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Strategy

This section covers succession, specialisation, mergers, selling a law firm, becoming a partner, and business structure

Starting up

How to plan and execute the process of starting up a new legal practice that is compliant and financially healthy

Finance and accounting

How to set up your firm’s systems to provide the information that enables you to improve profitability and cashflow

Avoiding claims. Insurance

How to avoid professional negligence claims, with examples of common problems and suggested solutions. Plus FAQs on PII

Compliance

This section only covers SRA Accounts Rules and GDPR at the moment. Compliance for start-ups is covered in the Starting up...

Cyber security

How to protect your law firm from cyber attacks. What steps to take if your systems are hacked

Managing people

How to recruit and retain a team that is both happy and highly effective, dealing with the HR issues along the way

Marketing basics

In marketing, like anything, you need to get the basics right. Otherwise the time and money you invest in marketing will be wasted

Winning more clients

How to win new clients, make the most of existing relationships, encourage referrals and generate new leads

Your website

How to approach creating a law firm website that works, from agreeing your objectives to making sure you get the results you want

Social media

Why lawyers need to know about social media, how to make the most of the opportunities and how to avoid potential pitfalls

PR and advertising

How to use PR to build your firm’s reputation; and how to create cost-effective advertising – traditional and online – that delivers results

Legal sector quarterly review: video archive

Legal sector review 2023 Q4

This three-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (9 January 2024)

 

Part 1: Andy Poole covers:

  • The increasing popularity of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs)
  • For firms where capital requirements make succession difficult
  • And because of the significant tax advantages for the vendors and employees

 

 

Part 2: Ian Johnson covers:

  • Axiom Ince’s £65m black hole
  • The cost of renewing practice certificates will rise, of course
  • And the SRA will want Reporting Accountants to be more robust in reporting issues

 

 

Part 3: Alex Holt covers:

  • A busy period of conferences, exhibitions, networking events, award ceremonies
  • It's tricky to judge ROI on overlapping events
  • Regulations continue to tighten (AML, etc), but AI is still the hot topic

 

 

Legal sector review 2023 Q3

The latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (4 October 2023)

Andy Poole covers:

  • The alarm caused by the financial difficulties of some consolidators
  • The exit opportunities still presented by well-run buyers in the market
  • Opportunities stemming from the changing regulations for ABSs in Scotland

 

 

Legal sector review 2023 Q2

This two-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (5 July 2023)

 

Part 1: Andy Poole covers:

  • The inaugural LFA conference that took place on 6 June
  • The hot topics and recurring themes from that day
  • What you can expect from our next conference, in 2024

 

 

Part 2: Alex Holt covers:

  • How AI was sensibly perceived by the experts at the LFA conference
  • The importance of fee-earners' personal brands, and being allowed to build one
  • On reflection, the massive benefits of using an expert when it comes to something new

 

 

Legal sector review 2023 Q1

This two-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (5 April 2023)

 

Part 1: Andy Poole covers:

  • The ending of the 130% super deduction
  • Basis period reforms, affecting partnerships without a 31 March year end
  • The ongoing switch to performance-based profit share arrangements

 

 

Part 2: Alex Holt covers:

  • Observations as a judge at the British Conveyancing Awards
  • The focus on staff retention and wellbeing
  • Pricing is being used to limit and control caseloads
  • Leading to higher margins, better service, happier customers

 

 

Legal sector review 2022 Q4

This two-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (10 January 2022)

 

Part 1: Andy Poole covers:

  • How firms are reacting to rising interest rates
  • Potential impact of a recession
  • Legal sector M&A volumes and prices

 

 

Part 2: Alex Holt covers:

  • Beginning of market uncertainty
  • Anxiety in the property market, but some firms still recruiting
  • Complete multi-week shutdowns over Christmas for many firms
  • 2022 was good for firms financially

 

 

Legal sector review 2022 Q3

This three-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (6 October 2022)

 

Part 1: Andy Harris covers:

  • The various mini-Budget changes...
  • ...including the U-turn on the additional rate of income tax
  • But deferring dividends may still make financial sense

 

 

Part 2: Andy Poole covers:

  • Declining confidence and slightly declining activity levels among law firms
  • Law Society's new practice note on closing down a law firm

 

 

Part 3: Alex Holt covers:

  • The continuing high activity levels among Cashroom's client firms
  • The trends and issues around the return-to-the-office
  • Recruitment and retention, which remains a key challenge

 

 

Legal sector review 2022 Q2

This two-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (19 July 2022)

Part 1: Andy Poole covers:

  • Recruitment and retention, and the recent webinar on this
  • The pivotal importance of having a good culture, and measuring this
  • Results of the latest Pulse survey of the legal sector

 

 

Part 2: Jenny Staight covers:

  • How firms are coping with inflation running ahead of salary reviews
  • The non-salary options for remunerating staff, starting with more holiday
  • The key to a successful profit-share scheme

 

 

Legal sector review 2022 Q1

This three-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (5 April 2022)

Part 1: Jenny Staight covers:

  • The impact of the invasion of Ukraine on law firms
  • The Spring Budget
  • The outlook for interest rates

 

 

Part 2: Andy Poole covers:

  • The latest survey reveals decreasing law firm confidence in Q1 and worsening cash flows
  • Recruitment difficulties are adding to firms' concerns
  • As a result, there is a move towards performance-related profit share remuneration

 

 

Part 3: Alex Holt covers:

  • Legal sector awards are back
  • Tips on how to win the award you are aiming for
  • Client reviews, which "complete the picture" of a good law firm

 

 

Legal sector review 2021 Q4

This three-part video is the latest in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (5 January 2022)

Part 1: Andy Poole covers:

  • Going back to basics to plan for future
  • Some owners are exiting
  • Redesigning current and capital accounts
  • Set distribution policy to reward desired outcomes

 

 

Part 2: Andy Harris covers:

  • Strong performance continues
  • Recruitment/retention is the problem area
  • Operating costs are now rising
  • IT/software needs are being reviewed

 

 

Part 3: Alex Holt covers:

  • Events are back, meeting face to face
  • Although some attendances were low
  • Post SDLT holidays, conveyancing remains busy
  • The trend around reviewing processes continues

 

 

Legal sector review 2021 Q3

This four-part video is the second in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition. (8 October 2021)

Part 1: Andy Harris covers:

  • Strong performance continues
  • CBILS and Bounce Back loan state-of-play
  • HMRC’s proposed changes
  • M&A activity

 

 

Part 2: Andy Poole covers:

  • Recruitment and retention
  • Encouraging people back to the office
  • Difficulty of retaining some senior staff
  • How some juniors may lack support

 

 

Part 3: Alex Holt covers conveyancing:

  • Conveyancers remain busy and stressed
  • Higher cost of PI insurance
  • Continued uncertainty after Sept spike

 

 

Part 4: Andy Harris and Andy Poole cover funding:

  • Shortage of capital funding for incoming owners
  • Funding for M&A
  • Why borrowing is more expensive

 

 

Legal sector review 2021 Q2

This podcast is the first in a series of quarterly reviews of the legal sector by the team behind Law Firm Ambition.

Andy Poole, Geoff Dunnett and Alex Holt cover:

  1. Activity levels, profitability
  2. Conveyancing boom
  3. The key steps to take going forwards
  4. Outsourcing trends
  5. M&A
  6. Claims management companies
  7. AML and KYC enforcement