Back to the future: predicting climate change hazards
The data insights we have into climate change impacts never fails to surprise: we know that around 4,000 properties are at substantial risk from coastal erosion across the UK, and over the next 80 years this is expected to jump up to around 23,000. Our data models also show an increase of more than half […]
R.I.P Universal Google Analytics – hello Google Analytics 4
Rich Dibbins – founder of Staxton Digital – has worked with 100s of law firms over the last 10 years to help them improve their digital marketing. The first place he starts is Google Analytics. Rich shares with us his key insights into the new Google Analytics 4. Google Analytics is shutting down on July […]
92% of lawyers have faced stress or burnout, study finds
Survey finds 92% of lawyers have experienced stress or burnout because of their job, with more than a 25% experiencing it daily Legatics, developers of a legal transaction management platform, today announced the findings of a new survey conducted in collaboration with YouGov that reveals the impact stress, burnout and over work are having on […]
Conveyancers warned of smart home installation risks
Caveat emptor: get the smart home installation details before completing on a new home A cautionary tale for conveyancers: where smart home systems are installed, you should make sure you obtain all the installation records and any software files and records before completion. Speaking on how conveyancers can manage the risk that comes with smart […]
New guide tackles lack of empathy in law firms
A free guide has been launched to help lawyers improve their reputation for client care, build more valuable relationships with clients, reduce client churn and maximise profits. The guide, developed by Moneypenny, includes include practical tips to improve empathy in legal practice and ensure employees’ use of language hits the mark. It also addresses the […]
Gove: housing crisis hurt Tories in local elections
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has suggested that the issue of homeownership hurt the Conservatives in last week’s local elections. The elections saw the Conservatives lose 487 seats and 12 councils, while Labour gained five and the Liberal Democrats gained three. Labour (74) now control over […]
“Mental health culture change” needed
LawCare and the Law Society of England and Wales have joined forces to call for a change of culture in the profession, as they mark the start of Mental Health Awareness Week. LawCare’s 2021 Life in the Law report examined the culture and working practices in law and the impact of these on legal professionals’ […]
Research shows law firms cut marketing budgets
Lawyers slash marketing budgets and headcount in 2021 with outsourcing and digital marketing embraced New research amongst law firms and accountants with more than 15,000 employees reveals that marketing and business development budgets were cut to 2.6% of turnover in 2022 from 3.1% in 2020. For a typical professional services firm with a £20 million […]
Firm cuts remote workers’ pay by 20%
London law firm Stephenson Harwood has offered staff the option to work from home permanently – but remote workers will see their pay cut by 20%. According to the BBC, the firm recruited workers from outside London during the pandemic who worked remotely but were paid less. The firm is now offering this remote working […]
MPs demand SDLT is scrapped as 1.2m homes become liable
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is facing calls from Conservative MPs to cut or remove Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). This comes as rising house prices have caused 1.2 million homes to become liable for stamp duty since the start of the pandemic. Alongside this, 4.3 million homes have been pushed into higher rates, […]
Loneliness in the legal sector
Humans are hard-wired to connect – we are tribal and social animals. We are biologically programmed to need other humans, and a feeling of belonging and connection drives our happiness. Despite this, many of us will know what it’s like to be lonely, especially after living through two years of reduced social interaction. Loneliness arises […]
LinkedIn becomes most impersonated brand by phishers
New research has shown LinkedIn as the most frequently impersonated brand used in phishing attacks, with more than 52% of incidents worldwide using LinkedIn’s likeness. Cybersecurity company Check Point reported last year that LinkedIn were the fifth-most impersonated brand in Q4, accounting for 8% of incidents. The company’s latest figures show LinkedIn has moved to […]
Q1 2022 property trends: a welcome return to normality
The biggest headline emerging from Landmark’s Q1 2022 Property Trends Report is that the data signals a very welcome shift back towards pre-pandemic market conditions after the turbulence of 2020 and 2021. This is undoubtedly good news for conveyancing lawyers. For law firms dealing with property transactions, peaks and troughs can be difficult to resource […]
Dealing with boundary problems
Ian Quayle, CEO of IQ Legal Training, provides some practical tips for busy practitioners. The issue of boundary identification is a problem for both residential conveyancers and commercial property lawyers for a number of reasons: The lack of reliable information on which to base the decision where a legal boundary actually sits. Over-reliance on unreliable […]
“Firms that invest in staff are the ones that will benefit in the long-run”
The challenges of the last two years have led to some serious self-reflection across our industry. While many of us have re-evaluated our work/life balance, others have reconsidered their career path and training prospects. With so many conveyancers leaving the industry over the last five years due to stress levels and unrealistic caseloads – me […]
Four ways your firm can support access to justice
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare what the Free Legal Advice Sector has feared and warned about for many years. Inadequate funding has caused free legal advice provision to remain fragile and inconsistent nationwide, leaving frontline charities faced with increasing calls for immediate support, as resources shrink. Advice deserts are a growing concern with many […]
The problem with estate rentcharges
Problems are being encountered by residential conveyancers acting for buyers of freehold property subject to estate rentcharges, and the purpose of this article is to clarify some of those problems. This includes clients purchasing freehold houses and the transfer including provision for the buyer to pay for services. Even though the payment is not described […]
Is now a good time to buy?
Six months on from the end of the Stamp Duty Holiday, the residential property market appears to be extremely buoyant. House prices have risen at the fastest rate for many years. Although average house prices started to grow slowly at the beginning of January, they grew nonetheless and may continue to grow for the foreseeable […]
Does ID/AML have to be a drama?
The recent thought-provoking ITV drama “Our Home” highlighted the possible nightmare scenario of going away for a few days and coming back to find strangers moving into your house. A cleverly orchestrated fraud (if a little too simplistic) sees a London home sold fraudulently, demonstrating real challenges that exist in our system if quite simple […]
AML within the property industry: why the two-tier approach?
Each year there are over 1.5 million homes listed for sale in the UK and the potential sellers of each all require anti-money laundering (AML) checks – often there’s more than one check per property in the case of joint ownership. Since June 2017, property buyers, at the point that an offer is accepted, are […]