Cheque’s in the post
The latest figures from Legal Business magazine reporting that more than 1,000 solicitors earn £1 million-plus will confirm the general public’s view that the law is full of fat cats. But in the wake of such figures there is always a chorus of complaint from the rank and file that their income is on no such scale. Plus, there are other difficulties. Most notably it seems that there is a growing problem of late payments. According to research from finance provider LDF (based on an analysis of 321 firms), the average period between a bill being issued by solicitors and payment being received is 94 days. This is more than twice the average payment length (of 41 days) and for smaller firms without the deep pockets of the “magic circle” and other leading City outfits this means trouble. As Peter Alderson, LDF managing director, observes: “For many firms this disruption to cashflow is not easy to absorb, especially at a time when the financial pressures they face from increased competition, squeezed margins and the impact of recent regulatory changes such as legal aid cutbacks and changes to ‘no-win, no-fee’ cases are already intense.” So support your local lawyers. Pay on time.
Worried? You should be
DAC Beachcroft called its latest publication Insurance Market Conditions & Trends 2014/15, but really its title should be “Why we are all doomed”. The law firm, which has a strong insurance practice, asked its experts to predict where the threats are most likely to lie in the world today — and hence where insurance is most needed. The results are revealing. Most threatening of all it seems are cyber risks. “Modern commerce is totally dependent on technology but threats to networks, sensitive data and vital global systems grow daily,” says the report. Next, running a close second, is fracking. “Fracking has been given the green light in the UK but do insurers understand the exposures and are they ready to take on the new risks?” Given the awful warnings, David Pollitt, head of insurance at the firm, is portrayed looking remarkably gleeful in the photo that accompanies his direful predictions. But it hardly needs to be said that what’s bad for the rest of us is good for the lawyers.
Foreign affairs
There’s been an excellent response over the summer to the exhibition in the Supreme Court about the work of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) — the Supreme Court’s sister court — which deals with appeals from smaller Commonwealth countries on behalf of the Queen. Averaging more than 650 visitors a day, the exhibition sparked plenty of interest. It also raises the question of whether Scotland will become one of its customers after September 18.
edward.fennell@thetimes.co.uk