Mid-size law firms embrace big ideas for future
Findings suggest firms who collaborate are more likely to innovate
Mid-size law firms are looking for big ideas and are focused on strategy, according to research carried out by LawNet, the collaborative non-profit network.
Research participants said they were focused on the big issues in their businesses and ranked opportunities to learn the latest leadership thinking from outside the legal sector as most important to achieving that.
Other top-five factors reported for the future success of firms were leading-edge approaches to financial management, quality processes and risk management culture. The findings also revealed that being open to collaboration can generate big gains.
“Law firm leaders can be cautious about sharing their ideas and concerns with peers in other firms,” said LawNet chief executive Chris Marston, “but being open-minded about the opportunities offered by collaboration can make a meaningful difference in terms of thinking and attitudes. We see some exciting examples across our network, with firms working together in areas from robotics through to HR.”
He added: “Openness encourages reciprocity. I can think of a case in our network of one firm sharing their experience in developing career pathways backed up by a competency framework, and the receiving firm sharing their ideas and experiences of outsourcing in return. Our members know they can speak very openly with their network peers in a non-competing environment, but there is a real opportunity for greater co-operation in the sector generally.”
The findings were drawn from a research project undertaken with LawNet’s 70-strong membership during February and March 2020, as part of the network’s audit process.
Drilling down, the findings were analysed by size of firm across the network. This showed that despite narrow variations in the ranking at different turnover levels, the top five factors remained constant across all the firms surveyed.
Explained member engagement and strategy director Helen Hamilton Shaw: “Our members tend to be in the £2m to £25m turnover range, which gives a coherent group for research purposes in a sector ranging from sole practitioner to Magic Circle, but it’s important for us to understand variations across the membership to tailor future support.
“There were some differences in ranking of future priorities, reflecting capacity of different size firms, but it was interesting to see the consistency across the network, with every size of firm saying that embracing big ideas was vital.
“Opportunity may play a part in that, as activities like our annual conference bring in international-class speakers from across the corporate world, beyond anything most firms could access otherwise. This often takes participants out of their comfort zone, introducing them to ideas that are not yet mainstream, but we find everyone welcomes the learning, even if only to understand what is coming.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Press information:
Maggie Taylor, Prima PR & Marketing
Direct line: 0207 846 0096 Mobile: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Helen Hamilton-Shaw, Member Engagement & Strategy Director, LawNet
Direct line: 01926 834622 Email: hhamilton-shaw@lawnet.co.uk
Notes to Editor:
About LawNet
LawNet was established in 1989 to enable a collaborative, mutually-owned national network where independent law firms could access big firm resources and benefit from collective purchasing, shared knowledge, best practice and expertise.
All members share a commitment to excellence and must achieve and maintain LawNet’s own ISO.9001 standard and the associated Mark of Excellence in client service.
There are currently some 70 member firms, ranging from £2m to £25m in turnover, giving a combined aggregate turnover in excess of £300m, equivalent to a UK Top 15 law firm.
Independent research shows LawNet is most highly valued by members for delivering in six key areas – learning, networking, PII, practice support, marketing, risk management and compliance. It currently places over £1bn worth of PII cover alone for members each year, which helps stabilise premiums for firms.
LawNet scoops second industry award
A collaborative approach to learning and skills development in the legal sector has won member network LawNet a coveted national award.
Named winner of the Supporting the Industry Modern Law award 2020, this is the second time the collaborative non-profit network for independent law firms has scooped the accolade in the category for organisations with up to 25 employees.
The award was made to recognise the impact of the LawNet learning programme, which allows the 2500 lawyers across the network’s 70 independent law firms to access bespoke learning support in a collaborative setting, where open discussion can take place, including its Annual Conference, which brings together around 300 delegates each November.
Through a peer-to-peer environment, the network is able to deliver events tailored to the audience and at a level that could otherwise be inaccessible to many firms, with high calibre speakers and leading edge topics covered in a programme that is mainly free to access.
