Legal Services Bulletin Mar2014
- 1. Legal Services Bulletin March-April 2014 Jason Adderley T: 0121 602 1445 M: 07824 449 577 E: j.adderley@erauk.net : @ERA_Legal COMMENT FEATURES: see overleaf ONSHORE THING Big Law Looks North CASE STUDY REVIEW Susskind says that Case Studies provide a justification for embracing change we agree! The Editor Jason Adderley is a consultant Partner with ERA specialising in managing programmes of work for legal and professional services firms. He has 19 years experience of working with solicitors and other professional consultants as a client and as a service provider. SAVINGS REPORT Weve issued a rash of recommendations in early 2014 across a range of cost areas; successful projects include up to 40% for Archive Storage, up to 48% for Office Supplies, up to 57% for Mobile Phones, up to 66% for Secure Shredding and 30% for Tea & Biscuits! POSTAGE Royal Mail prices are on the rise again and with the advent of Online Business Accounts (OBA), downstream access providers and VAT issues is postage a cost you can afford to ignore? WARM RECEPTION TO OUTSOURCING A recent survey found that 10% of law firms now outsource their reception function. PRACTICE TIPS networkpartner withFrom our perspective were concerned that median spend on non-salary overheads per fee earner has risen by the largest sum for several years up 5.5% to 贈38,129. This may be explained, at least in part, by the accelerating use of outsourcing particularly in IT where 50% of the practices surveyed outsource IT infrastructure, development and IT support - illustrated by the slight fall in the ratio of non- secretarial support staff per fee earner of 0.37. The static ratio of secretaries per fee earner (0.61) also implies that firms are leveraging technology where they can rendering some secretarial tasks redundant particularly as the ratio in 2008 was as high as 0.77. Nevertheless, the survey warns that with upward pressure on salary costs for fee earners and increasing overheads the income each fee earner will need to achieve before contributing a penny to profit is 贈106,744. That is, of course, where ERA can assist. In just the first few months of 2014 weve reported cumulative like for like savings of several hundreds of thousands of pounds for common law firm purchases like archive storage, office supplies, mobile telephones, DX, business print and photocopying. So, as activity increases, our clients are able to lock-in higher margins or divert costs towards the employment of fee earners to grow revenue. As a barometer of the financial health of mid-sized law firms the annual Law Management Section Benchmarking Survey always makes interesting reading. On the positive front practice fee income (4.1%) and PEP (3.6%) have both increased reflecting the general upturn in economic activity.
- 2. Jason Adderley T: 0121 602 1445 M: 07824 449 577 E: j.adderley@erauk.net : @ERA_Legal STUDY CASE REVIEW The projects carried out for Eversheds, Matthew Arnold & Baldwin and Withers are projected to save over 贈1 million cumulatively over the course of ERAs involvement. Clearly, wed be very keen to talk through a programme of work with your firm so please feel free to contact us using the details below. ERAs guidance and expertise was critical to the successful overhaul of our printing, scanning and document production facilities. With their help we now have a Managed Print infrastructure and outsourced on-site Print Room service that delivers exactly what our business needs and that is exceptional value for money. Mike Smith Finance Director for Eversheds Ireland I was highly sceptical of Jasons claims during our initial meetings, but I am happy to say that his team have managed to consistently outperform my expectations, and their specialists know their business. David Abrahams, Finance Director, Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP What struck me was ERAs patience, professionalism and thorough knowledge of the market. Michael Priestley, Head of Business Services Europe and Asia for Withers LLP What convinces lawyers most, is to learn in practice what the actual benefits are and to see concrete case studies, because it seems to me that for any set of experiences or ideas, clever lawyers can always come up with counter ideas or counter arguments. But it is harder to deny the reality of successful case studies. Prof. Richard Susskind OBE ERA is Network Partner with the Legal LSN. LSN Legal Practice Management Conference 2014 The Legal Practice Management conference 2014 is the only event of its kind to specifically target practice managers and directors, heads of operations and heads of finance from small to medium UK law firms. The conference is in London on May 19 For more information visit: www.legalsupportnetwork.co.uk BIGLAWFIRMSLOOKNORTH Berwin Leighton Paisner(BLP) and Hogan Lovells are the two latest firms to launch low-cost hubs outside London. BLP will launch its Manchester office in the summer, to be staffed by paralegals, associates, business services personnel and secretaries. Hogan Lovells has settled on a Birmingham base to offer less complex aspects of work emanating from London. Moving less complex work or support services out of the City has become something of trend in the last few years. Allen & Overy benefitted from a 贈2.5m taxpayer grant to move support services to Belfast, and Ashurst intends to boost its presence in Glasgow with the aim making it the fourth largest office in the firms network. The motivations for the firms are clear; to obtain competitive advantage whilst retaining a level of control and direction for outlying offices, and to respond to clients demands for the cost effective delivery of such services. How can regional mid-tier firms respond? One way could be the adoption of process improvement methodology. West Midlands firms Higgs & Sons has driven forward a 2-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Aston Business School with remarkable results. Glyn Morris, Higgs Finance Director, has led the project and will be appearing at the LSN Legal Practice Management conference in May. IDEA BIG