through a people-first approach. With
the rise of Generative AI, Travers Smith balances technology with the human element, ensuring
that while AI tools streamline tasks like contract review, they still maintain the personal touch that
clients value.
Eversheds Sutherland takes a similar client-focused approach, integrating their client feedback
into every aspect of service delivery. Their service excellence strategy revolves around
understanding clients’ unique needs and using feedback to continuously improve. Technology,
particularly AI, is viewed as a tool to enhance client service rather than replace human interaction.
They highlight the critical role of lawyers in maintaining trust and ensuring that technology serves
to unlock higher value in client relationships, rather than detract from them.
Looking ahead, both firms acknowledge that technological advancements,
including generative AI, will significantly shape the future of client
service. However, the core takeaway is clear: while technology can
enhance efficiency, the heart of client service remains in strong,
trusting relationships that can’t be replaced by machines.
Gordon also highlights that not only will technology increase
in importance for clients, but so will all facets of responsible
business, including diversity, equity and inclusion, ESG,
and mental health and wellbeing. As the legal industry
transforms, it is the balance of innovation and personal
connection that will drive success.
42

LEGAL
TECH TALK
Interview with
Andrew Gordon
Chief Marketing Officer at Travers Smith
Q: What role does a client-centric approach
play in achieving service excellence at Travers
Smith? How do you foster this within your
team, and how is client satisfaction measured
by the firm?
I think the client centric approach is all about
how we provide legal solutions to our clients. We
have to be able to understand their business and
understand the industry in which they operate.
We’ve got to help the lawyers achieve that - so
making sure that the clients are very much at the
centre of what we’re doing. Client satisfaction is
measured in a number of ways, formally through
client feedback, informally around relationship
meetings partners have with their clients, then
other things such as are we getting repeat
business from the clients.
Lots of lawyers will say ‘we do the best work and
have the best quality lawyers, but just doing good
work - great work even - is a given, it’s a lot more
than that. So I think what we then have to do is
build on the cultural piece. It’s much more around
the people. The work life balance is important
here. So ensuring that people are able to do
high quality work, manage the relationships, and
balance home life is important. People do work
very hard, don’t get me wrong, but that bit is quite
key.
Q: How are you finding balancing the rise
in the use of technology, and how that is
changing the delivery of legal services, with
maintaining that really personal touch?
Over the last 50 years or so we’ve started to see
the increase of that technology piece coming in.
I think, if it’s used in certain background elements
such as contract review, due diligence, etc, where
you previously would have had a few young
lawyers working on that for a week. Now you
don’t have to. It’s a lot quicker, and arguably there
won’t be as many or there aren’t any mistakes,
because machine learning can do it, but you still
need that human intervention whenever you have
technology.
What I was not fully aware of before I joined
Travers was how far the firm had gone on that AI
journey with the launch of Jylo, a new AI software
company of which Travers Smith are the initial
investors. Jylo will operate as an independent
business, providing Travers and its other
customers with a flexible tool that can be tailored
to specific firms, teams and clients rather than a
one size fits all solution – a really interesting take
on AI. And whilst it is really important to have the
right technology in place to get stuff done quickly
and efficiently in a cost-effective manner, getting
the balance right and maintaining that human
interaction with the client, because they still value
that, will become more and more of a priority
going forwards, for all law firms.
Q: Can you describe a little about how client
feedback is gathered at the firm, and then how
that’s put into place?
The client feedback falls into four different
categories. You have feedback on a particular
matter, you have feedback on the relationship
as a whole, and then you have feedback on a
pitch, and feedback on a secondment. Every law
firm has a very similar process to do this and the
questions that they ask. But, things do evolve over
time, and so over 10 years ago a lot of questions
were added on DEI, and CSR and now more
questions have gone in around legal tech and
well-being. Law firms are doing hundreds of these
interviews every year and clients are very engaged
in the process too, with some having sophisticated
feedback gathering processes. It’s one of the most
important tools in the BD armoury that any law
firm has, because you get incredibly rich data out
of it.
43

LEGAL
TECH TALK
Interview with
Andrew Gordon
Chief Marketing Officer at Travers Smith
Q: Have you seen an example of where that
feedback has led to a significant change?
Yes. There’s an example around some pitch
feedback for two particular clients, who are both
in the same industry, and they both send out an
RFP to three different law firms. The win rates
were quite different for both of them - even
though they’re the same type of work, same type
of deals, and in the same sector.
One client said that the most important thing
for them was whether we had done that type
of deal with them before, and if not, whether
we had done that type of deal at all before. The
other client said that they purely looked at it on
price. So we had two pitches going in looking
pretty identical, but the clients are measuring the
outcome in different ways. That enabled us to
make slight changes in how we approach each
pitch with each client ensuring that they were
focused on the metrics the client was using. For
one it was all about the experience, we put that
right up the front - here’s the experience we have
doing this with you and with other deals in the
sector, here’s the intelligence we have, here are
the things you need to be aware of with these
types of deals, etc. For the other one, it’s more
or less all about the price - so you don’t need to
put in as much experience on the deal. Without
doing feedback on the pitches, we never would’ve
known that.
Q: That’s so interesting. What do you think,
looking ahead, we’ll see when it comes to the
client relationship and consumer trends?
I think that one thing that will become really
important is around responsible business. Under
responsible business comes DEI, ESG, wellbeing.
I remember several years ago doing some client
feedback with an EMEA GC, and she said to me
her number one priority was to make sure her
team didn’t burn out, and she didn’t want her
external lawyers burning out. So she said, if I’m
getting emails at 3am from external lawyers, I’m
going to be pretty annoyed. ‘I’m going to give
them a warning and then probably fire them
if they continue to do it, because you can’t be
doing good work, you should be in bed, asleep
at 3am’. Particularly since Covid, wellbeing and
mental health has really come to the forefront
as a key issue.
The other thing goes back to the early 2000s,
around the added value side of law. Lots of
firms started training partners on relationship
management, and soft skills around selling,
negotiation, networking and more. This has
since morphed into a rigorous focus around
account management.
Then also separately, the role of customer
experience with us is key. We’re moving into
our new office in 2026, and it’s really important
to us that the client has a good experience as
soon as they walk into the building. Without
our people, we’re nothing - our people are our
product, our assets. So it’s about focusing on
how we make sure that the interactions they
have with our people are valued, focused, and
productive.
44