Over the last five years LawNet has invested £1.1m in delivering around 270 events with more than 5,500 delegates taking part. The wide-ranging programme includes technical legal and skills-based learning as well as business management events, all designed to challenge, inspire and motivate members to continually improve and raise the level of expertise across their firms, with topics tailored in response to feedback from members.
LawNet is a member-owned national network of 70 SME law firms located across the UK and
Ireland. The eight-strong head office team provides a wide range of benefits and services to member firms to support their business aims, with learning being a cornerstone of that package.
Pete Riddleston, LawNet’s director of learning & quality, explained: “Strategically, our learning programme is focused on growing a community of learners looking to share best practice and understand the latest thinking on the challenges they face. This demands a broad ranging programme, with topics that currently range across mental health and wellbeing, fraud and cyber security and sales skills.
“It’s important we support learners at different stages of their careers as well, whether that is through commercial awareness and time management for trainee solicitors and junior lawyers or introducing new managers and leaders to the essentials of running a successful law firm.”
The network previously won the Supporting the Industry award for its customer excellence programme, which supports its members through external measurement of the client experience to drive needs-based support and training. Firms use the results of regular client experience reviews and benchmarked client surveys to improve customer satisfaction and are audited through the network’s own ISO 9001 Quality Standard.
“The aim is a community of engaged, reflective learners rather than simply complying with regulatory requirements and we continually build our programmes in response to member input. We want to inspire our members to engage with new thinking and ideas to ensure the future success of their firms,” said LawNet chief executive Chris Marston.
“We know that being the best in every way – whether through skills, client service or process – is what sets LawNet firms apart and helps to keep them out in front in today’s competitive market. We’re committed to developing services that help our members succeed and pooling resources enables them to achieve more in an affordable way. That ethos is reflected in our learning provision, which is largely free as it is funded through the annual member contributions, and is regularly cited as one of the biggest benefits of membership.”
Links to download pictures:
Picture caption:
The LawNet team pictured at the awards evening, left to right, George Coombes, Chris Marston, Helen Hamilton-Shaw, Graham Ford, Ross Lobley, Pete Riddleston
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Press information:
Maggie Taylor, Prima PR & Marketing
Direct line: 0207 846 0096 Mobile: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Helen Hamilton-Shaw, Member Engagement & Strategy Director, LawNet
Direct line: 01926 834622 Email: hhamilton-shaw@lawnet.co.uk
Notes to Editor:
About LawNet
LawNet was established in 1989 to enable a collaborative, mutually-owned national network where independent law firms could access big firm resources and benefit from collective purchasing, shared knowledge, best practice and expertise.
All members share a commitment to excellence and must achieve and maintain LawNet’s own ISO.9001 standard and the associated Mark of Excellence in client service.
The combined aggregate turnover of the 70 firms comprising LawNet is currently in excess of £300m – equivalent to a UK Top 15 law firm – with members ranging from £2m to £25m turnover.
Independent research shows LawNet is most highly valued by members for delivering in six key areas – learning, networking, PII, practice development, marketing, compliance. It currently places over £1bn worth of PII cover alone for members each year, which helps stabilise premiums for firms.
Trust trumps cost when clients choose a law firm
Biggest-ever sector research reveals client motivations and highlights the cultural shift needed by firms to match growing expectation
Price transparency rules require law firms to open their costings and credentials to greater scrutiny, but reputation and trust are the most important factors when it comes to choosing a firm, according to benchmarked consumer-facing research.
The findings are drawn from the biggest-ever client experience research project conducted in the legal sector, with almost 70,000 satisfaction surveys and 5,000 anonymous experience reviews undertaken during the past six years by LawNet, the collaborative non-profit network for independent law firms, as part of its ISO 9001 audited Excellence Mark.
The responses showed that just 4% of new business is won on price, with two-thirds generated through reputation and trust – comprised of 30% from existing clients, 19% by recommendation and 17% because of the people or character of the firm.
When it came to cost, more important to clients than the price quoted was understanding how charging worked. They also wanted to know the benefits of using the firm and to be kept updated as work progressed, highlighting the need for firms to tackle negotiating and sales skills, as well as strong client reporting.
