04th July 2018 | July 2018

Two months in and what has the President been up to?   In summary: one conference, one County Societies Group (CSG) meeting, one Parliamentary visit, four meetings relating to DASLS Awards, one Twin Bars meeting, one Sunday Legal Service, three formal dinners, one 10 kilometre walk, one Sub-Committee and one main Committee meeting. The conference was for Presidents and Honorary Secretaries and meant that, for the first time, I made it over the threshold of 113 Chancery Lane.  The Friday was particularly busy, starting with the CSG Meeting at which Fraser Whitehead, Chair of the Council Membership Committee outlined the thoughts of his committee on the reform of The Law Society Council.  Between addresses and debates, there were workshops to attend as well before the black tie dinner in the Common Room that evening.      L-R DASLS President Stephen Mahoney, Law Society President Joe Egan, with CEO Paul Tennant and DASLS Hon Secretary Chris Hart I was back in London a few days later with several other DASLS Solicitors for a tea time meeting kindly sponsored by Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay.  We were, for the first time, joined by representatives from our CSG colleagues from Kent, Leicestershire and Surrey.  This enlarged deputation certainly grabbed the attention of MPs and Lords alike.  The Lord Chancellor David Gauke attended and spoke early on.  Then the Chair of the Justice Select Committee Bob Neill responded supportively on the subject of the reinstatement of legal aid for early advice in housing law and family law cases, one of the topics I highlighted in my speech.  Kevin Foster, himself a former criminal litigator, also spoke recognising the looming crisis in the criminal legal aid system, brought about by cuts in legal aid rates, the resulting low numbers of duty solicitors, ageing community of criminal law specialists and few young solicitors choosing the specialism.   Reception at Westminster on 15 May 2018   The good news to come out of the meetings about our Legal Awards is that DASLS has a new partner for the 2019 Awards and beyond in the shape of Grow Marketing.  Based in Exeter, launched last year but with a wealth of experience amongst their staff of working for national news media groups, Grow have impressed us with their energy and enthusiasm. A shining example of this is Alice Bryan.  Having previously worked for DC Media and Trinity Mirror, our partners for the past three years, Alice has been involved in the detailed planning and delivery of the Awards since their inception.  To say that she is excited to be working with DASLS again is an understatement.    On the international front, I was pleased to represent DASLS at the Twin Bars meeting hosted by the Young Bar of Leuven which was also attended by representatives from Bilbao, Erlangen, Gdańsk and Rennes.  I was accompanied by trainee solicitor Lucy Ferrat who did sterling work researching the case study on criminal litigation prepared by Leuven and then assisting me on the day with the presentation itself.  Lucy being a fluent French speaker was even more of an asset as she and the lawyers from Rennes got on like a house on fire.  Much better than my stumbling efforts to recall my O Level French.   Lucy Ferrat with  Stephen Mahoney   Within a couple of weeks it was DASLS’ turn to play host to our European colleagues for the Exeter Sunday Legal Service.  The Saturday evening dinner and Sunday procession and service itself were attended by lawyers from Bilbao, Erlangen, Gdańsk, Leuven, Rotterdam and Verona.  It was a privilege to also welcome the new President of the Federation of European Bars, Michele Lucherini and his wife Barbara, as well as immediate past President Prof. Sara Chandler QC (Hon) and her husband José.  This year’s procession was between the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and the Cathedral, a longer route than last ye...

04th July 2018 | July 2018

The new DASLS Strategic Plan was approved last month by the Committee and is now published in the resources area of our website. The plan comes at a time when the Society’s income has met with challenges to our income streams and increased costs incurred in providing our services. This informed our thinking and has helped us focus our strategy on the things we do that you have told us matter most.  Please do read the strategic plan and let us have any feedback.   Planning has already commenced for the 2019 Legal Awards and Annual Dinner and as the President has already mentioned we are excited to be working in partnership with Grow Marketing to deliver this programme. Although it is early in the planning stage the date has already been agreed for Thursday 4th April 2019.  I hope that winter will have passed and we won’t have the weather issues we encountered this year.   Our annual conferences are coming up in the autumn commencing with the In-House Lawyers’ Conference on 3rd October. We have a good line-up of speakers dealing with topics including compliance, disclosure and managing external solicitors and counsel.   The Hon. Mr Justice Mostyn will be the headline speaker for The Family Law Conference on 16th October. The full programme for this event will be on our website very soon but will include sessions dealing with family businesses, pre-nups, private children matters and family finance.   Our popular Practice Management Conference is on 7th November. In addition to our Headline Speaker The Law Society’s CEO Paul Tennant we will have sessions looking at the relevance and application of artificial intelligence, digital marketing vs printed media and the new accounts rules.  Half the day will be given over to staff issues including retention and incentivising talent, the gender pay gap, individual resilience and performance management.    There is lots going on so do keep an eye on the Buzz bulletin for details.   The DASLS Recruitment Service is there to help you. Whether your firm is recruiting or you are looking for a change (or know someone who is) DASLS is best placed to help.  Not all recruiters are the same; why choose DASLS? DASLS will not head-hunt you. We work with candidates who have asked us to help them search for the right position. We have vacancies first. DASLS is the first port of call for many firms wanting to recruit. Some will only use DASLS. The commissions we charge employers are normally less than commercial recruiters. The cost of recruitment will be a factor that may affect your chances of securing the right position. We know the employers. We have been recruiting for large and small organisations in Devon & Somerset for over 20 years. Our staff are salaried and have no vested interest in your decisions. Many recruiters survive on their personal commission. The recruitment service is provided for the benefit of DASLS members.  Tony Steiner, DASLS Executive Director...

