![David Lester (senior partner at Blythe Liggins), Darryl Barnes, Jagdeep Sandher (head of dispute resolution at Blythe Liggins)[4]](https://d1d8vslyhr7rdg.cloudfront.net/Pictures/274x183/4/2/8/116428_davidlesterseniorpartneratblytheligginsdarrylbarnesjagdeepsandherheadofdisputeresolutionatblytheliggins4_981603_crop.jpg)
Martin Langan
- Opinion
Automated response on traffic offences
Road Traffic Representation does not handle cases in a traditional way.
- News
Time is running out for Luddites
This weekend saw some momentous failures in football refereeing decisions at the top of the Premier League, at a time when the climax to the season is being approached and much of the world is watching on television.
- News
It’s not all about the marketing
Here we are then, 2011, the year of the alternative business structure. If you don’t believe that implementation of the Legal Services Act will have a major impact on the legal market then don’t bother reading on, as nothing I can say will change your mind and neither will ...
- News
Hotel meetings and break clauses
I attended a meeting in a hotel lobby this week. As I entered the vast room, I was struck by just how many similar meetings were going on.
- News
Go for web services and automation but don’t forget your clients
Forgive me for returning to this subject, but as we move into an era of providing services in new ways there are plenty of examples of how not to do it, from those who have had years of experience and who really ought to know better.
- News
Solicitor comparison websites are an opportunity (though prices will fall)
The launch of the solicitors’ comparison website wigster.com, reported by the Gazette, is likely to engender polemic reaction from within the profession.
- News
No way through the RTA portal
The MoJ RTA web portal continues to suffer from bad planning, implementation and a failure to consult. One legal software company has sent this communication to its clients: ‘We are pleased to announce that we can now provide Phase 1* ...
- News
Time for a ‘meetings tsar’?
One of the things I don’t miss since leaving partnership is the endless round of meetings. Partners’ meetings, departmental meetings, team meetings, one-to-one meetings, the list goes on. Were they all necessary? Did they always achieve something?
- News
How does your firm manage online enquiries?
When law firms first started to promote themselves online, their websites were little more than brochures: ‘This is who we are, this is where to find us and you can phone or email us for more information.’ Many firms have at least moved on to a more interactive experience for ...
- News
Technology does not mean the dumbing down of professional services
I occasionally hear lawyers bemoan the dumbing down of professional services, particularly where commoditisation is concerned.
- News
Change is happening quicker than you think
Outside of the personal injury claims world (and within it in many quarters) a highly significant change in legal practice is slipping in almost unnoticed.
- News
Commuting – a cold comfort
I work from home most of the time, but when I call my lawyer clients they are almost invariably in the office. All that changed during the recent cold snap, when heavy snowfalls made travelling very hazardous. Suddenly, lawyers up and down the country were logging onto their networks from ...
- News
Ditch cheques – go on, you know you want to
Are you offering your clients a bill payment method that is in ‘terminal decline’? That is how the board of the UK Payments Council this week described cheque transactions. No, I’d never heard of the UK Payments Council either, but apparently they can dictate how we pay for stuff...
- News
Partnerships as a structure may be unable to compete with ABSs
Listening to the lively debate at PR firm Byfield Consultancy’s launch of a report into life after the Legal Services Act this week, I couldn’t help but muse on the term ‘alternative business structure’. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that it is most firms’ business ...
- News
Slash costs by not going anywhere (you will need video instead, though)
I spent a fascinating afternoon at the Legal Video Network Summit in London recently...
- News
Law firm standards should inform their commercial behaviour
Regular readers will know that I am an advocate of law firms getting their acts together as businesses, but this is not to say that solicitors should in any way give up the particularly high service standards set for the protection of clients’ best interests.
- News
Don’t give away the Crown jewels – hold on, where are those Crown jewels?
I see that that venerable London institution, the London Evening Standard, is becoming a freebie after 182 years of Londoners paying for it. The most interesting comment on this came from the Standard’s editor Geordie Greig...
- News
Might affordable video meetings finally be here for law firms?
Last week, I needed to walk my client through some workflows that I had created for his firm. The trouble was he is based in Hull, which is around 270 miles away from me.
- News
Might the end of the long-serving six-minute unit be in sight?
For at least the past 30 years, chargeable time has been recorded in units of six minutes. Various justifications are made out for the six-minute unit but, whatever the reasons, it’s just been a convenient measure because hourly rates can be divided by 10 to calculate the value of a ...
- News
Going paperless is easier than you think, and good for your firm
Lawyers can get very hung up on the need to keep paper copies of everything. It’s just not necessary!