The UK Government has announced the opening of a tender for Civil Legal Aid Contracts.

Tenders must be submitted using the LAA’s eTendering system and must be submitted by 5pm on Monday 22 April 2024.

Here is the link to make the submission: https://legalaid.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.shtml

The contract will run for 12 months from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025 with an option to extend the contract by up to a further 3 years.

The tender is for the following Categories of Law:

• Family.
• Housing and Debt and Welfare Benefits.
• Immigration and Asylum (including work at Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).
• Mental Health.
• Community Care.
• Claims Against Public Authorities.
• Clinical Negligence.
• Public Law.
• Family Mediation.
• Education; and
• Discrimination

Help

Should you need assistance, we can help. Here is a link to our help package (or talk to us): https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqm-accreditation-assistance-package/

Here is a link to view the government tender document:
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FINAL_-_Headline_Intentions_for_Civil_Services_from_September_2024_V2.pdf

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We are accredited LEAP Implementation Consultants. We have implemented LEAP into over 700 firms since starting to work with them in 2015. We also provide training to many firms outside of the implementation. Ingemar, who leads on this, is a solicitor, was an equity partner & department head. HCL assist with a lot of compliance. He will bring all of this experience to the training.

Below are the main training courses we provide:

Pricing to be discussed when the training is more tightly scoped.

1. New Starter Training (case management) – this could be just the training on the case management side of LEAP which is usually 3 hours + a break [we could tag onto the end time & fee recording, but if you wanted more such as disbursements then we would suggest another session to cover the bookkeeping elements].
2. New Starter Training (bookkeeping) – how long this would last would depend upon what you wanted us to cover. Normally 1 hour to cover entries on the matters in both office & client, incl time recording & invoicing. If Legal Aid bookkeeping is to be covered as well then add on half an hour, again to be scoped.
3. Refresher Training – for people who have been using LEAP for a while. Usually quite interactive, with people asking questions, throwing their gripes at me. We would move between answering questions to training on topics as the need dictates. Very much driven by the participants. How long we would need would depend upon how many are attending and how many questions they have. Probably best to determine both these points and to have a list of questions & gripes. We may then assess how long we would need.
4. Reports Training – probably about half an hour, may be less may be more, depending upon what you want to know. We can make this quite interactive, indeed roll this into strategy as we imagine this would be at the partner/director level.
5. Compliance within LEAP – we have this as a package for about 1 hour to fit into a lunch break.
6. Precedent Creation Training – 20 mins
7. Review of staff usage of LEAP – Although not training, but can inform the training & indeed management on what needs improving. We do this remotely (using the login details of someone in the firm who has no limitations on their access to the system). We then provide a report to management of the firm. Here is the link to the service: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/review-of-staff-usage-of-cms/

Normally the training would be delivered remotely using zoom. That allows us to have several people on the training session at one time, attending from wherever they wish to be. If you want us to come into the office, that is fine, but we would want to attend for a full day’s work and would also charge travelling costs.

We hope this is of some interest/help. Feel free to come back to us with questions.

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email: [email protected]

Please note that we also train on the Access Legal eclipse Proclaim software and assist with configuration and adaptation: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/proclaim-support/

One of our clients has received a letter of a review with 2 weeks notice. The link below is to a letter they received from the SRA giving them notice of the review & setting out what will happen, the agenda for the review and what they will be reviewing. It includes all relevant policy documents, review of files and interview of staff. Nothing triggered this. The firm was picked at random. Shout if you need help - not with the law, but with the compliance policies.

https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Letter-from-SRA-re-Thematic-Review-into-Probate-and-Estate-Administration-for-a-law-firm.pdf

What will happen during the SRA visit?

They have written:

"During our visit we will:
1.
speak with the person with overall responsibility for probate and estate administration matters
2.
speak with a fee earner and review two of their probate and estate administration files
3.
review any policies and procedures relevant to how your firm handles probate and estate administration matters
4.
review any policies and procedures relevant to how your firm maintains the continuing competence of its fee earners
5.
review a selection of training records for managers and fee earners who do probate and estate administration work
6.
review the firm’s most recent accountant’s report and any letter of recommendations from the accountant.

We will randomly select the fee earner to speak with on the day and confirm them to you at the beginning of the visit.

On the day of the visit, you need to provide us with:
*
a list of all fee earners who work on probate and estate administration matters and their availability to meet with us
*
a list of all probate and estate administration matters opened since February 2022. For each matter, the list should provide:
*
whether the firm/fee earner is acting as an executor or acting on behalf of an executor of the estate being administered
*
the name of all fee earners who have had substantial day-to-day conduct of the matter
*
the date the matter was opened and/or closed
*
the amount billed or of work in progress
*
any policies and procedures relevant to how the firm handles probate and estate administration matters
*
any policies and procedures relevant to how the firm maintains the continuing competence of its fee earners
*
training records for managers and fee earners who do probate and estate administration work
*
a copy of the firm’s most recent accountant’s report (including the date it was issued), a copy of any accompanying letter of recommendations from the accountant, and confirmation of your year end date.
Please ensure that:
*
the person with overall responsibility for probate and estate administration matters is available to meet with us on the day of the visit
*
we can review your probate and estate administration files on the day of our visit. If you have electronic files, please ensure that these are accessible."

