Empowering Law Firm Leaders: build a compliance culture to mitigate risk
David Gilmore, director of DG Legal, the largest provider of strategic and compliance services to the legal sector in England and Wales, joins Amy Bruce, head of marketing at Osprey Approach, for episode four of the independent legal software provider’s interview series, Empowering Law Firm Leaders. In this conversation David shares his decades of experience to help you ensure compliance and mitigate risk throughout your firm.
In this conversation we cover:
- Common compliance pitfalls to avoid
- Risk management best practices
- Tips for building a compliance culture
- How to keep up-to-date and enforce changing compliance requirements.
Three quick-fire lessons for running a successful modern law firm
After working with thousands of legal practices, David shares his top tips for running a successful modern law firm.
- Be contactable – “I find it very odd that in 2023 most law firms are not responsive after 5pm, and some don’t answer the phone at lunchtime. If you cannot answer the phone during certain times, use a telephone answering agency. The costs involved would be more than mitigated by the additional clients you would get.”
- Turn your organisation chart upside down – “Traditionally you’ll have the directors at the top and the support staff at the bottom. But to me, the person answering the phone and on reception is the most important person in the firm – certainly for high-street firms because first impressions really do count. The way a potential client is treated makes all the difference in turning them into a paying client.”
- Get ideas from across the business – “I’ve learned from experience that some of the best ideas come from support staff. Some of the more successful firms I’ve worked with get the staff involved in the business and marketing plan.
How to create a culture that prioritises compliance
Prioritising compliance as part of the culture in a firm helps to instil risk management behaviours and habits as part of the foundation of the business. Ensuring compliance can feel like an uphill battle if it’s not part of the value set and prioritised by everyone, and that’s when compliance becomes a tick box exercise.
David recommends that leadership must emphasise and model an open culture: “Staff should be praised for raising problems rather than burying them.” Workplace culture is built from the motivations and passion of every employee. It requires management to communicate and role-model the ideal behaviour, but for all employees to buy-in and invest in the brand values. This is why David believes the hierarchy within a firm should be challenged: “It’s better now, but I still notice a two-tier culture in firms where you have the lawyer up there, then the support staff down there, and that’s poor. The support staff are so valuable; I believe they should be given the same status as a fee earner.”
When errors or mistakes are made, it’s important not only to flag them, but also to learn from them to avoid the same mistake happening twice. If mistakes are discovered, David explains that the SRA likes to have evidence that measures have been implemented to prevent the same problem happening again.
Tips for keeping up-to-date with evolving compliance requirements
David shares his three top tips for staying on top of the evolving compliance changes and requirements:
- Subscribe to newsletters — “I would start by subscribing to the various bulletins. Some are free, such as the SRA’s compliance bulletin, which is very good. There’s also the Law Society’s Practice Notes service.” DG Legal also offer hundreds of free compliance and practice management webinars.
- Buddy up with other firms — “I would consider buddying up with other firms to share experiences and best practices.” You don’t have to go it alone, and sharing knowledge – whether that’s successes or failures – is a great way to ease the burden of learning every update.
- Have a system — “Unless you’re a large firm, keeping on top of compliance doesn’t need to be a full-time job. Once you have a compliance system in place, it really shouldn’t take much of your time to maintain.” Spending time up front to define, document, and create a central system to maintain your records and policies creates a foundation for easier ongoing maintenance. Couple this with regular files reviews to stay proactive in mitigating risk.
Reducing risk in SME law firms requires a proactive compliance culture
No matter the digital tools, policies or procedures you have in place, mitigating risk and staying compliant will only become easier if you instil a culture of proactive compliance.
David emphasises the importance of team training and aligning success measure in building a compliance-focused culture. When management are seen to prioritise and model behaviours of compliance, this is inevitably reflected in the behaviours and habits of the whole team.
Watch the full interview with David Gilmore now to discover more advice and guidance on mitigating risk in your law firm. You’ll also hear David’s exclusive advice on what SMEs should be looking out, and preparing, for with regard to the future of compliance and three best practices law firms should implement to mitigate risk.
