08th March 2018 | March 2018

As I write this, my last review, I am also reflecting on my year in preparation for my report for the AGM.  It has been a busy, stimulating and enriching year which has literally flown by! After a relatively quiet start to the year in terms of engagements, February was pretty full on and March looks set to continue that trend.   I attended a very enjoyable lunch with many Past Presidents of the Society at which consideration was given to the nomination of our next Deputy Vice President.  This is the day on which I can take a deep breath and hand over to our next President at the AGM in April.  I was recently asked what I would do with my “spare” time when my year comes to an end. I have been disappointed that I haven’t had as much time as I had hoped to devote to fundraising for my nominated charity, the Air Ambulance.  Vice President, Stephen Mahoney and I wanted to choose charities which covered the whole of Devon and Somerset and agreed that our fundraising for our respective years would be split between Devon; and Somerset & Dorset Air Ambulance Trusts.  Fundraising is crucial - each rescue “mission” costs upwards of £2,500 and between them the two trusts have flown around 36,000 missions.  These fantastic charities save lives and we never know when it might be ours or someone we care deeply about. I therefore intend to devote some more time fundraising to swell the coffers of those two very worthy causes.   Arrangements for our Annual Awards and Dinner are continuing to secure a new date** as soon as possible following the decision to postpone the event due to the adverse weather at the beginning of March.  I am sure that the renewed preparations will ensure a spectacular evening with plenty of celebrations for the worthy winners.  Thank you to all who have been involved, in particular our media partners for the third year running, Trinity Mirror. Trinity Mirror have been through significant strategic change during this year and it is a tribute to Michelle, Alice, Sarah and their teams that their support and enthusiasm for this event has continued seamlessly throughout.  Thank you. ** STOP PRESS - date confirmed for 1st May 2018 at RICC, Torquay (9.3.18).   For the first time, this year the DASLS committee fielded a quiz team for the challenge cup.  A great evening was enjoyed by all with Tony Steiner setting the questions and playing the inimitable quiz master.  It’s fair to say that our team exposed our combined lack of general knowledge but we had great fun!!   Our strategic plan is currently under review and we have spent considerable time considering what our next plan will look like and how, with the many changes impacting our profession, we ensure that DASLS is “fit” for the future and can appropriately represent you and provide the services that meet your needs.  I am enormously grateful to those of you who completed the questionnaires which have helped inform the review.  A report will be brought to members through our committee within the next few months advising of our proposed new strategy.   On 14th February I had the unexpected pleasure of attending a drinks reception at the invitation of Mr Justice Baker, during the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett’s visit to Devon. I was very honoured to represent DASLS at this event, meeting Lord Burnett and other distinguished members of the judiciary.   I will shortly be representing DASLS as a member of the Twin Bar Association at the Festival of Saint Ramon de Penyafort (the patron Saint of Lawyers) in Barcelona. It’s an interesting time to be visiting and, in these changing times, I am sure the strong reputation of DASLS among our European colleagues will continue to be enhanced through these links.   During my final few weeks of office I am looking forward to attending the Legal Sunday Service in Wells Cathedral, for those concerned with the administration of justice in Somerset, and repr...

