Life During Law: Sandra Paul

Life During Law: Sandra Paul

I head up our criminal defence and police investigations team as well as our sexual misconduct in the workplace practice. I am interested in people, and I guess I am a nosey person.

I decided to become a lawyer because I wanted to have my own voice. In my twenties, I was a team leader in a child protection social services team. I would have done an assessment, done the work, known the family, thought I had made good decisions, but then it would get reinterpreted a couple of times for me. The legal department would say ‘this is what you mean’, then the barrister would say ‘this is what the legal department have told me that you mean’. I thought: ‘Actually – maybe I can say what I mean.’ These people were doing a job that I knew was hard, but nowhere near as hard as turning up to these families’ homes and making decisions about their children. So, I decided to do the conversion and see what would happen. I didn’t know if it would be for me, as I am not the usual type of person that becomes a lawyer. Continue reading “Life During Law: Sandra Paul”

Legal technology sponsored briefing: The anatomy of a digital-age legal service business

Legal technology sponsored briefing: The anatomy of a digital-age legal service business

 

Chris Bull of The Intuity Alliance/Kingsmead Square considers the structure, funding and skills needed for a legal service business in the digital age

Note I am talking about ‘legal service business’, not ‘law firm’. ‘Law firm’ suggests a partnership – too outdated and narrow a term in an era when very few new partnerships are being created, and more existing firms are converting to corporate structures. Continue reading “Legal technology sponsored briefing: The anatomy of a digital-age legal service business”

ABS Fairpoint Group legal revenues hit £30m as firm hunts further acquisitions

Finance company Fairpoint Group, which in recent years has pushed into the legal market with the acquisitions of Simpson Millar and Colemans, has posted annual revenue of £31.6m from its legal services division. The figure is a 165% jump on the £11.9m brought in last year.

Continue reading “ABS Fairpoint Group legal revenues hit £30m as firm hunts further acquisitions”

‘Need to secure value for money and quality’: industry groups welcome competition probe into legal market

In a move welcomed by industry groups, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into the legal services market over concerns about the affordability and standards of legal services.

Continue reading “‘Need to secure value for money and quality’: industry groups welcome competition probe into legal market”

‘Slow evolution’: Government plans further shakeup of legal regulation to encourage alternative providers

The government is to kick off a new consultation in spring 2016, part of which will be on making legal services regulators independent from their representative bodies and lowering barriers to entry even further for non-legal businesses to offer legal services.

Continue reading “‘Slow evolution’: Government plans further shakeup of legal regulation to encourage alternative providers”

Manchester insurance firm takes on 43-strong team from Parabis as group unravels in administration

Manchester firm Horwich Farrelly has today (24 November) announced it has taken a 43-strong personal injury team from the Parabis Group, including seven partners, just one day after it emerged Parabis is to be broken up and sold in a £50m pre-pack administration deal. Continue reading “Manchester insurance firm takes on 43-strong team from Parabis as group unravels in administration”