LEGAL
TECH TALK
Interview with
Bhavisa Patel
Director of Legal Technology at Eversheds Sutherland
Q: What role does a client-centric approach
play in achieving service excellence at
Eversheds Sutherland? How do you foster
this within your team, and how is client
satisfaction measured by the firm?
We put our clients at the heart of everything we
do across our service excellence community.
Our purpose is to “help our clients, our people
and our communities to thrive” and therefore
you have to put the client first and think about
how you as an individual or we as a team can
ensure we provide them with value and the best
services possible.
Q: As the legal industry becomes more
tech-enabled, how do you balance the use
of technology with the need for personalised
client service, and make sure that technology
enhances the client experience?
Today’s technology has some very smart and
powerful capabilities however it cannot think and
behave like we do as people. Even generative AI
is based on probabilistic outcomes. We therefore
use technology to support and/or unlock our
lawyers in being able to provide a higher level
of value and service to our clients. It is our legal
teams that have gained and maintained clients’
trust and confidence, and this can never be
replaced by a technology solution. We work
within a services industry and the relationships
are still very much a driving force within that
to deliver and perform well. How you use
technology to support them though is where the
true gains are.
We have a very open feedback culture across
the firm and are always open to receiving this
from our clients too, and learning from their
feedback is key to being able to improve our
quality of service. Assumptions are good but can
only get you so far.
Q: Looking ahead, what consumer-focused
trends do you believe will shape the future of
client service in the legal industry? Are there
any strategies the firm is currently putting
in place to prepare to meet these emerging
expectations and needs?
Generative AI would be the popular trend to
mention, however I believe that technology more
generally has a new audience. Generative AI has
opened up people’s eyes to what is possible
through technology and therefore new problems
and opportunities are now coming out of the
woodwork that never would have previously. I
think the legal industry has a lot of exciting
technological transformation coming up in
the next few years and I personally am quite
interested to see where it may lead.
Q: How does Eversheds Sutherland gather
and put into practice client feedback, when it
comes to refining the delivery of legal
services?
Whether directly or indirectly, we want to enable
our lawyers to provide the best and most high
quality service. Understanding things from our
clients’ perspective and ensuring we bring the
client’s voice into our conversations is key to that,
without understanding this you cannot really
understand the heart of their problems.
45

Minutes With...
Monica
Kapur
10 MINS WITH
What is your most memorable achievement
Q whilst working in your current role?
Honestly, I don’t have one particular achievement that
stands out, because every success is a team effort. I have the
privilege of leading an amazing group of people, but the real
achievements come from the teamwork at Isadore Goldman.
It’s the dedication and commitment of each individual that
has built the foundation for everything we’ve accomplished
together.
What has been the most valuable piece of
Q advice you have been given?
“With relentless commitment, you can create the most
incredible”
What has been the key positive or negative
Q impact of change in your area of the market?
A lack of diversity across the profession. Whilst this has been
addressed and it will take time, more needs to be done in
individual firms and across the sector. Leaders in the industry
need to be fully behind making positive changes in respect
of how we encourage a more diverse talent pool. Whilst it
appears to be somewhat more balanced than it was typically
thought to be, representations of women and staff who are
black, Asian or from other minority-ethnic groups declines
substantially with escalating seniority.
If you were not in your current position, what
Q would you like to be doing?
I love to travel particularly off the beaten track. I love
learning about the history and culture of a country when I
travel so my other dream job would be as a travel presenter!
Q
What
three items would you put on display in
a museum of your life and why?
1. My flute- I initially taught myself from a music book my
father bought me as a teen. Whilst I was of a respectable
standard, I hadn’t taken any exams but had always dreamt
of reaching Grade 8. As a newly qualified solicitor, I decided
I wanted to achieve my goal. I studied music theory in my
lunch hour and had music lessons at 8pm after work.
Within 5 years, I obtained my Grade 8 but also went on to
obtain a diploma in music performance (Associate of the
Royal Schools of Music). It just serves as a reminder that
you are never too old to learn something new; take another
chance; create another goal or keep dreaming.
2. My Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Badge- participating
in the DofE programme helped develop my skills and
attitude to become a more rounded, confident adult. I
developed not only leadership and teamwork skills but a
sense of identity. I also learnt from and giving to others in
the community. The scheme really helped me overcome
personal challenges but also gain confidence, resilience, and
focus. In addition, I was honoured to have been invited to
St James’ Palace to meet Prince Philip and bring my dad. It
was a day I will never forget.
3. A picture of my parents- They are not only my best friends
and backbone but my greatest inspiration & motivation.
They have just always been there for me and supported me.
They always taught me to worry less about fitting into glass
slippers and more about shattering glass ceilings. I attribute
every success in my life to them.
QWhat three guests would you invite to a
dinner party?
1. John Grisham
2. Sadhguru (Jagadish Vasudev)
3. Nick Vujicic
Monica Kapur
is a Director at specialist insolvency and restructuring
firm Isadore Goldman.
46

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