Law Firm Start Up Kit For Aspiring Law Firm Owners 003

Law Firm Start Up Kit for Aspiring Law Firm Owners
Prepared by Bizibody Technology

Articles, templates and checklists to help lawyers navigate through the practical issues of setting up their own practice.
Contact Details Serena Lim Bizibody Technology Tel: 6236 846 slim@bizibody.biz
Law Firm Start Up Kit for Aspiring Law Firm Owners

CONTENTS:
Title 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Starting Right Overview Compliance and Registration Checklist Small is the new Big Marketing - Lawyers Are Not Salesmen the Art of Selling Professional Services Professionally Marketing Website Basics for Lawyers Marketing Web Marketing Suite Technology Overview Technology - Sample Budget for 5 Person Law Firm Technology - Sample Budget for 2 Person Law Firm Finances Overview Finances Choosing Your Bookkeeper Finances Client Account Management LEAP Accounting Product Factsheet LEAP Documents Product Factsheet Type Article Checklist Article Article Article Brochure Article Template Template Article Article Article Brochure Brochure
Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd
Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz
www.bizibody.biz
Starting Right
Overview With the right guidance, setting up a law firm need not be a daunting affair, in fact, it can be a rather enjoyable process. This overview will guide you through your setup process and highlight the key considerations you need to think about. A. Business/Marketing Planning Decide where you Want to Go This is probably the most important. Take the time to do the necessary business planning. Key questions to ask yourself : What do you do better than the next lawyer? Should you be a General Practitioner or market yourself as a specialist provide specialist? Who is your target client? Sample Business/Marketing Plan available at: http://law.lexisnexis.com/lmc/demos/A-Template-ForYour-Strategic-Marketing-Plan.doc B. Determine the Road Map for Getting There 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Marketing Plan Technology Plan Premises HR Business Structure Budget
C. Statutory Compliance and Registration Some of the statutory requirements for setting up a new law firm include: 1. Choosing A Business Name 2. Consider what form of business organization you wish to work with: Sole Proprietorship, Partnership LLP, LLC 3. Register your intended law practice with the Law Society of Singapore 4. Register your business with ACRA 5. Familiarise yourself with the second signatory and approved bookkeeper requirements under the Solicitors Accounts Rules. For a more detailed checklist, refer to the Compliance & Registration Checklist in the Startup Kit .
D. Costs of Setting Up Setting up fees are considerably lower than in the past as bits and bytes replace hard copy libraries. Budget for the following start-up costs: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Law Society Registration Registration of business entity Professional Liability Insurance Rental Deposits, Renovation, Furniture
www.bizibody.biz
6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Hardware Costs: Personal Computer, Printer, Scanner Subscriptions to EFS, Lawnet, IPOS, STARS, Justice Online Software: Microsoft Office, Anti Virus, Legal Accounting Software Broadband and Telephone Setup Marketing: Logo, namecards, website, printing, signboard Optional items: PABX, Door Access System, Multi-Purpose Copiers, Disbursement Recovery Systems
Grants and Financing: It is important to preserve cash at the startup. Cash preservation strategies include:
Managing your Expenditures: Prepare detailed budgets and resist the temptation to spend on plush premises and carpets unless they are absolutely critical to your branding and marketing. Government Grants: Check if there are government grants that you can use to subsidize your start up costs, eg: IDA-SIP Grant for websites, GST Grant and LETAS Grant from Spring Singapore Financing : It may make sense to finance your startup costs via a hire purchase or finance lease. If possible, try to secure a package that does not penalise you for early repayments.
