Community Matters
We live in unprecedented times.
Whether you believed the hype regarding Corona virus or not, the fact is it is here to stay. We have no immunity to Covid-19 and it now threatens the very fabric of our society. Other countries are implementing forced social withdrawal and it is only a matter of time before our own nation implements our own version of lock-down, starting with the isolation of the elderly. Speaking personally, as some who has had severe pneumonia and spent 15 nights on a ventilator in ICU, I am taking every personal precaution to avoid this disease. I'm sure you are to, but the point of this post is not to advise you on personal hygiene, as we both know common sense here prevails.
What I am talking about is the bigger picture stuff. Enabling the UK legal sector to continue to provide services whilst this terror runs amok. Over the next few months I fear we are going to see household names close for business, the travel industry decimated and the economy go into recession. Many families are going to be experiencing a premature bereavement, "losing a loved one before their time" in the very words of our own Prime Minister.
The bigger picture challenge for the whole of the UK Legal sector is to continue to serve the public and provide them with quality legal advice in challenging times. We can only successfully do that if we pull together, as a community. Now is not the time time to be niggling about licence counts, profit share, increasing PEP, or CRM projects. Now is the time for survival, about business continuity, about working in new ways to ensure that we all contribute to the provision of legal services in these, the most difficult of times.
I am happy to facilitate change and help any firms that need assistance. I want to help the sector achieve some sort of normality, and that can only happen if service providers and law firms come together and work sensibly. This is not a great time to be shameless and enforce licence true-up rules, inflate product pricing or charge distressed sale services rates. Now is a time to make sure that there is still a legal industry left, so that all our businesses have a a future.
If you are a law firm and you want help, please get in touch. If your project is business continuity or sector survival related my advice will be free and I will aim to put you in touch with other like minded service providers. If you are a product provider and have a free offering, let me know. I will help you market it for, free. If you are a service provider and have some best practice documents you want to provide, let me know. If we can create a centralised repository or website for free access that facilitates the exchange of ideas, information and services, then together, we might just still have an industry that can serve its customers independently. Otherwise, I fear only a few mega firms and the legal service arms of accountants will remain.
I will post updates here as things change and in the meantime, take care.
Martyn