04th July 2018 | July 2018

Writing this article in the first few weeks of the GDPR era, it is clear that the 25 May start date was just a milestone and that data protection will be a topic we must continue to focus on in the weeks and months ahead. I am already hearing anecdotes about subject access requests being made on 25 May in reliance on the improved rights which have been granted to data subjects. It is clear that this is a significant change in the way things are and for us, as lawyers, the consequences include even more scrutiny of our systems, processes and responses.   I would hope and anticipate that the Information Commissioner’s Office’s attention will be concentrated on the big guns – the online companies and the large-scale data processors – but we are nevertheless in the spotlight. We know that the ICO was expressing opinions about our handling of personal data long before GDPR was on the agenda. It is unlikely we will be forgotten in this new age of data protection.   Think back to 2014 if you will. The ICO published a notice directed at the legal profession. In it, the incumbent Commissioner reported that he was disturbed by the number of breach reports the ICO had received about the handling of data by barristers and solicitors.  He had received reports of 15 data breaches in 3 months and had concerns about the serious personal data we processed and our over reliance on paper files. The warning was concluded in this way: “It is important that we sound the alarm at an early stage to make sure this problem is addressed before a barrister or solicitor is left counting the financial and reputational damage of a serious breach”. At first glance, this may appear to be a helpful ‘heads up”, but the body which can instigate the financial and reputational damage is the body which was issuing the warning! You’ll understand my unease.   Having said that, I am nevertheless confident that working in the legal services profession, we have a head start when considering the ways to respond to GDPR. After all, if there is one thing we know about, it’s confidentiality. Our clients expect us to keep the matters secret and most solicitors and most law firms have designed processes to manage the risk of inadvertent disclosure. This is a solid foundation stone on which to develop the GDPR response. My overriding message to the firms I have been working with over the last few months is not to panic about all of this. Another confidence-booster ought to be the familiarity of oversight and the understanding of the need to be able to have good conversations with stakeholders who have a right to be interested in what we do and how we do it. This is what we already experience with our relationship with the SRA.   So, whilst there is no need to panic, there is the need to make sure that answers to the GDPR questions are in your compliance response. Most of you will have revised and/or drafted new processes by now and, hopefully, rolled these out with suitable training within your firms. What’s next, in this honeymoon period with the new legislation?    My compliance response in the next few months would be as follows: Keep a watching brief on the guidance issued by both the ICO and from within our own industry. This has been a learning curve for all, including the thought leaders and their thinking is filtering down to us in a fragmentary fashion. The ICO publishes a monthly online newsletter. Subscribing to this (via the ICO website, ico.org.uk) will give you the alerts about additions to guidance, trends in their supervisory work and similar. The Law Society has also published its own downloadable guide to GDPR, available from www.lawsociety.org.uk.  Ensure the topic is constantly part of your internal communications with your colleagues. It’s essential that everyone understands the impact of misunderstandings. Remind them about the need to think beyond the duties owed to the clients of the firm; ...

04th July 2018 | July 2018

Whilst the planned MoJ Reforms within the claims sector remain a popular topic for after dinner discussions and are likely to be for the foreseeable future, the use of mediation in personal injury/clinical negligence matters is a regular discussion point on forums and in various trade journal articles, indicating a slight shift towards acceptance by both sides that it is a viable option to be considered within litigation.   Historically there has been a general feel that mediation was not appropriate in personal injury cases, case handlers being of the view that the standard round table type discussions between either side are sufficient.  However, it is our Panel Mediators’ experience that these cases can be successfully mediated where liability is hotly contested and a compromise based on the mixed odds of success/failure is achieved.    I should be extremely interested to hear from Members who are personal injury/clinical negligence lawyers representing either side for your viewpoints on mediation in personal injury or clinical negligence cases and to establish whether you too have noticed claims facing Insurers encouraging more cases to be referred for Mediation.   Please contact me at kendallliz@yahoo.co.uk or call 07980 316040.  I am trying to gain a general overview and all discussions will be treated with the strictest of confidence e.g. your personal views will not be shared with anyone....

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 ...