E. Operational Tips For Easier Operations Here are some things you can do to ensure that you dont get unnecessarily bogged down by administrative matters. 1. Choose a conveniently located and responsive bank to open an Office and Client Account with. 2. Engage an outsourced bookkeeper who is approved by the Law Society. 3. Consider outsourcing the following functions to reliable, experienced and responsive free lancers: despatch, filing, completions. 4. Operating Budget: Budgeting is important. Make time to crunch out your budgeted monthly expenses, and to monitor the same.
www.bizibody.biz
COMPLIANCE AND REGISTRATION CHECKLIST

(A) Registration Process
ACTION 1. Apply to Law Society for Approval of Name SOLE PROPREITOR / PARTNERSHIP LF FORM 1 http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_pra ctice/pdf/LF1.pdf LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP (LLP) LLP Form 1 http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/lc_ap pendix/Appendix2.pdf Register an LLP Note that all Partners must log in with their SingPass to endorse the application http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/lc_ap pendix/Appendix4.pdf A UEN will be issued upon successful registration. 3 Prepare Partnership Agreement / Memorandum & Articles of Association (for LLC Only) Partnership Agreement LLP Agreement The Partnership Agreement must be subject to the LLP Act & LLP Rules. See First Schedule of the LLP Act http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/lc_ap pendix/Appendix3.doc 4. Apply to Law Society to appear in the Register of Law Practices LF FORM 2 http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_pra ctice/pdf/LF2.pdf LLP 2 Form http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/lc_ap pendix/LLP2.pdf LLC 2 Form http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/lawC orp/llc2.pdf LIMITED LIABILITY CORPORATION (LLC) LLC Form 1 http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/app3 _appl_form.pdf Register an LLC http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/pdf/lawC orp/app2_lawcorp_rules.pdf A UEN will be issued upon successful registration. Memorandum & Articles of Association http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/legal/law corp/app4_memo&art.pdf
2. Register with ACRA Online
Register a New Business. A Unique Entity Number (UEN) will be issued upon successful registration.
(B) Qualifications
REQUIREMENT 1. MEDISAVE All self employed (including partners of LLP) must top-up Medisave before they can register / renew their Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd ACTION To find out your Medisave liabilities log in to www.cpf.gov.sg using your SingPass To top up your Medisave, you can pay by NETS (AXS machines), internet transfer through bank account, or by cheque visit Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz http://www.bizibody.biz
registration of business with ACRA 2. LPMC Course Requirement under S75C of LPA Exemption: Lawyers who are already sole prop / director / partner of a law practice prior to 9 March 2007 3. Continuous practice experience for 3 years Applies to all lawyers admitted after 1 March 1997 Exemption: Lawyers who are already sole prop / director / partner of a law practice prior to 9 March 2007 4. Sharing of Premises Consent required if sharing with a non-law firm 5. Practicing Certificate 6. Professional Indemnity Insurance
http://www.acra.gov.sg/Services/LLP/MEDISAVE_CONTRIBUTIONS.htm for application forms. Register for the LPMC Course (LPMC_Reg) or undertake to complete the course within 1 year from date of commencement
Mandatory Requirement, no exemption. However you may write to the Minister of Law for exemption (to shorten the 3-year period) if you have prior experience of legal practice in Singapore or elsewhere Write to Law Society attach floor plan. Describe 1. Nature of business of shared occupier; 2. Nature of relationship between shared occupier and law firm; 3. Physical separation of space between law firm and shared occupier; 4. Steps taken to ensure client confidentiality You must hold a valid practising certificate at the time you commence new practice. Guidelines for Application http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/practising_cert/need_to_know_PC.aspx All Directors / Partners must be covered. In addition, the LLP / LLC itself must have separate mandatory cover of up to $2million Apply to First Capital Insurance Limited telephone Mr Nardan at 6222 2311 or download forms at http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/running_practice/practising_cert/pdf/2009/App%20Form_LawFirm_%202009%20.pdf
http://www.bizibody.biz
Small is the New Big

Presentation at the Future of the Legal Profession Conference 2007 by Serena Lim, Bizibody Technology
You dont have to be Big to be Strong

