Epoq.co.uk Legal Services News

For small law firms in the US, increasing pricing pressure and the emergence of well funded and widely marketed non-lawyer legal document preparation services (e.g. Legalzoom) have made the need for alternative, lower cost methods of servicing existing customers and gaining new ones an acute issue.

To competitively service this market, small law firms need to find ways of reducing the cost of service, whilst simultaneously satisfying customers’ demand for on-line legal services where they can self-serve. Organisations such as insurers are also looking for ways of enhancing their products with access to self-serve legal services.

The Epoq USA legal platform is already ideally positioned to meet all these needs - but an additional challenging aspect of providing commoditized legal services in the U.S lies in creating a system and services/products that are compliant with individual local bar regulations for the Unauthorized Practice of Law (“UPL”).

UPL regulations dictate that legal advice can only be offered by an attorney registered in the same State as the client, and that an attorney may not offer legal advice in any other State. As a result, Epoq has had to ensure that all aspects of a self service solution- such as communications with customers, including the delivery systems - are fully compliant: it has been challenging to deal with individual bar regulations concerning, for example, the sharing of revenue, on-line engagement with clients and facilitating on-line payments in order to ensure that services provided on the Epoq Legal platform are compliant across the US.

For US law firms, the Epoq platform provides a simple, risk-free way of reducing the cost to serve and reaching new markets that:

• Is fully compliant with local bar UPL regulations;
• Is capable of providing a ‘virtual shop front’ that is dedicated to their firm;
• Is scalable, with selectable content modules to match the firm’s own legal expertise;
• Provides immediately available mechanisms for ecommerce and online client communication and management

Similar bespoke branded solutions have also been provided for self serve customers of large U.S. corporates such as ARAG, AETNA, CIGNA and Principal.

We are delighted to announce that Minister Law Ltd are the fourth firm to join the online MyLawyer network, launching later this year. Minster will now join the other announced network members (Pannone, Hugh James and Nelsons) in being able to provide their clients with a full range of automated document-drafting services from a dedicated section of their own website, as well as receiving referrals from the consumer-facing MyLawyer.co.uk site.

“At Minster Law we pride ourselves on creating access to legal services for our customers. Our corporate values of People, Value and Growth underpin this approach, and we firmly believe that the MyLawyer network (and the wider services that Epoq are able to provide us) will help enforce our commitment to these values” comments Craig Underwood, Associate Director of Minster Law Ltd.  “As a leading law firm in the UK, we understand how daunting it can be to put your legal affairs in order - and this service demonstrates our aim to de-mystify the law, provide easy access to the legal sector and create value-for-money legal products. Our partnership with Epoq sets the standard for all law firms in the coming decades, and we are proud to be leading the way. Through the network, our customers will have access to the same specialist lawyers and advice that they would have through more traditional engagement, but at far better value and when it’s convenient for them to do so. They will also gain access to additional services that are contracted entirely through the internet.”

Interested in MyLawyer, either as a potential customer or as a network member? Why not have a look at our pre-launch homepage here to see more details…

A staggering report recently revealed that over 2 million couples living together in England and Wales have very few legal rights as unmarried cohabitants in the event of the  relationship coming to an end.

Over half of a sample of cohabiting couples believed that “common law marriage” was a recognised legal status and would allow their partner to inheritance rights should anything happen to them. There is in fact “no such thing in court” and hasn’t been since 1753, and without an up-to-date will partners could potentially be left penniless in the event of death. On top of this, 1 in 4 children are born into unmarried households, so the implications of being legally unprotected extend beyond the couple themselves!
And it’s not just death that could threaten the right to assets; if a cohabiting couple end their relationship and one partner does not have a financial stake in the property, they may have no right to it whatsoever, irrelevant of how long they’ve lived there, and irrelevant of mutual children.
Despite a report by the Law Commission in 2006 which suggested giving cohabiters legal rights similar to married couples, nothing seems set to change and it remains paramount for cohabiting couples to protect their legal rights with appropriate documentation.
Epoq offers a range of legal documentation relevant to cohabiting couples, including:

Comprehensive pair of wills for an unmarried couple

Prenuptial/Pre-civil partnership agreement

Cohabitation agreement

It is both right and proper that the Power of Attorney process is handled rigorously and with the utmost scrutiny – that can’t be contested. But ironically, it seems that many individuals going through the process of getting authorised to act on the behalf of others are actually being failed by the authorisation process itself!

