INSIGHTS

We are committed to sharing our knowledge and perspectives on a range of relevant issues to support our clients to achieve continued improvement in business performance underpinned by a strong culture of regulatory compliance.

Our insights section will be updated regularly with articles and other relevant information to contribute to our clients’ knowledge management. To discuss any of our thinking, which may be of benefit to your organisation, please contact us.

December 15, 2022 in articles

Increasing Board diversity: Diverse interview panel

The ongoing widespread clarion call for racial equity is heart-warming and reminded me of my previous article on unconscious bias. While it is widely accepted that training for senior leaders…
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December 15, 2022 in articles

Better Boards: Guidance for better board papers

A common recent theme at a number of boards/committees where I am fortunate to serve is the important role of producing better board papers that are pitched consistently at the…
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December 24, 2019 in articles

Board oversight: Effective key performance indicators

The increasing expectations of board oversight to cover a wider range of issues has placed a greater demand on key performance indicators (KPIs) to be as comprehensive as possible. The…
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December 24, 2019 in articles

Cyber security: Upgrading board awareness

The recent reported cyber attacks during the ongoing UK general election period is a reminder why board members should raise their awareness of cyber security and to ensure that cyber…
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November 15, 2019 in articles

Board governance: Avoid improper scrutiny

The phrase ‘proper scrutiny’ appears to have grown in prevalence over the recent months and its importance is generally emphasised as critical to maintain good board governance. While proper scrutiny…
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November 9, 2018 in articles

Embrace broken promises

The MAKE Better Customer Outcomes framework consists of the following key principles: Make the right promises Avoid empty promises Keep your promises Embrace broken promises Embracing broken promises means acknowledging incidences where the…
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November 9, 2018 in articles

Keep your promises

The MAKE Better Customer Outcomes framework consists of the following key principles: Make the right promises Avoid empty promises Keep your promises Embrace broken promises A key goal of effective delivery of the…
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November 9, 2018 in articles

Avoid empty promises

The MAKE Better Customer Outcomes framework consists of the following key principles: Make the right promises Avoid empty promises Keep your promises Embrace broken promises Empty promises are those which a business is…
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November 9, 2018 in articles

Make the right promises

The MAKE Better Customer Outcomes framework consists of the following key principles: Make the right promises Avoid empty promises Keep your promises Embrace broken promises A key consideration for any firm that wishes…
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October 22, 2018 in articles

The MAKE Better Customer Outcomes framework

It is not unusual to hear of firms wrestling with the turmoil arising from a failure to keep their promises to customers. It is inevitable that such a breach of…
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March 8, 2017 in articles

Meaningless Meetings: Stop the Pain

The anguish in the voice of an attendee as he stated '…. another meaningless meeting….  ' after a meeting made me wonder why we persist with meaningless meetings. In some respects,…
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November 21, 2016 in articles, Uncategorized

Executive pay: Avoid paying more than is necessary

A supporting principle of the UK Corporate Governance Code with regard to executive pay stipulates that boards (through remuneration committees) should avoid paying more than is necessary. While on the…
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July 5, 2016 in articles

Merger of Equals: Stepping Stone or Stumbling Block

It struck recently me that press releases on proposed mergers usually slip in the phrase 'a merger of equals'. It seems to me that the use of that phrase is…
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May 4, 2016 in articles

Arrogance: Check your Culture

The recent publication by the Law Society of the summary of multiple failings that contributed to the demise of the Veyo project as reported in Legal Futures is commendable. Whilst…
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April 5, 2016 in articles

Building a better talent gym

The next item on the agenda was the strategic risk register which signalled that the board meeting was close to completion. The shuffling of papers by some board members was…
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January 29, 2016 in articles

Leading Change Effectively

Infographic The different views from a range of leaders at the recent World Economic Forum at Davos may not have led to global consensus on the key issues but they…
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November 19, 2015 in articles

Mind the Gap: Unconscious Bias

It was an honour to speak at the TM Group conference on ‘Driving and Adapting to Change’ in London in April 2015 and subsequently at some of the regional seminars…
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September 11, 2015 in articles