We used this tag-line to launch our Small Practice Solutions family of outsourced services and technology applications a year ago; and it is still true today. Growing big for the sake of size is no longer fashionable when the focus is on profitability, the quality of service delivery and the durability of the client relationships. The good news is that being small can be PROFITABLE. The main thrust of my paper at this Conference is to show you how the business environment today favors small practices over large. In our capacity as technology and business process consultants to law practices over the last four years, we have witnessed, at close proximity, the trends taking shape in the industry in Singapore and abroad. The prevailing global trends which support our claim are 1. SMALL = FAST & ADAPTABLE
We have moved away from the old paradigm where the Big ate the Small to one where the Fast eat the Slow Jason Jennings, author of Think Big, Act Small: How Best Performing Companies Keep the Startup Spirit Alive Small means the founder makes a far greater percentage of the client interactions. [The founder] is close to the decisions that matter and can make them quickly Seth Godin, Author of Survival is not enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change The increasing pace of change wrought by technological advancements makes it increasingly difficult for any business to predict the future. The best strategy for survival in an ever-changing business environment is the ability to stay responsive and agile. With few exceptions, we are constantly discovering that entrepreneurial drive, innovation and derringdo are much more evident in the Davids of the legal scene and not Goliath. A small practice only needs a dynamic and business-minded head to respond to the challenges of an increasingly competitive market; while business and management decision making in a larger firm are convoluted processes often encumbered with self-interest groups and cronyism. A striking example of this is found in the impact of the liberalization of conveyancing scale fees in 2003. In a very short time, traditional giants such as Khattar Wong and Lee & Lee gave up their dominance in the retail conveyancing sector to emergent practices such as KK Yap and PKWA Law Corporation. These practices responded to the liberalization with lightning speed by restructuring their lawyer-staff ratio and relocating their offices to the HDB Hub. By investing heavily in document automation systems and in customer relationship skills upgrading for their staff, they have worked an amazing transformation. With waiting lounges that rival those of first tier law practices in the CBD, these practices now offer efficient and consumer friendly legal services in conveyancing and personal law to consumers in the heartlands.
www.bizibody.biz
Not surprisingly every small practice lawyer we interviewed in the making of our CD Joys of Being Small referred to their ability to respond quickly to market forces as one of their strengths over larger practices. 2. Economies of Small vs. Economies of Scale
Lets look at the business of law from an economic viewpoint. The practice of law is a quintessential knowledge business where the theory of Economies of Scale (cost of production decreases as the scale of production increases) does not apply. Where your sole means of production is your knowledge worker and not factories or machinery, having more fee earners to share your cost does not necessarily translate to a lower cost of production. Why? Firstly, each fee earner can only support a fixed amount of work, and after all there are only 16 waking hours in each day. Secondly, the task of managing, supervising and training more fee earners invariably requires the practice to support a suitably large pool of non fee-earning personnel such as an office manager, IT technicians, accounts staff and a financial manager, a librarian or knowledge manager, a HR manager, amongst others. Quite clearly, in terms of cost, being large enough to own the means of production (in relation to support and non fee-earning capacity) does not necessarily translate to lower cost of production per knowledge worker. Its no longer about OWNERSHIP, but ACCESS by Douglas Brown & Scott Wilson, author of The Black Book of Outsourcing Reducing operational overheads can be achieved by smaller practices through sharing of office premises, office equipment, and clerical staff; while back-office administrative functions such as IT support, courier services and bookkeeping can be outsourced to professionals. The fundamental wisdom of outsourcing lies in the principle Do what you do best and let others do what they do best; most efficiently and at least cost to both parties. Outsourcing allows the lawyer to focus on core fee-earning activity while leveraging on the expertise and resources of the outsourced services provider to fulfill the other non-core areas; at a cost that a small practice can afford as fees to the outsourced provider are easily tailored according to degree of utilization of services. While outsourcing of administrative and non-legal support functions by law practices is commonplace, the recent phenomenon of legal off-shoring by big companies such as GE and Citicorp who began outsourcing low value legal work, primarily in transcription services, document drafting and management to low cost centers in India proved that even work that requires legal input can be outsourced to legally trained professionals. In Singapore, we are likely to see small practice lawyers cross-hire other lawyers to provide legal research or litigation support whenever they need more legal minds on a project. 3. The Problem with Larger Practices
