What's on @DASLS

What's on @DASLS By Tony Steiner, DASLS Executive Director There have been comings and goings at Aston Court. As many will already know our Executive Assistant Hetty Rizman left DASLS at the beginning of April to pursue a career in accountancy. We wish her every success. Fortunately with support from ETS (Education + Training Skills), Exeter we had already recruited our apprentice Zoey Ravensdale who has done a great job of getting up to speed with the Admin for our training courses. We have also recruited a second apprentice, Ella Baker, who will, by the time this newsletter has been published, have joined our team. This additional resource will allow more t...

Law Care - Working from home

Law Care - Working from home LAWCARE HELPLINE: 0800 279 6888Open 365 days a year from 9.00 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on weekdays,10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. weekends and bank holidays.help@lawcare.org.uk • www.lawcare.org.uk • Admin: 01268 771333   Studies have shown that 80% of employees consider working from home a job perk[1] , one in four people would accept a reduction in salary if it meant we could work from home[2] , and remote workers are 13% more productive and take fewer sick days than their office-based workers[3] . Add in the benefits of saving time and money on the commute (for the employee) and freeing up office space (for the employer), it might se...

Are We Secure? - Alchemy Systems

At Alchemy Systems, this is without doubt the question we get asked most by our clients – which is good, as it does demonstrate that security is upper most on their minds. Luckily for our clients, if they have followed our advice then our answer is always yes…although there is no such thing as 100% security (be weary of companies that promise you 100% security). Security breaches should be looked upon in terms of when rather than if, and then ensuring you have the best practices in place to mitigate any problems. The dark types as we like to call them are a clever bunch and constantly develop sophisticated ways to bypass even the most robust security. What...

Keeping on the straight and narrow by Sponsor Aon

They may not be universally welcomed by fee earners, but the COLP in a well-managed practice knows that effective matter acceptance procedures are essential. They ensure that clients are properly vetted and that only work within the firm’s expertise is taken on. A sound approach protects the firm from the hassle faced by firms whose procedures are less rigorous and goes a long way towards preventing the claims that can arise from sloppy procedures. Even the best take-on procedures, however, won’t always keep you on the straight and narrow. This is due to the risks that arise during the retainer.   The risks are many and varied although some, such as missi...

Brexit in the legal landscape: what does this mean for law firms? by Sponsor Barclays

Professional services remain on the Brexit back burner     When Barclays started to write about Brexit back in 2015-2016, our experts believed it to be a surmountable headwind for the UK. Two years on, do Head of Investment Strategy, Will Hobbs, and Head of Government Relations, Peter Gordon, still agree?   In spite of lengthy Brexit negotiations, UK companies putting investment plans on hold and plenty of political manoeuvring within the Conservative Party, Barclays’ Will Hobbs and Peter Gordon agree that the resilience of the UK’s economy and stability of its political landscape are commonly underestimated.   The UK is not a corporate community...

Are you a procrastinator? by LawCare

Many of us will be familiar with procrastinating - putting off or avoiding a task that needs to be done. If often seems as if the more we have to do, the more we procrastinate. There are two types of procrastination, active and passive.   Active procrastinators work better under pressure, they may choose to leave a task until it’s right down to the wire because they thrive on adrenaline.   Passive procrastinators do so to the detriment of their performance. According to a 2013 study procrastination has nothing to do with poor time management or laziness, it occurs because of our inability to manage negative emotion surrounding a task, either focused on a...