ByLawyers News and Updates

By Lawyers Alerts – reducing stress

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To reinforce the currency of our publications, we have extended our Alerts system.

At By Lawyers we are committed to reducing stress for small law firms and ensuring practitioners have what they need, when they need it. Our matter plans provide you with the precedents you are looking for and our commentaries give you as much  – or as little – support as required.

Most importantly, our publications always include the latest in legislative and procedural changes.

Alerts have always been posted in our publications as a way of letting you know, at a glance, of any recent updates to the law and advising you when our precedents and commentaries have been updated. However, sometimes there simply aren’t any changes that you need to know about – and we think you need to know that, too.

From now on, where there are no changes current, our publications will display the reassuring flag ‘Alerts – Nil’.

‘Alerts – Nil’ at the top of a matter plan indicates that there have not been any recent changes in that area of law.

At By Lawyers all members of our editorial team have dedicated areas of law to follow, with state-based cross-checks, ensuring no legislative changes escape our attention. Notifications from legislative, courts and law society sources, to name only a few, are checked and cross-checked daily. When we need to update anything, the digital nature of our publications means that we can post updates – and issue an alert – immediately.

We will always inform you when there is something you need to know. Otherwise, you have no need to worry!

Costs agreements and client service agreements – enhancement for protection against fraud

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All By Lawyers costs agreements and client service agreements have been enhanced within the Billing and payment arrangements section now including:

 

  •  Two-factor verification protocol: a suggestion that the client always telephone to notify the firm and confirm bank account details before making any electronic transfer of funds into the firm’s trust or office accounts. With recent incidents of fraud involving interception and hacking of lawyers’ emails and the fraudulent provision of incorrect bank account details to clients, this suggestion is in line with the advice of the various state regulatory bodies and, if followed, provides protection against such criminal activities; and,

 

  • Specific provision and authority for alternate payment options, including credit card, electronic funds transfer and instalment plans, confirming that clients are required to comply not only with the terms of the law firm’s costs agreement, but also with the terms of any third party agreement for payment, such as the agreement with their bank regarding the use of a credit card. This provides protection for the law firm against credit providers seeking to recover funds paid via unauthorised transactions.

Criminal Guides – Calculating penalty units

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Helpful new commentary on calculating penalty units has been added to the By Lawyers Criminal Guides in NSW, VIC, QLD and WA, and also to our Practice Management Guide.

Information is provided about what a penalty unit is and how to calculate the monetary penalty for various breaches of laws. There is a useful summary of the current value of a penalty unit in each state and territory, as well as the Commonwealth. The By Lawyers team will ensure that these values are updated when required, across the jurisdictions.

 

Practice Management — Enhanced reference material — 101 Policy and Procedures

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Our reference guide — 101 Policy and Procedures has been enhanced.

This guide forms part of our Practice Management publication and provides a ready reference for all team members in a law firm about all aspects of the practice. A few excerpts:

Client service and communication standards

The firm strives to deliver the highest level of service and value to its clients. This means that team members are expected to be well mannered, engaged and responsive to phone calls, emails and other correspondence….

Cost disclosure and billing practices

In all matters, use the Retainer Instructions provided in the matter plan under Getting the Matter Underway and disclose costs in writing. Costs disclosure must be by way of a formal Costs Agreement where costs are likely to exceed $3000, or otherwise disclosed in the initial correspondence, as done for example in the precedent letters in the matter plan for conveyancing matters….

Supervision of practice and staff

The system adopted by the practice, if followed, will ensure that the practice is run efficiently and safely to the satisfaction of all participants. This simply involves adherence to all policies and procedures. …

Other topics covered include Asset register, Closing files, Email policy, Petty cash, Sexual harassment and Trust accounting.

Practice Management — New reference material — 101 Trusted and useful sites by area of law

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Here at By Lawyers we spend a lot of time researching and fact-checking, in all of the areas of law that our publications cover. Over time we have compiled a list of credible and helpful websites which we regularly use – and that list is now available to you, with the publication of our new reference tool — 101 Trusted and useful sites by area of law.