This reflects findings by the Law Society suggesting buyers cannot differentiate between firms, yet only 28% of firms in national benchmarked surveying[1] explain why a client should choose them. Similarly, SRA research shows 95% percent of lawyers think they explain the charging system clearly at the outset, but only 70% of clients agree[2].
“Many lawyers see negotiating as part of their core skill set, yet our research suggests there is often a skills gap when it comes to talking about costs with clients,” said Helen Hamilton-Shaw, LawNet member engagement & strategy director. “But it is an issue that responds well to targeted action, once firms know they need to develop skills. Across the network, the way that walk-in enquiries are handled has improved by 24% in the past four years, and the way that staff handle a potential sales lead, by asking for permission to follow up on the enquiry, has shown a massive 41% improvement.”
The Excellence Mark is an integral part of the LawNet ISO 9001 standard and the measure by which client service is audited across all member firms. Delivered and measured through independent providers, the resulting knowledge is used to guide improvements, training and future development.
Added Hamilton-Shaw: “We have clear evidence that this process of measurement and support can drive significant performance improvements in firms. LawNet firms are almost 20% ahead of the sector in delivering the sales experience needed to drive new business and 13% ahead in terms of overall client satisfaction, and this follows through into their business outputs.”
Those figures are drawn from the anonymously-conducted experience reviews, where overall performance by LawNet firms increased by 15% from 2013 to 2019. This now stands at 67%, compared with 58% across the rest of the sector[3]. At headline level, overall satisfaction recorded in the benchmarked surveying across all firms stood at 89% in 2012-13. Following targeted action, this now stands at 97%, which is 13% higher than the sector as a whole, according to the LCSP Tracker Survey 2018.
With the rise of online reviews and peer-to-peer recommendations, the survey process is now integrated with ReviewSolicitors to encourage customers to leave comments. Firms are supported in developing the techniques necessary to manage these publicly-posted reviews and currently LawNet members dominate the rankings on the review website[4].
Also measured is the all-important indicator of whether a client would recommend the firm they have used to others and 95% of clients across the network say they would recommend the LawNet firm they used.
Said LawNet chief executive Chris Marston: “We developed our audited Excellence Mark because we saw client-focused service as the most important way our law firm members could add value and differentiate themselves, whilst retaining their independence, individual identity and brand. Six years on, the evidence speaks for itself.”
LawNet’s publication TARGETING EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES: clients | employees | service covering the research and learning is available as a White Paper : http://bit.ly/LawNetClientExperience
HOW IT WORKS:
Regular client experience reviews are a requirement for all members, with independent researchers acting as potential clients to interact with firms. Researchers use the telephone, unscheduled walk-in, web contact, live chat, bots and out-of-hours routes to make their enquiries, with samples being taken across different departments throughout the year, equating to a monthly check-in, but avoiding any regular pattern that firms could identify and respond to. Firms receive one-to-one feedback and in-practice training to support findings.
Client feedback is captured through online satisfaction questionnaires, delivered independently through an online portal, measuring strengths and weaknesses, fee earner performance and overall satisfaction levels. While performance is benchmarked against fellow LawNet members and other firms taking part nationally, firms are offered increasing personalisation to enable tracking of specific issues and initiatives, including an option to share client feedback on the ReviewSolicitors website.
Click here to download PDF of White Paper and images
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Press information:
Maggie Taylor, Prima PR & Marketing
Direct line: 0207 846 0096 Mobile: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Helen Hamilton-Shaw, Member Engagement & Strategy Director, LawNet
Direct line: 01926 834622 Email: hhamilton-shaw@lawnet.co.uk
Notes to Editor:
About LawNet
LawNet was established in 1989 to enable a collaborative, mutually-owned national network where independent law firms could access big firm resources and benefit from collective purchasing, shared knowledge, best practice and expertise.
All members share a commitment to excellence and must achieve and maintain LawNet’s own ISO.9001 standard and the associated Mark of Excellence in client service.
