31st August 2018 | September 2018

Picking up where I left off in my report for the July newsletter, I was part of the DASLS rounders team which took on the Junior Lawyers’ Division which was bolstered by members of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.  On a perfect mid-July evening, dry, sunny and pleasantly breezy, JLD/CILEX won by a margin of 10 points to square the series at 2-2.  The rounders was good fun and is one regular social event we currently hold with JLD.  I am hoping we can arrange more joint social events.   Rounders Teams Rounders in action  at the Double Locks   Over supper at the Double Locks pub afterwards, I chatted to a group of young lawyers, one a newly qualified solicitor, the others still trainees.  That conversation reinforced how impressed I am by the efforts the latest generation of would be solicitors now have to put in to achieve that status, to fund themselves through their studies and, after passing all their qualifying exams, to earn a training contract.  On 8 October, DASLS will be holding its seventh Admissions Ceremony for newly qualified solicitors at the Guildhall in Exeter.  Letters of invitation have now gone out to all those entitled to receive their Certificates congratulating and welcoming them to the Profession at this Ceremony.  I urge everyone invited to attend to do so.  Your achievements deserve to be officially recognised and celebrated.   A few days before the rounders, I made my second trip in less than a month to the Celtic Manor just outside Newport to attend the 70th anniversary celebratory dinner of the Association of South Western Law Societies.  It was a fantastic location, in glorious weather for a wonderfully relaxed but meticulously planned evening.    ASWLS 70th Anniversary Dinner Then on 19 July at the ASWLS AGM, I was elected President of that Society too, with Mel Bevan-Evans of Monmouthshire Incorporated Law Society becoming Vice President.  As I tweeted at the time, you spend over 30 years in the profession waiting for a presidency and then two come along together. ASWLS Officers: Mel Bevan-Evans, Stephen Mahoney and Anthony Earl   August, being a month largely devoid of Sub-Committee meetings and other formal presidential commitments, proved to be an excellent time to play my part in raising funds for the Society’s chosen charities, the Devon, Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance Trusts.  I decided to turn my weekly swim for fitness into a sponsored event, extending my usual 30-35 minutes into a full hour to see how many lengths I could cover in that time.  One sponsorship of 20 pence per length proved to be all that was required to bring out my competitive instinct and, on 13 August, I surprised myself by covering 56 lengths in the hour.  The sponsorship I have received to date has been fantastic but, with each rescue mission costing £2,500.00 or more, every penny that can be added to the running total will be much appreciated.  Donations can be made by using the link: mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/stephenmahoney1   Alternatively you can email me stephen.mahoney@porterdodson.co.uk and I’ll send you a sponsorship form to complete.  My intention is to hand over cheques to representatives of both the Air Ambulance Trusts at the DASLS Somerset Dinner on 2 November.       The next full Committee meeting for DASLS is on 11 September.  We will be joined by not only Rav Hothi, Sarah Richards and James Shepherd of The Law Society’s Midlands and South West Relationship Management Team, but also by Law Society Executive Director for External Affairs Robert Khan and Head of International Mickaël Laurans.  Robert and Mickaël will be there to address a variety of topics including The Law Society’s work influencing Government on the best outcome for the legal profession on Brexit and promotion of the jurisdiction of England and Wales internationa...

31st August 2018 | September 2018

We are delighted to announce a workshop run by Grow Marketing and Sampson Hall that will help members of Devon & Somerset Law Society prepare their entries for the 2019 Legal Awards.    This workshop will encourage and support legal firms across Devon & Somerset with their nominations, ready for them to be considered by the independent judging panel who will shortlist and pick a winner for all 13 Legal Awards categories.   Our workshop leaders will help you with: What category or categories to enter? How to make sure your nomination stands out from the competition? Are you sure you are prepared? By the end of the workshop you will be ready to prepare and submit your nomination(s).   Leading the workshop is one of the Directors of Sampson Hall, Phil Sampson who, over the past five years, has played a key part in the Devon Venus Awards which required Phil to be very involved from the start; visiting every nominated candidate, forming a shortlist and selecting an overall winner. Sampson Hall is focused on success and helping organisations recognise their full potential and unique attributes.   Supporting the workshop is Grow Exeter’s Head of Business Development & Events, Alice Bryan, who recently joined Grow Marketing after a regional role running events in Devon and Cornwall for Trinity Mirror. Alice project manages the DASLS Legal Awards and has done so since the start of the awards back in 2016. She will be able to share experiences, anecdotes and offer encouragement to those looking to enter. Being a part of many award programmes over the past 3 years, Alice’s insight, support and in-depth understanding will be invaluable to entrants.   Members are invited to book their place now for:   28 September, 9.00-10.30 am, Grow Marketing offices, Exeter Click here to book   Sampson Hall say: “In our work with lawyers and legal firms we have seen some great results both in terms of profitability and performance whether it is WIP or business development Sampson Hall are able to help law firms make the most of all their people through strategies, leadership and coaching.   However, what we have noticed there is an inclination to avoid celebrating and optimising success.  We are delighted to be working with DASLS in sharing best legal practice with a workshop that will engage and show case the best legal firms and their endeavours as they work proudly and yet unnoticed in our beautiful peninsula. DASLS enables real professionalism and hard work to be recognised in an appropriate manner by the whole of our regions legal community. Success breeds success and the stories encourage, enable and empower those within the legal profession to aspire to success in all their endeavours.”...

31st August 2018 | September 2018

GDPR – where are we now and where are we going?   The General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018 came into force on the 25th May 2018. Despite the long lead in time, a considerable amount of confusion still remains about what firms need to do to ensure on-going compliance with the new rules.   So what are the key challenges that firms face?   First, they need to comply with the new accountability principle. In practice this means more user-friendly information for clients about what is being done with their personal data.   Secondly, they need to think about what the basis for their processing of personal data is. An awful lot of noise has been made about consent but there are other grounds that can be relied upon and this also applies in respect of marketing.   Thirdly, firms need to be aware of changes to the rights of data subjects including access to information and the ability to request deletion of their personal data.   Fourthly, firms need to update their procedures in respect of security breach reporting. Previously entirely voluntary, this is now mandatory in a number of scenarios and firms need to ensure that employees are aware of the relevant time frames and information to be provided.   Fifthly, firms need to review their marketing to ensure that it is compliant with the GDPR and other relevant rules. They also need to keep a watchful eye on the forthcoming E-Privacy Regulation and consider what changes, if any, need to be made in the light of this.   Sixthly, firms need to consider whether it is appropriate to appoint a data protection officer. Although in most cases this will not be mandatory it is still good practice to have a person who has responsibility for this area.   Failure to comply with the new rules can potentially lead to very large fines, compensation claims and reputational damages.           Keith Markham will be giving his seminar on GDPR - where are we now and where are we going? on 18 October at Exeter Racecourse. To reserve your place go to DASLS website or email harry@dasls.com    ...

31st August 2018 | September 2018

On 22 August Wollen Michelmore announced that they will be merging with North Devon Law Firm Toller Beattie on the 1st October.   Toller Beattie have been trading in their current form since 1998 but their origins date back to 1780.   Wollen Michelmore’s history goes back 150 years.   Both firms have offices in Barnstaple – Wollen Michelmore at Roundswell and Toller Beattie at Pottington.   Left to Right: Maurice Clark, Clive Meredith, Gillian Jones, Jon Dunkley, Deborah Baker, Mark Roome, Alex Jenkins, David Eastman, Penelope Glaister, Charlotte McGregor and Chris Hart.   ...

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 ...