Visit Agenda

Approx. Time
Activity
11.00
Introductions and context.
Confirmation of fee earner we will meet with and files to be reviewed.
11.15
Interview with the person with overall responsibility for probate and estate administration team.
13.00
Interview with a fee earner and a review of two of their files.
15.00
Summary of visit with the person with overall responsibility for the team.
15.30
Visit concluded.

Help?

We cannot help with regard to the law.

But we can help with your compliance policies & procedures. We have helped many firms with SRA AML Audits. We expect the SRA will be look at your AML policies & procedures and your website for Transparency Rules compliance at the very least. They may also look at SRA Accounts Rules compliance and policies around managing Client Account, audits of these and possibly interest policies. We have experts who can assist with all of this. Feel free to give us a shout.

Do not panic. Unless there is serious wrongdoing, we suspect that the SRA will issue after the review guidance of corrective action they require with a time limit for you to show its been done. This is the approach that they follow with regard to AML audits. We will update as we get a better idea of their approach.

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email us: [email protected]

Feedback from a firm after an SRA Probate Thematic Review

We spoke with 1 of our client firms who had just undergone the SRA Thematic Probate Review. The format followed what the SRA had written about (see above). They did also check their compliance policies in their OPM & procedures. They wanted to check that the firm had adequate systems in place & that they were being followed - as well as looking at the probate specific things. They chose our client at random. They are looking here at firms who have NOT had issues - the firms they do not normally get to see. Happy to report that our client passed with flying colours, but was told to update certain parts of his OPM - which we will help them with. https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/compliance-services/

The SRA has created a useful tool for finding the closest Pearson Vue Centre to you. The link to the SR page is below. One simply types in the same of the country or city in the box and it will show you a map. Annoyingly, you have to run the tool from the SRA web page. It may be found about two thirds of the way down the page.

https://sqe.sra.org.uk/exam-arrangements/dates-and-locations

QWE Confirmation

Should you not have a solicitor who can 'Confirm' your QWE then WE CAN HELP.

Here’s a link to our External Solicitors Confirmation Service: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/

Contact Us

Fill in the form below or email Ingemar: [email protected]

YouTube

You could visit our YouTube channel where we have many videos about QWE, the SQE & Exemptions. If you do, may we invite you to subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/@hunningsconsultancy999/videos

The SRA has upgraded the web page so that you may search on the jurisdiction in which you are qualified. There is then a drop down which summarises the SRA position.

Here is a link to the web page:

https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/qualified-lawyers/sqe-exemptions/

For example, if you search on Ukraine it will tell you what the situation is if you are just qualified as a lawyer through passing a law degree or if you are qualifies as an advokat through passing those extra exams.

Help & Assistance?

Should you want further information or assistance with an application for exemption from the SQE2 exam, then here is a link to more help:

https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/

If instead you need an external solicitor to confirm your QWE to the SRA - we can help:

https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/

We have launched this subscription service to help firms stay compliant in this fast moving area. This holds the policies & procedures out from the main OPM, should you want to keep them separate. It works as a subscription service so we may issue updates to take into accounts changes in the rules, regulations and guidance. There will be some initial customisation to the firm, but it will remain the firm's responsibility to tailor them to their needs and to reflect their work and procedures.

Here is a link to the service:

https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/aml-sanctions-manual/

In recent times, the digital landscape has seen a shift in how websites handle user data, especially with cookies. Cookies are those little bits of data stored on your browser that help websites remember your preferences and track your online behaviour. They've been around for a while, but now, with privacy concerns on the rise, there's a spotlight on how tech giants like Google are approaching this issue.

Google, being a major player in the online realm, has introduced changes to its cookie policies, aligning with the broader industry trend towards enhanced user privacy. One significant move is Google's plan to phase out third-party cookies on its Chrome browser. This decision stems from the growing demand for more transparent and user-friendly data practices.

So, what's the deal with third-party cookies, and why is Google making this move? Third-party cookies are essentially bits of code from domains other than the one you're currently visiting. Advertisers often use them to track users across various sites, gathering data for targeted advertising. However, this practice has raised privacy concerns, leading to increased regulatory scrutiny.

Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative aims to find a middle ground. Instead of third-party cookies, the company is exploring new technologies that allow personalized advertising without compromising individual privacy. One such proposal is the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which groups users with similar interests into cohorts while keeping individual data anonymous.

This shift isn't just about Google. It's part of a broader movement within the industry toward building a more privacy-centric web. Users are becoming more conscious of how their data is used, and regulations like GDPR and CCPA reflect this changing landscape.

For businesses and marketers, adapting to these changes is crucial. As a business advisor, it's worth keeping an eye on evolving digital marketing strategies that prioritize user consent and privacy. This might involve investing in first-party data collection methods, where users willingly provide information, ensuring a more transparent and consensual data-sharing process.

As someone involved in data protection, these changes align with the ongoing efforts to create a safer online environment. Privacy regulations are evolving, and staying informed about the latest developments, like Google's cookie policies, is key to providing effective advice to your clients.