A recent sampling exercise by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) revealed the surprising statistic that 60% of the LPAs submitted to them last year were erroneous and required further correspondence with the sender before they could be approved. Furthermore, half of these flawed documents required re-submission and hence payment of a new fee, an entirely unnecessary waste of the firm’s time and finances.

Creating an LPA for a client involves a 52-page application form, ascertaining which sections are relevant to the case in particular. Completing this form in accordance with the guideline can take, on average, 3-4 hours, at which point the completed document is sent to the OPG - but in 6 out of 10 cases, it’s later returned with errors, (some of which can terminate the process entirely). More time is then spent correcting or resubmitting the document at additional cost before it can be accepted and is of any use to the client.

This is grossly inefficient, and a classic example of how Epoq’s automated legal document services can improve productivity - members of the MyLawyer network will be able to offer LPA services to their clients while minimising these kind of inefficiencies. A MyLawyer firm will be able to create the document automatically as they are guided intelligently through the ‘interview’ process, selectively obtaining the necessary information. The process will take a fraction of the time taken by a conventional construction, and by cutting out human error will significantly reduce the chance of a costly, time-wasting rejection from the OPG. Better still, the firm can instruct their client to ‘interview’ themselves online, meaning that the only legwork will be checking the draft automated by the client themselves.

The MyLawyer firm is able to cut out wasted time and expensive errors and increase their potential margins as a result of a smoother service-delivery. The client saves time, money and effort. A classic example of the merits of automation…

For the second year running, a firm of solicitors has labelled July ‘Make a Will Month’, and as part of the media coverage surrounding this, a shocking statistic (shocking not because it’s almost certainly true, but because the figure does not seem to change year-on-year) is being bandied about (for example  BBC Radio 2, The Chris Evans Show, 01/07/08,) that suggests that two-thirds of people die without making a Will, leaving a good proportion of their assets at the mercy of Her Majesty’s Treasury. It’s surely no coincidence that in the same month, the second series of the BBC show ‘Heir Hunters’ is being broadcast, which follows the efforts of a team of probate detectives who attempt to track down previously unknown family members who may have left unassigned assets.

There is an underlying theme here: A Will is clearly an essential document for anyone who cares about their descendants, yet evidently they are not being created in the majority of circumstances. Why is this?

The Radio programme went on to cite the two key reasons normally provided by the British public for not making a Will as the expense of using solicitors and the time and hassle associated with visiting them. This comes as no surprise to us; these are the two compelling factors that underpin the design of services like MyLawyer and Desktop Lawyer, and explain the demand for them. Chris Evans, the programme presenter, suggested that people could potentially use DIY Wills purchased from high street retailers such as WHSmith, and the solicitor interviewed on-air for the piece suggested that this kind of product was over simplistic. That may well be the case in some circumstances, but not in all – and of course Epoq’s MyLawyer and Desktop Lawyer services offer a range of options for professional legal review, which can take that first draft of a Will and have it tailored for each customers unique circumstances.

What is clear, particularly in difficult financial circumstances, is that the need for people to create a Will has never been greater. As you might expect from a company whose products serve this market, Epoq fully support the “Make a Will Month” campaign – and would suggest that whatever level of financial planning you choose to undertake, it’s better than doing nothing….

This week saw the first unveiling of the MyLawyer concept to the legal press, as our first press hit the wires, giving a little taster of what to expect from the MyLawyer network when it is launched. Press reaction has been very positive, with the story most notably making the front page of The Gazette today.

The article explained how the launch of MyLawyer will put pressure on high-street firms as they aim to adapt to changes in the legal market - the Gazette piece quotes Richard Cohen, our joint CEO: “…perhaps the largest unexpected threat to high street Solicitors may come from inside the profession itself. Those firms who are unable to or have not yet considered the ramifications of a changing market may end up facing a second, possibly greater challenge than that exerted by the major financial institutions. High street Solicitors stand to lose market share to other law firms that are embracing the competitive advantage of technology and the distribution of the internet.”