Customer documentation: Eat with your eyes first

A common phrase used by TV chefs is “we eat with our eyes first”. This phrase is usually used to reinforce the importance of presenting the contents on the plate…
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May 19, 2015 in articles

5 Signs that Business Leaders may have Abdicated Responsibility for Risk and Compliance

The delegation of risk and compliance responsibilities to nominated officers in legal firms is designed to ensure appropriate organizational focus on regulatory compliance and to enhance accountability for the reasonable…
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May 19, 2015 in articles

In spite of the weather

It was wonderful to be invited to the TM Group Golf event last week and I was looking forward to having fun utilising my raw golf skills (clearly an overstatement).…
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April 1, 2015 in articles

Random thoughts on leadership

Organisational design A commonly held belief by senior leadership is that changing the structure of their organisations will lead to significant improved business performance, which is why this is usually…
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February 26, 2015 in articles

Regulator Shopping: Failure to evaluate may be a missed opportunity

A thread that appears to run through many case studies of successful legal firms is how the business leaders made big bets at critical moments. Underpinning such strategic bets seems…
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January 29, 2015 in articles

Legal Survivor Awards 2030: The winner could be ABS or TLF or RBM?

The licensing of the first Alternative Business Structure (ABS) on 6 October 2011 marked the beginning of the end for traditional law firms (TLF) by some commentators. Although this prediction…
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December 4, 2014 in articles

Prescription is not always the problem

The announcement by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) earlier this year to remove the prescribed number of CPD hours for solicitors was welcome news to some, regretted by some and…
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September 24, 2014 in articles

My USP is no USP

During a conversation with a business leader of a legal firm he admitted with much frustration that they had struggled to date to articulate their firm’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP).…
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August 11, 2014 in articles

Unpacking CHANGE to deliver positive transformation

To maintain competitiveness in dynamic operating environments, it is imperative that legal firms become more flexible and agile with the ability to execute strategy rapidly and more effectively. However, the…
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July 22, 2014 in articles

Building an agile conveyancing team

This article was first published in the June 2014 edition of Property in Practice, the magazine of the Law Society’s Property Section. A rising market presents conveyancing firms with many…
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June 27, 2014 in articles

Should lower costs lead to lower prices?

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) recently concluded the following consultations and the outcome will be eagerly awaited by a range of stakeholders in the legal services market: Compensation Arrangements Review:…
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June 13, 2014 in articles, Uncategorized

What customers want

It was a wonderful honour to speak at the LSN Practice Management Conference 2014. During my session (see my presentation here), we explored developing a better customer experience for tomorrow’s…
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May 7, 2014 in articles

Is Your Compliance Leader Effective?

The first Monday of each month is designated for the senior management meeting at a 15 partner law firm with 180 staff (Firm A). The meetings held in the conference…
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April 23, 2014 in articles

Lessons from the OSCARS 2014

The recent Oscars provided some memorable moments and inspiring speeches. However, surprisingly the speech that resonated most with me, were the words spoken by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President of the…
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March 23, 2014 in articles

Finding the right people

One of the wonderful benefits of the digital age and mobile enabled world is easy access (particularly through blogs and podcasts) to the diverse and inspiring experiences of successful entrepreneurs…
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March 4, 2014 in articles

Why value based pricing?

Warren Buffet famously stated “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Value based buying approach is when customers make purchasing decisions based on a balanced consideration of…
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February 2, 2014 in articles

Designing a better customer service culture

A culture that supports the delivery of a better customer experience is one where all business decisions are taken in the best interests of the target customers. Embarking on any…
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December 16, 2013 in articles

Should I be bothered by QualitySolicitors’ Fixed Fees?