08th March 2018 | March 2018

What have been the highlights of your involvement with DASLS to date?   One of the undoubted highlights was taking part in the Exeter Legal Sunday Service last June and hosting the dinner for our International guests the night before.  There were lawyers from Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy and Poland.  Some had taken part in the service several times before while, for others, it was the first time, but they all loved the ceremony and the history of the occasion. The fact we processed for the first time from Exeter Castle to the Cathedral and back for the High Sheriff’s Reception just added the crowning touch.    This year the service is taking place on Sunday 10th June and it would be great to see more DASLS Members taking part and making what could prove to be useful connections with other European lawyers.Another really memorable event was my first experience of a Twin Bars Meeting, also in June, hosted by the Bilbao Bar.  Their hospitality was fantastic and it was a great opportunity to mix with representatives from all our Twin Bars.  Talking to lawyers from other European countries, you learn they all face similar if not worse challenges to us, such as cuts to publicly funded legal services and increasing political pressure on the independence of the profession.   Has your year as Vice President been all about hosting or attending social events?   I wish!  On the first day of the Twin Bars Meeting in Bilbao, all the Bars had to make presentations on the impact of the abolition of mobile phone roaming charges in their jurisdictions, a subject about which I knew precisely zero.  A few anxious days were spent pulling information together from various sources and colleagues before International Relations Sub-Committee Chair Emma Mitcham and I faced the international audience with our offering.  My next Twin Bars Meeting is at Leuven in Belgium. I am hoping their topic for presentation is one I know more about.   Of more immediate relevance to the profession at home, I have chaired a meeting to compose the DASLS response to SRA consultation papers on ‘Changes to the SRA Handbook’ and ‘Looking To The Future: Better Information, More Choice’. In the next few days I, along with President Sue Aggett, Deputy Vice President Nigel Lyons and immediate Past President Mark Roome and other members of the working party will be participating in the DASLS Strategy Review Meeting.  This takes place every three years to look at where we are as a profession in Devon and Somerset and what the Society needs to do over the course of the next three years to support and remain relevant to lawyers in our Counties.    You become President at the AGM on 24th April. What are you most looking forward to?   At the moment, I am most looking forward to the 2018 DASLS Legal Awards and Dinner.  I have attended many of the planning meetings for this.  Sandy Park in Exeter was a great venue for the Inaugural Awards and, again, for last year, but I believe this year’s venue, the Riviera International Centre in Torquay will take the event to the next level.  Trinity Mirror South West who are DASLS’ partners in organising the awards have been involved in many other events using this venue.  Working in Wellington, I was pleasantly surprised to find it took just over three quarters of an hour from the RIC carpark to get back to my office, so I am hoping there will be good attendance from Somerset firms on the night.    Are there any challenges you immediately foresee as incoming President?   With the benefit of having seen the replies to the DASLS Engagement Survey ahead of the Strategy Review Meeting, I am aware there is a need for DASLS to find ways of engaging with more of its members in North Devon and Somerset.  We will take these comments on board.  The Society strives to be useful to all its members.  The greater the geographic spread of firms involved on the various Sub-committee...

08th March 2018 | March 2018

I was recently asked to speak at a national risk and compliance conference and asked to share my experiences of managing regulatory relationships. Whilst planning what to say, I reflected on my experience of good management and the fact that most lawyers and compliance professionals I meet are striving to achieve a common goal; to stay regulated and to be part of a well-run business. With time to reflect on how this can be achieved, I thought I would share with you – as I did with the Conference delegates – my thoughts on how to stay regulated.   Effective management of the regulatory relationship creates a situation which is unsurprising for both you and your regulator. It’s good to be dull in regulatory terms! It’s good to be low maintenance and work in an environment where events are anticipated and actively planned. It’s a situation where fire-fighting and chaos is avoided and regulatory reactions are well-rehearsed. It’s timely, you are not caught unawares, it’s supported by effective communication (internally and externally), and you have the means of being able to prove you do what you say.   It seems to me that there are five components to rolling out an effective compliance strategy:   Step 1 – understanding and agreeing to the concept of regulation    Of course, I hear negative views about how we are regulated and I do understand why there are frustrations. However, my starting point is this: do we support the reasons why the law is heavily regulated and do we want to be part of this industry?   Regulation ensures that both we and our clients are protected from those who may try to undermine what we can do with our knowledge and skills. A good reference point for this is always the wise words of Sir Thomas Bingham who, in the landmark regulatory case of Bolton v Law Society, expressed it by saying that lawyers should act with “integrity, probity and complete trustworthiness” before adding “a profession’s most valuable asset is its collective reputation and the confidence which that aspires……the reputation of the profession is more important than the fortunes of any individual member. Membership of a profession brings many benefits, but that is a part of the price”.   These sentiments help with an understanding of both the regulatory objectives in the Legal Services Act 2007 and the SRA’s risk based regulatory framework. This isn’t up for debate which means that if we want a fuss-free regulatory relationship we must accept these motivations and ensure that everyone in the firm understands not only their duties to their business but also to the industry.   Step 2 – understanding the technical requirements   There are three areas of knowledge we must understand: the law and regulatory compliance standards, and professional duties.   Compliance is dynamic and legal and regulatory duties are constantly evolving. We need resources to keep ourselves and our firms up to date. However, I would argue that this is straightforward and it’s the third element that creates more challenges. We are professionals operating in a regulated industry. How do we ensure the right behaviours of our people?   Again, a useful starting point is Bingham’s phrase; integrity, probity and complete trustworthiness. What makes someone a trusted adviser? Surely, this includes an understanding of duties to the court, duties to our clients and then duties to uphold the collective reputation of the profession so that we do not do anything which brings the profession into disrepute (to revive a phrase from a bygone era). This is a tough ask, particularly of those people with whom we work who may not have a legal background. It is risky to assume that everyone in the firm will have prior knowledge of the characteristics we are asking them to display. We make it harder with the language we use. Whilst we are getting better at toning down our language with our clients...