The drivers of profitability in a law practice (as for any other business) are utilization, expenses and leverage. I have explained, in the earlier paragraphs, why I believe that size has no positive bearing on the first two factors. As for leverage, large practice profitability depends on having the work completed at the right level of delegation and on successful collaboration and teamwork. The truth is that lawyers, lacking training in project management roles, make poor managers. Too often, supervision is done at the
www.bizibody.biz
output rather than the input level, thus negating hours of work which the junior associate has put in. Lawyers are prone to under-delegate, negating the advantage of leverage. Law practices are notorious for inherent cultural and organisational inhibitors to knowledge sharing. Maybe its a psychological tic carried over from the adversarial nature of our legal training, or maybe its because lawyers are paid to know things which others do not. Whatever the cause, in an imperfect knowledge system, the benefits of previous work products, know-how and experience will not be fully realised. 4. Technological Advances Level the Playing Field
Now the means of production is in your head dispersed physically but connected by technology, workers are able, on a scale never before imagined, to make their own decisions, using information garnered from many other people and places Thomas L Friedman, Author of The World is Flat, A Short History of the 21st Century In his book, Thomas Friedman describes how exponential technical advances in telecommunications and the internet has leveled the playing field by allowing people from all over the globe to plug and play, collaborate and compete, share work and knowledge. Globalization 3.0, coined by Thomas Friedman, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations, but by individuals desktop freelancers and dynamic startups from developing countries who can compete and win, not just low wage manufacturing jobs but, increasingly, high-end knowledge services. By leveling the playing field and granting individual lawyers the same access to resources, information and expertise traditionally held by the large law firms, a small practice is now bestowed the same potential to succeed. The leveling of the playing field makes it even more attractive for lawyers to run their own practices for these reasons:A. The falling cost of hardware and software (for word processing, practice management and other work processes) has made technology resources affordable to small practices. In our experience, smaller practices in Singapore are quicker to adopt and benefit from new technology than larger practices as they are not burdened by legacy systems nor deterred by the comparatively larger implementation cost. B. Small practices now have access to communication and collaboration systems to help them deliver services as effectively (and impressively) as larger practices. In fact small practices that deploy cutting edge, sexy applications (such as deal rooms and video collaboration) do so not only for the useful cost-saving functions such applications offer but also to enhance their image as dynamic, progressive AND big.
www.bizibody.biz
Marketing
Lawyers Are Not Salesmen the Art of Selling Professional Services Professionally
In Selling the Invisible best-selling author and advertising guru, Harry Beckwith argues that what consumers are primarily interested in today are not functions and form, but relationships. We are told that first, we must first establish credibility; then trust, and eventually the agreement to collaborate will be won. Because professional services are not a commodity that customers can see, touch and taste for himself, trust is critical to getting new work. At the same time, being in the business of providing professional services requires lawyers to sell their expertise. This puts many lawyers in an uneasy quandry the distaste for self-promotion kicks in hard every time an opportunity to market your expertise presents itself, for you intuitively feel that engaging in any form of hard sell is destructive of trust. Persuasive marketing is somehow unbecoming for a lawyer, and degrading to the profession. This apparent contradiction continues to plague lawyers today; especially solo and small firm practitioners who do not have recourse to the institutionalised and indirect marketing channels (such as free client seminars, newsletters, ads in legal publications) deployed by larger practices. How many times have you heard a colleague declaim I am a lawyer, not a bloody salesman? This article discusses underlying perceptions and mistaken beliefs that hinder marketing efforts by lawyers. Selling intangibles, unlike commodities, requires a different approach. Angst over what you believe is required of you to win new business might be serious impediment to effective marketing. 