The combined aggregate turnover of the 70 firms comprising LawNet is currently in excess of £300m – equivalent to a UK Top 15 law firm – with members ranging from £2m to £25m turnover.
Independent research shows LawNet is most highly valued by members for delivering in six key areas – learning, networking, PII, practice development, marketing, compliance. It currently places over £1bn worth of PII cover alone for members each year, which helps stabilise premiums for firms.
[1] insight6 : legal sector client experience benchmarking, 2019
[2] LawNet 2019
[3] insight6 : Client Journey Programme, 2019
[4] ReviewSolicitors rankings September 2019: LawNet firms hold two of the top three rankings, six of the top 10 and 11 of the top 20.
Recruitment is greatest challenge for law firms
Recruitment is the most pressing challenge for mid-size independent law firms according to benchmarked research, which showed almost a quarter of the firms surveyed ranked it their biggest issue, over efficiency and process, data management or partner performance management.
The results were drawn from the annual LawNet financial benchmarking survey, which is undertaken independently by the specialist legal team at PKF Francis Clark. Each year, members are asked a range of questions in various areas including financial performance, people structure, financing and practice management issues.
The resulting financial and management information is merged with insight on the financial health of the whole UK legal sector to enable firms to compare their own performance with similar firms in the member network and beyond.
Andrew Allen, who heads the legal sector team at PKF Francis Clark said: “Benchmarking helps firms see trends and we combine that with suggestions to aid decision making, so it is based on reliable data and focused on improving future financial strategic thinking and planning.”
He added: “The underlying message from the survey in 2018 is clear; firms are most concerned about attracting and retaining the best people to deliver services to clients, while operational effectiveness on a day-to-day basis comes in behind.”
Chris Marston, chief executive at LawNet added: “Benchmarking is not just about knowing what’s happening today; the long-term value is in how it focuses attention and drives action in key areas, such as reducing lock up, where we’ve seen impressive progress across our member firms in recent years.”
He added: “There’s real value in being able to see how your firm’s performance compares specifically with your peers, as well as the sector at large.”
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- The questionnaire was completed by members of LawNet from July to September 2018, covering a range of questions in various areas including financial performance, people structure, financing and practice management issues at Q3/2018. Survey participants were also asked to comment on the greatest challenges for the future in their respective firms and asked to rank their three choices in order of greatest significance, with 23% saying recruitment was their biggest challenge. Insights into the overall UK legal sector are also compiled by PKF Francis Clark.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Press information:
Maggie Taylor, Prima PR & Marketing
Direct line: 020 7 846 0096 Mobile: 0797 3767 602 Email: maggie@primapr.co.uk
Helen Hamilton-Shaw, Member Engagement & Strategy Director, LawNet
Direct line: 01926 834622 Email: hhamilton-shaw@lawnet.co.uk
Notes to Editor:
About LawNet
LawNet was established in 1989 to enable a collaborative, mutually-owned national network where independent law firms could access big firm resources and benefit from collective purchasing, shared knowledge, best practice and expertise.
All members share a commitment to excellence and must achieve and maintain LawNet’s own ISO.9001 standard and the associated Mark of Excellence in client service.
The combined aggregate turnover of the 70 firms comprising LawNet is currently in excess of £300m – equivalent to a UK Top 15 law firm – with members ranging from £2m to £25m turnover.
Independent research shows LawNet is most highly valued by members for delivering in six key areas – learning, networking, PII, practice development, marketing, compliance. It currently places over £1bn worth of PII cover alone for members each year, which helps stabilise premiums for firms.
PKF Francis Clark’s specialist legal team advise over 100 law firms across the UK from sole practitioners to some of the UK’s largest law firms.
Celebrating its Centenary year, chartered accountants and business advisers PKF Francis Clark has annual revenue of £45 million, a team of more than 700 people and 55 partners. The award-winning firm has seven offices across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. PKF Francis Clark is a member of PKF UKI which is ranked 11th in the Accountancy Age 2017 survey of top accountancy firms and the fastest growing in the Top 20.