What do people know about law and lawyers?
Slater & Gordon commissioned a survey of 2,000 people to find out what people knew about law and lawyers. The results are staggering. According to Legal Futures 44% of those surveyed did not [...]
Flexibility – the skill of the 21st century
When I first started out in practice it was common for High Street firms to expect practitioners to turn their hand to many different areas of law – I did residential and commercial conveyancing [...]
All good things come to an end…..or perhaps not entirely….
It is an appropriate time to announce that after 20 years on the road it is time to call a halt to the many miles I travel in the course of a year to see you all. I am sure the climate will [...]
Do you have a learning culture in your law firm?
The Law Society Gazette reports that the SRA conducted a survey of 500 firms which showed how well they were embracing the revised approach to continuing professional development to remain [...]
Inheritance Tax Review – second report from Office of Tax Simplification
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) were tasked by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in January 2018 to review a wide range of administrative and technical aspects of inheritance tax (IHT). The [...]
Should the well-advised benefit from relief from Inheritance Tax?
An organisation called Tax Justice Network was reported in the Guardian on 3 June 2019 as having published a report entitled “How Inheritance Tax breaks favour the well-off”. It comments on the [...]
Are your service levels consistent?
As many of you know, I suffer from inflammatory bowel disease which means I must be careful what I eat. I am intolerant of gluten, dairy and eggs. This makes life interesting when I am travelling [...]
Income tax on income received during the administration of an estate
Hot off the press from HMRC - they clarify the correct income tax treatment in Estate Administration. There are three ways in which income tax may be accounted for during the administration [...]
Are you continuing to be competent?
Practitioners still mention to me they have not completed their 16 hours of CPD this year even though we left these rules behind for good in October 2016. I wonder just how many people are [...]
Quality, Quantity, Cost and Time
In the Tolley’s Bellweather Report solicitors believe 33% of their business on average is won purely on price rather than on the expertise of the firm. A telling 26% of those surveyed did not [...]