1. Its Not About Winning Thinking in terms of winning means that there is a winner AND a loser. This brings a needlessly competitive perspective into the professional relationship. If its either win or lose in your mind, the insidious message is that you have to beat out your competition, beat down your client and win at all cost. It is no wonder you consider marketing degrading. In selling intangible services, you only win when the client wins too. Your goal is to serve the client, NOT to make the sale. If you serve the client, youll probably get the sale. If you dont get this sale, you stand a good change of getting the next one. See Paragraph 2. 2. Do the Best for Your Client, Every Time Even if it means referring your client to another lawyer who is better placed to serve him, your client will appreciate your integrity evidenced by your willingness to place his interest above your own. This gesture builds trust more effectively than any number of cases fought and won on his behalf. In winning the case, you are merely doing a job you have been paid to do, and the client will expect no less. If you subscribe to this mantra to do the best for your client, every time and live by it; a remarkable result ensues when a business opportunity presents itself that is within your expertise. If you are honest about the value of your service to the client, then it is the very essence of professionalism to aggressively help the client see that value you are no longer the salesman spinning the con; you are, as in all cases, doing the best for your client.
www.bizibody.biz
3. Its about the Client; Not about You When making a pitch, its natural to feel the pressure personally. After all, the Client is evaluating your trustworthiness, your ability to deliver on your credentials, even your personality; all on the basis of a single face-to-face meeting. You make it worse by obsessing about how to inveigle a rehearsed spiel of capabilities, past successes and references into the conversation. Come prepared to have these things said, but plan to use none of them. You may believe that such things add to your credibility; the fact is, it either intimidates or bores the clientbecause its about you, not about them. Limit yourself to 60-second answers, and then turn your attention back to the client. The client has a legal problem, find out how you can help him. In your interview, focus on the client needs, not on your menu of services. 4. Focus on what you can do for the Client, not on what you have done for others. Naturally Clients will use experience and credentials as a qualifier and as justification to the Board who might question their choice. But these are merely ways to make the shortlist; they are not foundations for trust and dependability in the relationship. In your interviews with a prospective client, discussions on your wealth of experience, your credentials, past cases valiantly fought and won are not the most persuasive means for the client to decide if they can trust you. In effect you are saying you should hire me because of what I am telling you about other clients I have helped and other cases I have won. Instead you should stay focused on what you can do for THIS client NOW. You cant sell intangibles by talking about them; you can only do it by giving the client an experience of having you on their team, working with them to solve their problems. The good news is that as soon as you begin to do so, you are displaying your experience, living up to your credentials, fulfilling your professional obligations and marketing your services, all at the same time! 5. Clients Do Not Seek to Trust their Own Expertise they Seek Experts they can Trust. Clients may appear to know all the legal issues and what they need. They dont. Clients dont like to display their ignorance for fear of being weak and taken advantage of. So they respond by tightly bounding the problem statement and telling you only what they think you should know. Only the most self-confident clients admit that they dont fully understand the problem which is precisely why they seek out experts. A well-defined problem makes the answer look easy. The real expertise lies in ferreting out the underlying anxieties and attendant complexities; and re-crafting the problem in a more realistic and helpful way. Clients will appreciate that you have taken time to really listen and to knuckle down on their problem even if you dont know what the legal answer is at this point. 6. Create New Opportunities to Demonstrate your Usefulness. Its a myth that if you just do good work, the business will come. Good work on the last project simply says you are best qualified to do the next project. The crux still to be addressed is what is the next project? Only very occasionally will the client ask you to start work on another project after the successful conclusion of the first; more usually, it is up to YOU to create the opportunity to provide further services to the client.