You can see the full press release here.

We believe MYL is the future of legal transaction: smart, open, accessible, online – and yet backed with top quality legal expertise and the ability for direct contact with lawyers if required. We’ll be keeping you up to date with progress here as we head towards the launch of MyLawyer later in the year, but in the meantime you can register your interest by going to mylawyer.co.uk and completing the online signup.

Speculation continues as to the benefits of “off-the-shelf” legal documentation and whether or not it fits the bill as a replacement for traditional legal services. “Now you can go online and, for a few pounds, you can download a solicitor’s letter for almost anything” noted a recent discussion piece on Radio 4’s Analysis program, “…professions are under pressure as technology and de-skilling are undermining them, and rightly so”.

As one would imagine, such statements have not gone unchallenged by solicitors themselves, who are keen to point out that a basic document template will not suffice in the majority of cases, and may actually be an example of false economy. By purchasing a will online, “you can miss all the key things you should be thinking of in order to avoid tax and in order to benefit your family”.

We believe that the arrival of off-the-shelf legal documentation has had an effect on the legal profession, the very fact that these products exist is testament to the fact that the public are increasingly demanding the right to take the initiative with their legal problems. Our technology satisfies these demands without compromising on the accuracy and professionalism provided by a law firm.

MyLawyer® will provide an answer to law firms looking to re-assess their web-strategy in the light of recent developments in the legal market, and being part of the network will enable them to satisfy the demands of the modern legal consumer.

The MyLawyer® network is designed to meet the needs of consumers and law firms alike. On one hand, technology and the internet can be harnessed to provide a slicker, more transparent process for creating legal documents that cuts out any unnecessary ‘busywork’. On the other hand it fully recognises that every case is individual and as such deserves focused attention from an expert. By successfully taking on board both of these points, we are able to deliver a better, cheaper solution without compromise.

We are making healthy progress with the latest version of Rapidocs 4, which will help the MyLawyer® vision become a reality in the near future. Watch this space.

The full ramifications of the Legal Services Act (LSA) are only now beginning to be explored in the media. Despite warnings in the wake of the Clementi review that the changes represented ‘a wakeup call for lawyers’, many have been slow to visualise the new legal landscape. It is becoming clear that in the ‘Brave New World’ for legal services heralded in a recent Intendence report, the market will face serious upheaval, powerful competitive forces will be unleashed and traditional business models will be swept away in what some experts are calling ‘the big bang for the legal profession’. This article will look at the predictions of two experts, Richard Susskind, the Times Law Columnist and Professor Stephen Mayson the Professor of Strategy and Director of the Legal Services Policy Institute at The College of Law.

Richard Susskind

“The end of lawyers?”

Richard Susskind’s new book, ‘The End of Lawyers?’ (subtitled, Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services), points to a future in which conventional legal advisers will be less prominent in society than today. Susskind argues that the legal profession needs to undergo a significant transformation to avoid extinction. According to the book the legal profession will need to react to two market forces: firstly, an irresistible pull towards commoditisation and secondly, ongoing development and uptake of information technology which will become increasingly important for cutting costs and delivering legal services to the web generation of consumers. The tone of the book isn’t entirely apocalyptic as Susskind concludes that new and different roles in the new world will emerge for adaptable lawyers.As Susskind argues:

“the challenge I lay down here is for all lawyers to introspect, and to ask themselves, with their hands on their hearts, what elements of their current workload could be undertaken differently — more quickly, cheaply, efficiently, or to a higher quality — using alternative methods of working. In other words, the challenge for legal readers is to identify their distinctive skills and talents, the capabilities that they possess that cannot, crudely, be replaced by advanced systems or by less costly workers supported by technology or standard processes, or by lay people armed with online self-help tools……. The market will determine that the legal world is over-resourced, it will increasingly drive out inefficiencies and unnecessary friction and, in so doing, we will indeed witness the end of outdated legal practice and the end of outdated lawyers.”

Stephen Mayson

“Catalyst, Cataclysm or Catastrophe”

Stephen Mayson is head of the Legal Policy Institute think-tank set up to examine the implications of the LSA. In a recent article in the Law Society Gazette he stated that changes to the market which will begin to take place when the act comes fully into force in 2012 will mean that qualified lawyers will only be used for reserved activities, such as probate and litigation.