This handy resource brings together in one place hyperlinks to some of the most trusted and useful websites you might need, organised according to areas of law.

The new reference tool is located as a separate guide in the By Lawyers Practice Management publication.

By way of example, these are the Federal websites we have included for the Business & Franchise area of law:

FEDERAL

Business & Franchise
GST and Taxes – Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Franchises

There are also sites under that subject heading for each state. There are subject headings for all of the areas of law covered by our publications.

As with all of our publications this resource will be regularly updated.

This ready reference tool is a convenient starting place for everyone in the firm seeking trusted information to assist clients in any area of on any practice.

The importance of Matter Plans in By Lawyers Guides

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Each of our Legal Guides contains a Matter Plan which follows the typical flow of a matter, with precedents and commentary ordered sequentially, and less commonly used content appearing in ‘If required’ folders.

This structure not only allows members of your team to confidently conduct matters in areas they are perhaps unfamiliar with, but also allows for precise answers to be found quickly. Users have the freedom to access as much or as little guidance as is needed, with the ability to easily navigate to the commentary and precedents required.

Each Matter Plan typically starts with the folder ‘Getting the Matter Underway’. It contains everything you need to get a matter started. There are precedents such as a file cover sheet, retainer instructions, a ‘to do’ list and initial letters. There is also commentary detailing the first things you need to do and be aware of when getting the matter underway. Each Matter Plan proceeds through the logical sequence of a matter, concluding with a ‘Finalisation’ folder, which contains precedents such as a tax invoice and finalisation letters.

This clear structure is a very useful risk management tool and essential to daily practice.

Using the Matter Plan

  1. Open a matter.
  2. From the Details & Correspondence tab, click on the  button. If the Legal Guides tab is not your default view, select the Legal Guides tab to view the By Lawyers Guide for the selected matter type. The Legal Guides tab can be set as your default view from the hamburger menu at the top right of the Guides & Precedents screen.
  3. The Legal Guides tab displays the Matter Plan which proceeds through the logical sequence of the matter.
  4. Commentary is identified by green text and the  icon being C for commentary. Clicking the green commentary title will open the commentary in a browser.
  5. Precedents are identified by blue text and the  icon being W for Word Document. Click the precedent to open it. The precedent will merge information from the matter.

The Matter Plan is your road map for navigating through our Guides, allowing you to maximise the value of our detailed content and get the most from By Lawyers.

Costs – All costs agreements now able to be signed electronically

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All of the By Lawyers costs agreements now have electronic signature fields allowing them to be signed electronically via DocuSign, which is available to LEAP in the cloud users. The fee disclosure for this service has also been added into the disbursement section of the costs agreements, should the client choose to take advantage of this service.

 

Data breaches – Mandatory reporting of eligible data breaches from 22 February 2018

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Mandatory reporting of eligible data breaches from 22 February 2018

Amendments to the Privacy Act come into force from 22 February. As holders of ‘personal information’ as defined in the Act, law firms which experience a data breach must:

  • Notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, AND
  • Notify ALL affected individuals.

To cater for these changes, we have today added a new chapter to our Practice Management commentary: Data Breaches.

Taking the time to review your level of data protection is well worth the effort. This includes protective software and an efficient system of information management.

For more information please read our commentary.

Practice management – superannuation

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FROM 1 JULY 2017 Concessional Contributions Cap for superannuation reduced to $25,000 for all ages. Before-tax contributions include compulsory employer contributions and salary sacrifice arrangements. Contributions greater than $25,000 from before-tax income may mean payment of extra tax.

Practice Management

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Practice Management

September 
  • Commentary added on receipting of trust money in NSW
May 
  • Expanded non-compliance with cost disclosure obligations and added new anti-voiding rule 72A – disapplication of s 178(1) and (2) of the Uniform Law.
March 
  • Updated – Trust statement requirements where balance of the ledger account or record is zero – Recent amendments to Rule 52 of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 – VIC and NSW.
  • Commentary added on the Law Practice Confirmation and Trust Money Statement – Requirement in NSW – Link to dedicated Law Society login page added.

 

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