www.bizibody.biz
To sell him on the next project, you will need to be knowledgeable about his business; to be creative and bold; and to believe in the value you deliver to his business. You can suggest ways to reduce risk, tighten contracts, engage more constructively with business partners; in real and practical ways, show them how useful it is to have a lawyer on the team. In conclusion, there is only one piece of advice here that bears repeating Its About the Client, Not About You. Serve the client and you will find yourself effectively marketing your professional services professionally, without having to make a sales pitch.
www.bizibody.biz
Website Basics For Lawyers

Like it or not, the internet has changed the way information flows around the planet. Increasingly, the internet is our first port of call when looking for information. In a world that is increasingly online, using a Web site as a way to obtain new and qualified clients has become a necessity. Some solo and small practice lawyers may still hold firm to their belief that an internet presence merely leads to more nuisance calls rather than more business; preferring to rely on traditional methods such as personal and word-of-mouth referrals. A few are happy to announce that they have enough work, thank you very much, and dont need the internet to extend their reach. We believe that no matter how established a law practice is, an omission (your prospective client not finding your practice on the internet) is likely to leave an adverse impression that you are a not a serious business undertaking with a sterling professional reputation and a credible client list. As a supplier of legal services, your corporate website in this internet age shows pride and professionalism in your craft. A corporate website has become an essential business tool, just like your business card.
HOW TO BEGIN? Your law firm website must serve its primary purpose which is to inform prospective clients of your experience, skills and reputation. To be effective in delivering this message, the site must be informative, aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly and easily found by the internet search engines. We will discuss each element in turn 1 Domain Name Selection
Your domain name should be a) Short
Long domain names are user Make it easy for people to type and remember it. b) Memorable
Short does not mean memorable. However, using initials for your domain name may be unmemorable, unless the initials are already a famous brand, eg IBM. For this reason, if you are a partnership, the law firm naming flexibility offered by LLPs and LLCs (eg Justlaw; Onelegal; Legal Solutions; is a factor to be considered when structuring your law practice. c) Related to the Business Name or Core Business
Consider adding law or legal as the name will then help to establish the nature of the business eg: www.atmdlaw.com.sg; www.dhklaw.com.sg. You should also consider choosing a domain name that reflects your area of practice, rather than the name of your firm. Eg www.divorcelawyer.com.sg. This may be a good strategy if you are a new firm, and have not yet established a brandname in the market.
www.bizibody.biz
d)
Difficult to misspell
Try to avoid names that are easy to misspell. Eg Globallaw. Should there be one l or 2 ls? 2 Hosting
With every domain names, there will be 3 hosting factors to be considered: the domain name hosting, the web hosting and the email hosting. The 3 types of hosting can be by 3 different hosting companies. Eg: domain name hosting can be by the domain name service provider whom you registered your domain name through. The web hosting can be by the service provider who is maintaining your website; and the email hosting can be by the broadband provider or a specialist email hosting provider. From our experience, it does not matter that the hosting is done by 3 different companies, as the different types of hosting require are a different area of expertise, and it is usually difficult to find the expertise in one company. Eg, Singtel may be a big company that can provide broadband + web hosting + email hosting, however their main focus is on providing broadband and connectivity, so their domain, web and email hosting facilities lack beyond some of the players who only specialize in web and email hosting. The main factors to look out form in respect of the different types of hosting are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Is the company specialized in that form of hosting Do they provide 24/7 helpdesk service Is the helpdesk easy to get through? Does the hosting service provide a system administration that enables you to control the hosting eg: for domain names, do you have a login access to a system admin interface that allows you to point the domain to a specified name server? Transfer the domain name or update the details of the owner without the assistance of the service provider? Selecting A Web Design/Development Company
Web design and development is challenging as it requires both technical and creative skills. Aside from the usual factors of cost and experience, level of professionalism and understanding shown, client references, we would recommend that you select a company that has on their team, graphic designers trained in web design, web programmers, and people who understand search engine optimization and marketing, even if you do not intend your website to have any interactive or ecommerce facility. Why? Because a company that is equally strong in graphic design, technical programming and search engine marketing will be able to deliver successful websites that are not just pretty to look at, but coded in a way that is easy to update and search engine friendly. Furthermore, if you needed to enhance the website in future, eg to plug in a shopping cart or to include a client login facility, the same company would have the capacity and skillsets to provide the same. For those reasons, and for reasons of reliability and continuity we would also suggest that you avoid freelance web designers, unless you know them personally.