The recent announcement by QualitySolicitors to abandon hourly billing and to more widely embrace fixed fees was surprising but very welcome. Although a pricing strategy based on fixed fees is…
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November 26, 2013 in articles

Eight barriers to a better customer service culture

We must ‘change the culture’ are buzzwords that are used frequently in a variety of situations where organisational performance has fallen below the reasonable expectations of stakeholders particularly customers. Although…
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October 9, 2013 in articles

Treating customers fairly and profitability

Last month I was very honoured to speak at the LFS conveyancing conference 2013 as well as a judge of the LFS conveyancing awards 2013. It was rewarding to share…
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September 26, 2013 in whitepaper

Setting profitable fixed fees through value based pricing – Whitepaper

A guide to better pricing The use of fixed fees is increasing in many industry sectors including professional services. Although it is commonplace in a variety of sectors, there remains…
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September 26, 2013 in whitepaper

Developing a better customer service culture – Whitepaper

A guide to treating customers fairly Encouraging firms to deliver great customer service may be obvious advice. However, the ongoing feedback and complaints from consumers in a variety of industry…
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September 4, 2013 in articles

Consumers can’t handle the truth

I tend to watch a number of consumer issues programmes including some of the following: Watchdog Cowboy Traders Rip off Britain Your Money Their Tricks Cowboy Builders Don’t Get Done…
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July 26, 2013 in articles

Be Different: Think Different

I recently read a thought provoking book by Michael E. Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed called “The Three Rules: How Exceptional Companies Think”. The authors propose the following three rules, which…
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June 21, 2013 in articles

I hope history will thank In-Deed

In recent weeks, a number of commentators have given their respective perspectives on the ‘perceived’ failure of In-Deed. The comments ranging from ‘I told you so’,’ What were they thinking’…
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May 31, 2013 in articles

How to win and retain membership of lenders’ panels (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this article, we started sharing some thoughts on developing an effective strategy for retaining membership on lenders’ panels. Here is the conclusion of the article. Understand…
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May 20, 2013 in articles

How to win and retain membership of lenders’ panels (Part 1)

A few weeks ago, I participated in an interesting discussion on separation representation in a LinkedIn group. That exchange of views highlighted the pain that legal firms are still facing…
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May 2, 2013 in articles

Five ways to win new business through better regulatory compliance

The traditional approach to regulatory compliance by some legal firms is to focus their risk and compliance efforts on keeping the regulator happy or avoiding the regulator getting angry. Whilst…
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April 11, 2013 in articles

Preparing for a regulatory visit

The partners and the other staff involved in the post opening duties were enjoying the regular daily banter, which was suddenly brought to a halt when a letter was opened…
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March 28, 2013 in articles

Handling complaints fairly

The recent report by the Legal Ombudsman on divorce related legal complaints is a helpful reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by some consumers in their interactions with lawyers. Although…
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February 26, 2013 in articles

The financial value of clients

Legal Futures recently reported the following finding from SRA’s interim thematic report on conveyancing, which I found quite puzzling: “conveyancing clients were in most cases no less financially valuable to…
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January 10, 2013 in articles

LSB Thematic review of Conveyancing – Implications for mortgage lenders

In December 2012, the Legal Services Board (LSB) published its thematic review of conveyancing. The LSB looked at the conveyancing market from the point of view of legal regulation and…
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December 4, 2012 in articles

Enhancing transparency in legal fees

The clarion call for increased transparency and certainty of legal fees is getting louder as highlighted in the recent article in the November edition of Management Today; (Luke Johnson: Trade…
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October 31, 2012 in articles

Improving performance through better design

Constant change in the external environment arising from competitive pressures, customer/stakeholder expectations, regulatory changes, and rapid technological innovation necessitates effective organisations to adapt continually their organisational architecture to ensure execution…
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October 31, 2012 in articles, compliance

Regulatory challenges facing legal firms

Regulatory landscape In an ever changing regulatory and business environment with increasing consumer expectations, regulation is constantly evolving and legal firms need to keep up with the changes and the…
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September 10, 2012 in articles

Internal Audit – The Control for your Internal Controls

Despite the initial concern about the new compliance requirements for legal services providers regulated by the SRA. It is pleasing to note the steps that firms are taking to comply…
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August 8, 2012 in articles, compliance

Are your compliance arrangements suitable?

This is a question that many firms are grappling with and anxiously seeking guidance to address their concerns with regard to Regulation 8.2 of the SRA Authorisation Rules. In particular…
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