www.legalitum.co.uk

Big changes are afoot in the legal services market and many law firms need to adapt.

In our view (comments welcome) one of the biggest challenges for small and medium size law firms is to take control of their own destiny and realise that a law firm is a business. This seems an obvious point to make, but still seems to be overlooked by many practices who believe usual business rules do not apply to them.

A good example of the above relates to marketing. Many small and medium law firms either do very little marketing or do not plan marketing, ignoring the fact that marketing is a “process not an event”. Many law firms think that there has to be an immediate pay off, they would rather pay for a referral because this does not involve that word, “risk”, than to invest in and create their own marketing strategy which does not involve paying brokers or intermediaries a fee for doing the marketing for them. Lawyers seem to forget that in paying brokers, they are paying a premium and in fact damaging their own market position and strengthening the power of the intermediaries, upon whom they become increasingly dependent. This is particularly the case in terms of online marketing.

Well run businesses in a myriad of other sectors generally :-

1. spend between 3-10% of turnover on marketing consistently

2. take control of their own destiny

3. Carefully plan and measure marketing activity

4. Have a strategy

5. Accept that marketing, like all business issues, carries risk but also reward.

6. Take marketing seriously

Unless and until many more legal practices behave like other businesses, we have little sympathy.

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Mediation Services

Mediation – a modern way of resolving disputes

Mediation is a part of ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution) that has more recently been embraced by the legal community as a quick, cheap and amicable way of resolving disputes.

Mediation defined

Mediation is type of negotiation procedure where a neutral third party (the mediator) aims to find common ground between the parties so a settlement can be reached.  For mediation to work, both parties have to be willing to negotiate and be legally bound by any settlement that is reached, although it is possible to enter into negotiations on a “without prejudice” basis such that the parties agree that the content of the negotiations can be relied on in court and have a bearing on litigation.

The process in detail

The parties will agree to meet at a certain time and place.  Both sides will then make a statement outlining their position after the mediator confirms that both parties are in a position to negotiate.  The mediator will then talk to both parties individually and in private in order to establish what the respective parties want and whether there is any common ground.  Both parties will then meet again and the mediator will facilitate negotiations by emphasising common ground and dispelling any antagonism that the respective parties may hold for one another.

What mediation is used for

Mediation can be used for a wide-range of disputes including:

• Contractual disputes
• Landlord/tenant disputes
• Disputes with employees
• Intellectual property disputes
• Disputes between shareholders and/or directors
• Partnership disputes
• Family business disputes
• Nuisance disputes

This is an non-exhaustive list.  You should bear in mind that mediation is suitable for a wide-range of disputes, even ones that are not strictly legal in nature; it is a very flexible procedure.