08th March 2018 | March 2018

My turn to write an article for the DASLS Newsletter soon comes around and I am always on the lookout for some thought provoking mediation content to share with you.   Some years ago I attended a course on Restorative Justice based on the model being used in the USA and I could see the benefits, where victims of crime and/or their families requested it, of criminals having to meet and face their victims to atone for what they had done and for both parties to try and come to terms with what more often than not was a totally senseless act.   At the time I felt that we were many years behind the States, where even civil mediation was receiving little press coverage or time afforded to the education of its benefits within the English legal system.   It was with great interest then that I came across an article in Saturday’s edition of The Guardian about how mediation is being utilised within prisons and in one of our Devon Prisons no less.   Under the direction of Maria Arpa, one of the country’s leading Mediators, prisoners are being introduced to the benefits and skills of mediation and as a direct consequence are able to consider alternative ways of settling conflict in their confined surroundings without resorting to physical remedy.   Maria kindly agreed to discuss this further with me:   L             Maria, thank you for taking time out to talk with me for the purposes of putting together some further information on the work you do into our DASLS Newsletter. Prior to introducing mediation skills in Prison environments, what other types of Mediation did you undertake?   M           I started out many years ago as a Voluntary Community Mediator in London, dealing with neighbour disputes in the main.   I have carried out over 1,000 community mediations which I refer to as being ‘at the coal face’ and since then I have worked in Civil, Family, Workplace and threat to life.   L             What inspired you to try and put together a process that could and would work within the confines of criminal law?    M           That is an interesting topic.   Take two identical neighbourhood disputes but in different social environments:  the first on a typical middle class street where two neighbours get into some kind of dispute, each would likely go and see a lawyer and it would be dealt with as a civil case.  Compare the same neighbourhood dispute but within a social housing location for example where there is no legal aid for such assistance, then the whole dispute is more likely to become embroiled either verbally and/or physically, with other families becoming involved and the escalated matter often turns into a criminal one.   The same dispute, different routes.  There should be something in place for people with less access to professional services to reduce the physical, verbal and or violent methods of redress which necessitates police involvement.   L             Is the work that you do at Dartmoor Prison your first venture or have you already introduced mediation skills in other prisons?   M           I first trialled this as a pilot in Wandsworth in 2009, which involved prisoners from the main wing and vulnerable wings getting together, which prior to then was unheard of.  The 10 week scheme was a resounding success and resulted in over 50 applications being received to attend the course.  Word of mouth is always the best recommendation.  My work however requires funding and having successfully obtained the requisite funds I was introduced to a Chaplain from a G4S establishment who could readily see the benefits of the programme.   From there, as either Chaplains or Prison Governors moved to other Prisons, so did I.  In one of the prisons we trained up 12 prisoners in 2014 and I recently heard that 3 of them are still there as prisoner mediators and have been given an office dedicated to the mediation pr...