Stephen Mayson has argued in several prominent speeches that the legal services reforms are intended to bring about upheaval and reform in the legal services market and that the forces unleashed could be catalytic. Law firms will need to restructure and possibly refinance to consolidate, to recruit, train and promote sensibly, and to engage in even more sophisticated strategy and management. Mayson predicts that many law firms will be forced to consolidate or go out of business.

“In the context of the market reforms as a whole, however, even [the Law Society's estimate of] 800 [legal aid firms disappearing] might be a significant underestimate.” So what scale of consolidation should we project? It’s difficult to be sure of course but here’s my guess for the next five to ten years… the ‘at risk’ group would lose about 3,000 firms and would imply about £1.5 billion of turnover on the move”

During a speech at the Law London 2008 event, Mayson said law firms would be competing with big, established brands such as supermarkets and membership organisations, which would not use qualified lawyers for unreserved work. This would leave firms with a difficult choice: to get rid of qualified staff, or pay them less.

Mayson added: ‘We probably have twice as many qualified lawyers as that market needs. The number of lawyers has doubled, but the volume of work in reserved activities has not… We have got to get much tighter on what we pay for. The AA and HBOS are doing [legal] work on a massive scale. There aren’t that many law firms around that can compete. Are we going to roll over, or think about consolidation?… The one thing that makes an industry vulnerable is the incumbents not changing. Thinking like lawyers could spell the end.’

According to Legal Week, Lyceum Capital has become the first investment house to openly target legal services as the private equity firm moves to position itself ahead of sweeping deregulation of the UK profession.

The buy-out house has also appointed a senior advisory panel to seal its credentials, including former Clifford Chance managing partner Tony Williams, high-profile legal IT consultant Richard Susskind and Paul Hewitt, who was instrumental in developing legal services arms at the RAC and Co-operative Group.

The venture, revealed today by Legal Week, is being overseen by Lyceum’s managing partner, Jeremy Hand (pictured), the incoming chairman of the BVCA — private equity’s main industry body.

Lyceum is to target opportunities from the Legal Services Act (LSA) by investing in mid-tier firms to help fund their growth, including taking minority and full controlling stakes.

With the help of the panel, Lyceum, which has just announced its latest £255m fund, will look for potential investment targets and give business advice in addition to funding.

Hand told Legal Week: “Law firms are businesses. We are not pretending we are lawyers but we can help businesses develop — whether through giving advice, overhauling IT systems or allowing them to grow with new hires.”

Click here to read the original article

Epoq Comment

Richard Cohen, Joint CEO of Epoq Legal responded by saying:

‘This is a clear demonstration of where the legal services market is going and it is interesting to see the emphasis on helping law firms to develop as businesses. We have certainly seen a change in the way some firms think about their relationships with their clients and are increasingly finding that firms want to add web and phone based services to supplement the traditional face-to-face delivery model. Firms that adopt these new engagement models will have a huge competitive advantage and the fact that the chairman of the BVCA is heading up a team to invest in this sector shows that there is a great opportunity to exploit the changes in the legal services market’.

We are currently coming to the end of the latest development cycle for the client side of Rapidocs, which we have moved up a whole version to 4, that’s because it’s such a substantial departure from our previous version, indeed I believe we have made a leap in transparency and accessibility, one that will have a positive repercussion in the market.

As part of this process it became clear that a number of aspects of this development may be unique enough to warrant a patent, so we are seeking the same.

Now, we were originally just seeking patents outside the UK, but in a recent case the High Court said that the Patent Office was incorrectly applying the law in automatically rejecting claims for computer programs, this was in a case brought by four small British businesses. This means there is a greater chance that software patents can be achieved in the UK.

I naturally cannot say too much right now about the patents we are seeking. What I can tell you is that it’s been a long time since I last applied for a patent and had forgotten the embellished language used, the law is without doubt filled with obscure and esoteric terminology. I suppose one of Epoq’s values is to remove the obscure, then simplify the language as much as possible thus making it accessible. However, I suspect that patents are not an area we will be putting our automation hand to any time soon.