Lawcovernotes December 2016

Support your staff in supporting you The role of legal support staff inmanaging risks in legal practice is often overlooked or underrated. Lawcover receives regular feedback from insureds of incidents where professional negligence claims have been averted by a risk aware employee. Examples of how support staff can reduce the likelihood of a claim occurring include: Communication ^ ^ Having the confidence to speak freely when things don’t appear to be right or an error has occurred ^ ^ Delivering a professional customer service eg: returning phone calls, phone manner, professional dress. All too frequently a poor customer experience can trigger a complaint or claim ^ ^ Being the eyes and ears of your practice. An astute employee often detects the ‘problem client’ before you do and may help you turn that client away before accepting the retainer ^ ^ Managing client grievances before they escalate ^ ^ Maintaining client privacy and confidentiality (and yours) ^ ^ Assisting in managing your relationships with external team members such as barristers, solicitors on the other side, IT professionals and accountants ^ ^ Knowing what they can and cannot say to a client Matter management ^ ^ Protecting you against identity fraud by implementing practice client identification processes for all new clients ^ ^ Keeping up-to-date with the latest cyber threats ^ ^ Maintaining up-to-date client details ^ ^ Maintaining files so that a solicitor new to the matter can followwhat’s happened ^ ^ Keeping detailed file notes of conversations with clients ^ ^ Avoiding errors in documents by having thorough checking systems in place ^ ^ Being involved in the development and implementation of practice policies and procedures ^ ^ Keeping a centralised record of critical dates so that they are not missed ^ ^ Assisting in fee collection Solicitors whose employees have attended Lawcover’s support staff workshops often report how effective it is to have a third party drive home the practice risk management message. Lawcover’s Sydney CBD workshops are run in collaboration with the Law Society of New South Wales. Please visit its website to register o r see page 11. For upcoming regional workshops visit Lawcover’s registration page. If you are interested in having a workshop delivered in-house or in your regional area, email practicesupportservi ces@lawcover . com.au or contact us on (02) 9286 8877. See also Lawcover’s recent Short Minutes video on the importance of good practice systems in defending claims. Share it with your support staff. Jennifer Tierney Risk Education Manager 17.