06th March 2020 | March 2020

Dear All,   This year really is flying by. I have just had my birthday.   After updating you previously on the excellent catch up I had with the Law Society CEO Paul Tennant on his visit to the south west last November, I had not expected to be back in touch with him quite so soon.   Sadly, this time it was in less happy circumstances.   I was, like many of you, shocked and saddened in January to hear the news and see the pictures of the substantial fire at Chancery Lane in London. I have emailed Paul Tennant and James Shepherd, our Law Society Relationship Management Executive, to send our best wishes and we are hoping that the building will be back to full use very soon.   As I write this report, preparations are in full swing for the 2020 DASLS Legal Awards & Dinner. As you know the Annual Dinner is being held again this year at Exeter Cathedral.  The event is to take place on the 30th April 2020. After the success of last year, we are hoping that once again the event is sold out which would mean we will have around 480 people attending.  If you have not done so already, please contact Llew Nicholls and the team at our Awards partners ‘Grow Marketing’ who have worked very hard alongside our very own Tony and Monique to achieve full sponsorship of this event.   You can contact Llew to book the remaining places by emailing Llew directly at Llew@growmarketinguk.com. There have been more nominations than ever before with more entries making the short list. Please do not miss this dazzling occasion.   You will all have received DASLS latest 2020 training courses programme. Tony Steiner and the team have worked hard to arrange these events. You will see that as members you get preferential rates and if appropriate reduced rates for multiple attendees from your firms. Please take advantage of these services as a proportion of the monies do go to support our Society’s broad continuing education offering.   If I do not see you individually before I look forward to catching up with you at the 2020 DASLS Legal Awards and Annual Dinner in April.   With very best wishes   Nigel Lyons President 2019-2020...

06th March 2020 | March 2020

The first big social event of the year was the annual DASLS Quiz which is the grand finale of the Challenge Cup. It is an event I thoroughly enjoy and I make no apology for making it a bit challenging.   This year did not disappoint there being just ½ point between first and second place and resulting in joint winners of the Challenge Cup. Congratulations to Ashfords and Michelmores both of whom knew that the study of birds’ eggs is Oology. The next Challenge Cup kicks off with the usual Skittles match in Dawlish when the magnificent Skittles Cup will be contested.   The latest meeting of the County Societies Group took place in February when we were guests of the SRA in Birmingham. DASLS Deputy Vice-President Adrian Richards and I attended.  We were welcomed by their Chief Executive Paul Philip who set out some key messages around SRA activity emphasising their desire for light touch engagement with solicitors and good channels of communication. He said that the SRA was working well with The Law Society and was focused on creating an environment where solicitors could be innovative and use the latest in technology. AML is a key area of activity and following the appointment of the new Chair, Anna Bradley, they are working to provide better customer care. He also explained that until now the SRA had not taken any position on issues such as Access to Justice, Rule of Law and Advice Deserts. They were considering looking at, and taking a position on, one or two of these issues each year. There followed several presentations by senior staff at the SRA dealing with Enforcement Strategy and reporting concerns; Customer information – Transparency Rules and clickable logo.; the SQE  and Anti-Money Laundering. Comprehensive slides were produced to accompany each presentation which I will forward together with my notes to any member who wishes to see them. Just email me —tony@dasls.com.  There followed an interesting tour of the building. SRA have around 600 staff members with the majority based over three floors at the Cube. The next meeting of the County Societies Group will be in the summer and we also plan a Parliamentary Liaison event at Westminster later in the year.   I am pleased to announce that DASLS has two new Partners; Moneypenny who look after your telephone calls when you are not available and Dictate Now who offer Dictation Systems and outsourced document preparation. They join our current Partners: Alchemy; PKF Francis Clark; Landmark; Lockton; Unoccupied Direct; WebBoss and Wessex Searches. We are thankful for the support our partners give us and encourage you to use them where you can.   Depending when you read this our joint event with the Legal Sustainability Alliance on 5th March will be about to take place or will have passed. Regular readers will know that the Society has formed a small working party to encourage and identify how firms can improve their sustainability. The main Committee have suggested that this forms a Sub-Committee. We will arrange a meeting of the working party after the event on the 5th March with a view to progressing this. Anyone who is interested in this please let me know.   Tony Steiner,  Executive Director DASLS....

