Solicitors

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Whether you are a sole practitioner in a specialist or multidisciplinary field or a multi-office partnership, Haslers' legal team has the knowledge and experience to give you the expert advice and support that you need to run your practice.

We appreciate that every professional firm has its own culture but all firms face similar competitive pressures. As a professional you will have spent years training and practicing in your chosen field of law. Unfortunately that doesn't guarantee financial success - these days you also need to have a high level of business and financial management skills. 

Financial Management
You probably have access to large amounts of financial data but do you have answers to some of the most fundamental questions, such as:

• How much cash is in the bank today?
• How much cash will be in the bank next week / next month?
• What is the value of work-in-progress and debtors?
• What value of unbilled disbursements or write-offs is the firm funding?
• Is billing and debt collection in control? 
• Which type of work is most profitable? 
• Which fee-earners are under performing?

If you can't answer one or more of these questions then you don't have the management information that you need to run an efficient and profitable practice. 

Handling client money
The Solicitors' Account Rules 1998 are a complex set of rules governing how solicitors should handle clients' money including accounting for interest and disbursements.  Even small firms can find themselves dealing with very considerable volumes of client money. The risk of fraud or error is high and all firms must have a sound knowledge of the Rules and strong accounting systems and controls to minimise these risks. We can provide advice on the Solicitors' Accounts Rules 1998.

Common problem areas include the definition of client money, treatment of Legal Services Commission receipts and the appropriate use of office account and client account.  The Law Society requires an independent accountant's report to be filed within six months of each year-end if a firm handles client money. Instead of seeing this as a purely compliance role, Haslers strives to make this reporting process beneficial to you by reviewing your systems and controls and reporting to you any weaknesses or areas for improvement that we identify. Effective handling of client money can benefit both client and solicitor in terms of interest generated.

Why choose Haslers?
In addition to our range of services outlined in the specialist advice for professional practices section of this website, we have the expertise and experience to be able to help you to obtain, interpret and benchmark key financial information by giving fee-earners a better understanding of the impact that their working practices have on profitability and cashflow, e.g. timely billing, improved debt collection, levels of write-offs.

This will, in turn, lead to:

• More realistic fee quotes and hourly charge out rates
• More effective use of staff and resources 
• Better informed decisions on staff recruitment 
• Greater understanding of which types of legal work are profitable 
• Improved profitability