ByLawyers News and Updates

Matter management

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By Guy Dawson, CEO

All practices use technology to a lesser or greater extent to run client matters, produce documents, keep accounts, and access information on ever changing law and practice.

In their guides and precedents, By Lawyers have responded to law office needs by providing practitioners with a system for running all common matters encountered in practice. They have brought together all the ingredients needed for the conduct of most matters in matter plans, taking practitioners from file opening to finalisation with all required letters and documents provided in sequential order accompanied by practical guides and research materials.

These guides and precedents are practice based not academic. Accompanying the precedents are the research materials relevant to each matter. If preparing a contract the law relating to such matters as disclosure requirements or GST are a click away. If conducting a family law matter the rules on pre-action procedures are again a click away. The information runs with the precedents. The precedents themselves run sequentially from starting to ending every matter.

Behind the straightforward commentary is further research material in the 101 series. Alternate precedents are found in libraries so for example the terms of a testamentary discretionary trust are found in the wills library of clauses. As the law changes, so the commentaries are updated on a daily basis relieving the practitioner of the need to keep abreast of changes in the law. If a precedent is not provided then users are welcome to contact By Lawyers and discuss their requirements, which will be met. This pro activity is central to our ethos of providing all that is necessary for practices to conduct all common matters.

By the use of this system it makes little sense for any member of staff including the principal to dictate a letter, or make written notes, or write time sheets to be put on the file later, by someone else. Uniform practices are established throughout the office and immediate and substantial increases in production and profits are achieved.

By Lawyers also provides a subscription based mentoring service to assist with answers that arise in general practice in most areas of law.

Research management

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By Guy Dawson, CEO

A general practitioner rarely requires an in-depth consideration of a matter of law but rather needs to access the law, practice and procedure relevant to a transaction in hand.

For a specialist, these are well understood but for the general practitioner, who may only conduct such a matter occasionally, ready access is a necessity.

This challenge was met by the development of the By Lawyers system of integrating research commentary where needed amongst the precedents with outgoing links to legislation and case law. Behind the straightforward commentary is further research material so for example in real property sale and purchase there is 1001 Conveyancing Answers

The other highly recommended research management initiative is to nominate, at a team meeting, an area of law for a member of staff to take as their area of expertise. This generates a team involvement and an education interest in every staff member. So for instance if a will interpretation question arises the nominated will expert staff member does the research and reports back at a team meeting. Very good for overall morale and individual satisfaction.

Accounts management

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By Guy Dawson, CEO

There are many practitioners who through fear of mistake and the weight of responsibility do not run a trust account. This makes client transactions difficult for them as for example they are asked on short notice to provide bank cheques for settlements. It prevents money being held in trust on account of the practitioner’s future fees for counsel, consultants and contractors. It makes management of getting in estate cash assets cumbersome.

The fear is not really justified as the rules are readily understood and managed.

The simplest way to comply with state trust account regulations is to use an approved accounting software package with appropriate written delegations and procedures. All accounting records are required to be accurate, up to date and regularly monitored. The trust account department of all Law Societies and Institutes is available to assist with any questions. The Handbook on Trust Money and Trust Records, is a comprehensive guide to the statutory trust accounting requirements contained in the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014, and the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulation 2015.

By Lawyers provides a comprehensive straightforward appreciation of trust accounting in its Practice Management Guide.

Precedent management

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By Guy Dawson, CEO

It takes time and no one has any!

Lawyers were once bound to their precedents but much of the content was lifeless dross, added to increase the mystic and bamboozle the client. Over time we have been leaving behind our personal writing style, which typically included repetition and tautology, the lawyer’s favourite mistake, to be replaced by precedent packages. 

In a perfect world, a precedent would be drafted and created in advanced software that automated documents. The precedent would have fields and codes added to it so that the next time one needed to use it those details would ‘drop in’. The precedent would be given an easily identifiable code and stored in a system that allowed for ready accessibility by all members of the team at the exact moment in any matter when they might need it.

Typically however most of us cobble together a precedent from a variety of other precedents and then use it. When required again the trick is to remember the name of the matter in which it was created.

In reality it is but a handful of practices that keep a library of precedents organised by area of practice and subject matter which is readily available to all staff.

The system required is a matter type specific series of precedents organised in the sequence in which they are used and populated by the software in which they are created. Such systems are available and should be the first port of call for those practices that do not have the time and resources to provide their own.

There are of course limitations as for instance letters provided as part of precedent packages are often far too impersonal and do nothing to build the lawyer client relationship. Likewise, specific deeds contracts and agreements may not deal with all the issues at hand. But with a well organised library and some drafting skills the best of the practices of the past and present can be combined.

Systems allow us to make time.

Spend time on the system and time then grows and grows.

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