When it comes to the human brain and central nervous system, the concept of neurodiversity states that we don’t all end up the same – individuals are categorised as either neurotypical (they process information and function in a way that society deems ‘the norm’) or neurodivergent (they analyse content in an alternative way).
We have all seen the headlines related to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which has bought about the implementation of the most severe level of sanctions levied on the country and associated people and companies.
To protect your firm you must ensure you implement appropriate policies, controls and procedures relating to sanctions, which must include making appropriate checks on all your clients to ensure they don’t fall within the sanctions regime. And if they do, making sure you obtain the appropriate consent before you start acting for them.
- Topic:
- Legal
Since it was introduced by the Law Society in 1998 the Lexcel standard has become recognised by many as a sure-fire way for legal practices to reduce risk, reduce complaints and reduce mistakes. Any law firm wishing to improve clients satisfaction and profitability should consider Lexcel, but before they embark on the process, they should consider whether or not their legal practice management software is up to the job. Is it going to aid or hinder the firm with the Lexcel accreditation process?
This article is a summary of what the Access Legal team of software experts has learned over 25+ years about Lexcel from many in depth customer interactions - including the benefits of getting the accreditation and key facts all law firms should know about the process and requirements. It also aims to show why having the right software in place can help a law firm achieve and maintain its Lexcel accreditation. We have collated our key learnings as a result of working closely with many Lexcel accredited firms for almost three decades.
The main points provide an interesting list of considerations for those firms wishing to go for Lexcel for the first time. However, this guide is probably of even more significance to practices that feel they are currently working too hard to maintain the accolade, and are perhaps recognising they need to look for new legal practice management software.
- Topic:
- Legal
As we kick-start 2022, law firm owners, leaders and compliance officers must be aware of a growing number of considerations relating to anti-money laundering (AML).
It is the responsibility of every person that works for a law firm to make sure that the business is not used for money laundering, and that relevant reports are made of any suspicious activity.
Our quarterly AML updates webinar and blog series aims to keep law firms updated in a consistent, informative and accessible way so that they can include relevant developments in their AML training programmes and keep their processes and procedures on track.
- Topic:
- Legal
The consensus of opinion for the Legal sector suggests that although law firms are unlikely to get involved with trading cryptocurrencies for everyday business in 2022, they are quite likely to receive instructions from clients who want to use the for legal service transactions.
In a recent Cryptocurrency Webinar for law firms, Access Legal Regulatory Director, Brian Rogers explains what cryptocurrencies are, how and why they are used, the part Blockchain plays in the cryptocurrency transaction, the money laundering risks, and actions law firms can take to mitigate risk. Keep reading to find out more.
- Topic:
- Legal
Many people leaders are all too familiar with the additional HR challenges that can arise at Christmas time, from constant enquiries about payday to dips in productivity, last-minute annual leave requests and potential Christmas party fallout.
But that’s all in the Christmas past for many, who likely manage (and therefore pre-empt) any festive related HR issues in their HR software. So that’s Christmas present handled too.
But how do HR managers prepare for a Christmas future yet to come, and avoid being haunted by failed HR strategies that came before? Can you judge how successful your HR strategy has been this year for example, and make decisions on where to focus next year?
- Topic:
- Human Resources
If there could be such a thing as a positive outcome from Covid-19, it’s that workplace safety, health and wellbeing has been elevated to a tier one consideration for many organisations and its individuals. Which is really where it always should have been.
The key to creating a physically and mentally healthier workplace culture however, is to not treat responses to occupational health and safety risk with quick fixes, to try and plaster over specific challenges.
Health and safety training is often the biggest tick-box for compliance, but how do you embed training into the rest of your health and safety risk management processes to effectively manage health and safety risk and evidence compliance when it matters?
Just ‘ticking boxes’ is a very dangerous approach to take when dealing with compliance, especially if it is connected to a key accreditation like the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS)!
CQS is used by panel managers and lenders as part of their selection processes to determine which conveyancers they allow to act on their behalf, so holding this accreditation is business critical and should not be seen as a mere ‘tick box’ exercise!
- Topic:
- Legal
Policies and precedents are key to ensuring a firm can meet its regulatory obligations and strategic objectives; without them there will be a lack of direction and a risk of non-compliance.
Do you struggle with drafting policies and precedents, or are unsure what to put in them or how to get started? Are you short on time and concerned how you will keep everything up to date?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Our market research tells us that those working in small to medium sized law firms find it especially difficult to balance their day-to-day roles with their governance responsibilities
- Topic:
- Legal
We carried out a survey recently looking at the issues that keep compliance officers awake at night and continuing competency came out as number three, below money laundering compliance and thematic reviews carried out by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
In light of the concerns around the future of continuing competency we ran a webinar that looked at the current competency regime, consumer perceptions of lawyers’ competency, and proposed changes to the competency regime.
- Topic:
- Legal