06th March 2020 | March 2020

You may know that DASLS is fortunate to be twinned with Bilbao, Erlangen, Gdańsk, Leuven, Rennes and Verona. Such twinning arrangements underpin a sense that we belong to one community of values on the basis that these relationships are based on reciprocity. Each year, we meet to discuss and debate important legal issues of the day, whilst discovering the cultures and languages of our partners. 2020 is DASLS turn to host such an event, which will be rounded off with the Sunday Legal Service at Exeter Cathedral on 7 June 2020 and to which DASLS members are cordially invited!   The subject of our conference (on 5 June at County Hall in Exeter) will be around the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the sphere of human rights. Rather than understanding AI in terms of a terrifying post-apocalyptic vision of a world controlled by robots, AI features in our everyday lives from Alexa and smart home devices to controversial facial recognition technologies and even Uber! AI is built by lines of code called algorithms. Put simply, an algorithm is a step by step method of solving a problem and is commonly used for data processing and calculation. However, the use of automated data processing techniques in public and private sectors, especially by internet platforms and its impact on the exercise of human rights is somewhat of a hot topic.   When it comes to AI, there is a focus on the usage of huge datasets. AI bias means when an algorithm produces results that may be prejudiced due to erroneous assumptions in the machine learning process and the data used to train the algorithm by data scientists. Bias runs deep in humans and it can be unconscious in nature. AI systems are created by individuals who have their own unique experiences and blind spots all of which can lead to fundamentally biased systems. This issue is compounded by the fact that those responsible for AI (including its deployment and training) may not be representative of society. Accordingly, unfair treatment of a group can result from the use of an algorithm to support decision making whether that decision relates to criminal sentencing, loan applications or self-driving cars. The language of AI is undoubtedly complex, but it is drastically changing the way we live. Understanding AI and its implications in the context of its growth is important so that we are all better placed to push companies to develop new technologies both ethically and responsibly.   If you would like to receive more information once the June 2020 programme is finalised, please contact Monique Bertoni at DASLS office – monique@dasls.com .   Emma Mitcham Chair, International Relations Sub-Committee...

06th March 2020 | March 2020

New AML Regulations and the pursuit of the beneficial owner.   Introduction   The new Money Laundering & Terrorist Finance (Amendment) Regulations 2019 which came into force on 10 January have modified a number of aspects of the 2017 AML Regulations, with which we have been complying for some time. However, many firms’ procedures hark back to the earlier days of the 2007 Regulations and have not been modified or updated much over recent years.   This article seeks to set out what the new Regulations in fact require, and the steps we should be taking in relevant cases.   The Policy   It has been true for some time that the ultimate aim of all the regulatory rules is transparency – it has always been the case that the use of artificial structures such as trusts, companies, bearer shares, foundations and charities – whilst perfectly legal – have to some extent also benefitted from the extra anonymity they offer to the true owner and recipient of the funds and services we provide.   If we offer services to these types of entity, the Regulations require us to go some way to identifying the individuals who are actually benefitting from our services, and this entails uncovering the true ownership of the organisation.   Whilst this would be difficult in many instances – Cayman Island companies with bearer shares, for example – we must nevertheless attempt to get some assurances from the creators of the companies, accountants or registrars as to the ownership of the shares, and have some way of being notified of any change in ownership.   We also need to be aware of the PEP and Sanctions status of these individuals.   Further, for UK companies, the PSC Regulations 2016 impose an exactly similar obligation on the companies themselves to identify their beneficial owners and notify Companies House of any shareholder with 25% or more of the shares or exercising control over management of the business.   The Regulations   The Regulations provide that we must, as part of our CDD procedures Identify the client – this means coming to know who they are, by name and some other characteristic, e.g. address, date of birth, date of incorporation Verify that identity – by means of reliable and independent data and documentation Identify the beneficial owner (if the client is an entity) – though not necessarily verifying that identity Identify and verify the identity of the person actually instructing us (if not already done). What this means for us   When acting for a COMPANY (that is not a listed company) the Regulations require us to obtain Details of the company as registered (which must be proven by a copy of the register entries available from Companies House or equivalent registry) – name, number, registered office address, principal place of business the law to which it is subject details of its governing documentation (its memorandum) names of the directors. Names of any beneficial owners, and the identity of any individual owners of legal entities which own the client Names and verification of the persons instructing us on behalf of the company, and their authority to do so. Note that we cannot rely on the information provided by the company under the PSC Regulations but we must undertake our own research in order to fulfil our CDD duties.   Further, if as part of that research, we discover that the Companies House data on PSC’s is incorrect, then we are now under a further obligation to notify the Registrar of Companies of this fact.   We also need to establish that PEPs and Sanctions checks are also undertaken. If genuinely positive entries are revealed in response we should undertake enhanced CDD steps or cease to act, accordingly.   Electronic searches are a permissible avenue to use provided the search provider can offer us the necessary assurances that the person actually claiming an identity is IN FACT that person. Check also whether ...