On the home front, discussions around online privacy might be a great way to engage your teenage son. It's an evolving topic with real-world implications, and helping him understand the importance of privacy in the digital age could be a valuable conversation.

In a nutshell, the cookie landscape is changing, and Google is taking steps to navigate these shifts while prioritising user privacy.

Feel free to contact us should you wish to talk through or want help with regard to Data Privacy and Data Protection Compliance. Our Data Privacy consultants have helped many firms in the UK & abroad with their Data Protection compliance.

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[email protected]

As many of you will know, Ingemar is passionate about environmental issues and in particular planting trees. To celebrate HCL’s 10th anniversary, we have partnered with Treekly to plant a forest of mangrove trees in Mteza Creek, Kenya. We have set up our own Treekly Community Group, and have already planted over 1,000 trees. We would love you to join us in this adventure. We’re funding 1 tree for each of you that takes part. Here's a link for info. You’ll need to download the ‘Treekly’ app to your mobile, create an account AND link to it a step counter on your mobile. The code is: HUNNINGS (you don’t need a password).

Treekly plant trees in areas previously devastated by deforestation. To help break the poverty cycle, local communities are paid to plant and protect the trees, with blockchain technology and sensors used to ensure the long-term defensibility of all reforestation projects. Via the Treekly app, users join a steps leaderboard and for walking 5000+ steps per day, trees are planted on their behalf. The app is free to download to your mobile. In addition to the first tree that we have funded for you, you’ll also earn another each month when completing 5000+ steps on 20 separate days. Great for our health and great for the planet!

https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/

Over this time we have grown from just Ingemar to a team of 14 and have helped over 800 law firms, other businesses and aspiring solicitors all over the world. The aim remains the same – to help businesses improve the way they run their business, but we have added on the help to those aspiring to become solicitors as this relates to the supply of talent to our law firm clients. Currently the work largely falls into 3 sections: work on case & practice management systems, compliance support and then the rest of the consulting work, the largest part of which is assisting Aspiring Solicitors on their path to qualification as solicitors through the SQE route (a lot of which is international work). 22.1.24

See the next post for what we're doing to mark the occasion.

Check out the website for info on what we do - or fill in the form below or email [email protected] or ring: 07887 524507

Artificial Intelligence has undoubtedly revolutionized the business landscape, offering both exciting opportunities and potential challenges. On the positive side, AI can enhance operational efficiency, streamline processes, and even boost innovation. However, it's not all rainbows and unicorns – businesses need to navigate carefully to avoid potential pitfalls, especially when it comes to data privacy.

Positive Impacts:

• Operational Efficiency: AI applications like chatbots and automated processes can significantly enhance operational efficiency. Routine tasks can be automated, freeing up valuable human resources for more strategic and creative endeavours.

• Informed Decision-Making: AI algorithms analyse vast amounts of data at incredible speeds. This enables businesses to make data-driven decisions, identify trends, and gain insights that might have been overlooked otherwise.

• Personalization: AI-powered tools help businesses tailor their products and services to individual customer preferences. This level of personalization can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Negative Impacts:

• Job Displacement: The fear of AI replacing jobs is a real concern. As automation becomes more prevalent, certain routine tasks may become obsolete, potentially leading to job displacement for some workers.

• Bias in Algorithms: AI systems learn from the data they are fed, and if that data contains biases, the algorithms can perpetuate and even amplify those biases. This could result in discriminatory practices and unfair treatment, raising ethical concerns.

• Security Risks: With increased reliance on AI comes an increased risk of cyber threats. Hackers could exploit vulnerabilities in AI systems, potentially compromising sensitive business and customer data.

Data Privacy Implications:

The integration of AI often involves the collection and analysis of massive amounts of data. Businesses must be vigilant in safeguarding this information to protect their customers and maintain trust. Here are some considerations:

• Informed Consent: Businesses should ensure that they have clear and transparent policies regarding data collection and usage. Obtaining informed consent from customers where required is crucial to maintaining trust.

• Data Minimization: Collect only the data necessary for the intended purpose. Avoid the temptation to hoard data, as it increases the risk of misuse and security breaches.

• Data Security Measures: Implement robust security measures to protect against unauthorized access. Encryption, secure storage, and regular security audits are essential components of a comprehensive data protection strategy.

Legal Implications:

• Compliance with Regulations: Businesses must stay abreast of data protection laws and regulations, such as GDPR in Europe. Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and damage to a company's reputation.

• Ethical Considerations: Beyond legal requirements, businesses should also consider the ethical implications of AI. Being socially responsible in the use of AI can enhance a company's reputation and foster positive relationships with customers and stakeholders.

So, while AI presents exciting possibilities for businesses, it's crucial to approach its implementation with a keen awareness of the potential impacts on data privacy. Striking a balance between innovation and responsibility is key to navigating the evolving landscape of AI in the business world.

Feel free to contact us should you wish to talk through or want help with regard to the Data Privacy implications of AI. Our Data Privacy consultants have helped many firms in the UK & abroad with their Data protection compliance.

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