The third edition of the British Conveyancing Awards is just around the corner. Alongside a new, larger venue and a new headline sponsor in Groundsure, #BCAwards2023 is all about recognising and rewarding the herculean efforts of conveyancing superheroes who, despite hurdles aplenty, continue to go above and beyond to help clients move into their dream home.
Ahead of the splendour and celebration on the 21st March, Today’s Conveyancer will recognise those who help make the event possible through a series of “Sponsor Spotlight” pieces. Here, networking sponsor Taylor Rose MW’s Head of Consultant Services Nick Stimson tells all.
First, tell us who you are and what you do?
Taylor Rose MW is an award winning, top-60 independent law firm with 1,600+ experts operating nationwide.
I’m and I oversee our marketing-leading consultant programme. Currently, there are approximately 900 members of our consultant community. To service our consultants and their teams, we have four dedicated consultant services departments which integrate with the wider Taylor Rose MW organisation. These are Marketing, Talent Acquisition, Concierge, and Finance.
What prompted you to stand beside the British Conveyancing Awards 2023 as Networking Sponsor?
We are already recognised as one of the largest providers of conveyancing legal services. The British Conveyancing Awards is established as a red letter day for all property law legal professionals to attend and a major event in the legal calendar, so it seemed a good fit right from the start!
Taylor Rose MW are pioneers of the consultancy working model for law firms. What are the benefits of this working model for lawyers and their clients?
Unlike other large alternative law firms, our innovative hybrid business model combines a traditional nationwide office network with our market-leading consultancy programme. We have a sophisticated supervision structure that can cater to most qualified legal professionals.
The consultant gains access to our organisation’s infrastructure, so we provide their IT systems, case management system, office network, help with business development and marketing, supervision, and administration functions. Also very importantly, our consultants are covered by our Personal Indemnity Insurance.
For property, we frequently provide work for our consultants and give access to our lender panels and accreditations, plus they have the backing of our trusted brand.
The consultant in returns splits their fees with us, which (depending on their total billing) could see them take home up to 75%. This enables legal professionals to take back control of their life and career. The consultant choses their workload, working hours, fees, and there are no specific targets. More importantly, it allows them to work smarter, not harder and concentrate on providing excellent client care and billing.
Also, a consultant can build their team with Taylor Rose MW, they can appoint other consultants and support staff as required, so with our model essentially you can have a firm within a firm. We are creating an army of legal entrepreneurs.
Lastly, our consultant concierge team is always on hand to help and guide the consultants.
In a similar vein, what do you see as the key challenges facing traditional law firms and their staff?
Our CEO Adrian Jaggard recently commented on this in the legal press. We believe talent retention is, and will continue to be, one of the major challenges ahead. This is where our programme helps. By nature, most lawyers are aspirational and have clear career path goals. Therefore, any deterioration of the firms’ market position will negatively impact their retention. Opportunities generated by successes can satisfy evolving employee expectations. Consultancy is now a path, a choice which many legal professionals are considering and choosing as their future.
How do you see this kind of business structure evolving in 2023 and beyond?
I believe that consultancy will continue to address well-rehearsed issues in legal services, e.g., compliance, IT, rising indemnity costs, etc. As a result, the market will continue to attract more alternative law firm entrants and qualified legal professionals to switch from employed positions or sole practitioner status to consultancy. We are already recognised as one of the leading legal consultancy firms in the UK, and we aim to build on this momentum and continue to grow through our M&A and marketing activities.