www.bizibody.biz
Design with Purpose
You have many different design options when creating your website. This is usually governed by how much you are willing to pay the web designer. We believe that simplicity is key. A showy site replete with style-driven multi-media flash presentations is likely to alienate a cost-conscious client looking for a more conservative image. From a technical point of view, flash-driven web sites take a long time to download and are not search-engine friendly. We do not recommend it for these reasons. In designing websites for lawyers, we notice that lawyers have a tendency to one extreme or the other; either boring and nondescript or overkill. Simply put, your site should represent the image you wish to portray which is professional, competent and assured. 5 Make Website Content Informative
For your website to serve its purpose of informing prospective clients of your expertise, it should contain up to date information about your credentials, awards, accolades and past achievements. Most search engine friendly sites also contain legal information useful to the public. Giving away free legal information will serve to draw new visitors to your site; and may improve your rankings on search engines. 6 Keep Your Site Up-to-date
A cardinal rule for effective websites is to keep your content up to date. Even if your website contains only information about the practice, it should reflect current achievements and appointments. When was the last time you updated your website? Is the content up to date and relevant? If you cant afford to pay a web programmer to maintain your website you can do it yourself! Even without knowledge of HTML (the programming language used on the internet), a build-yourself website with content management enablement (LEAP WebBuilder is a subscription service) that allows you to edit text and images; and create fresh web pages as easily as a Word document. 7 Ensure your website is easily found by Search Engines
In the course of our research on Singapore law firm websites, we have encountered a few well designed websites but could not locate them, even by typing the name of the law firm on Google. Without being found by search engines, your website is about as effective as a ream of glossy brochures tucked out of sight in your desk drawer. To make your site findable, you must submit your website to top search engines (Google and Yahoo at the very least). In fact, for your website to be truly effective in extending your reach, ensure that Google ranks your site on the first page for search words used describe your service (example, divorce lawyer in Singapore). To do this, design your website with search engines in mind. Make it clean and search-engine friendly. The website text, titles and meta-tags must contain words that describe your expertise and specialization. Evaluate the search engines and submission criteria; study their methodology for ranking sites. Google takes into account links from other sites (to your site); so submit your website to as many online directories and public information sites as you can.
www.bizibody.biz
Search Engine Optimisation has developed into a science. If you lack the time or interest to monitor your page rankings and study your site for search engine optimization, you can hire a professional to do this for you. Web Marketing specialists, in addition to selling you Ad Words on Google or Yahoo, can also undertake SEO for a fee. 8 Be Your Own Webmaster
To build, update and maintain websites, you need to know how to program in a web language like html, java or php. Lawyers (unless you have an abiding interest in the internet) will find it too time consuming to learn how to program in web languages (html) and the free text protocol (ftp) to upload the information to your host provider. To solve this problem, you need to ensure that your service provider plugs in a user-friendly content management system into your website. Such systems are usually provided for a small monthly subscription fee, and are well worth the fee, as it ensures that you have control over your website, and that you can update the site content at any time. Make sure that the content management system has a user friendly interface that you can manage.
___________________________________________________________________________________________ HOW WE CAN HELP For many firms, the Website development process can appear daunting, with the result that websites remain an item on their Law Firms to do list, year after year. We have helped many mid-sized and small law firms develop their law firm websites. Our law firm portfolio is available on request. Our team comprises talented and experienced graphic designers and web programmers. Our project managers possess a legal cum IT background. Our team strives to develop law firms websites that are cost effective, easily update-able, and search engine friendly. To ease the financial burden, our Web Marketing Suite for law firms currently includes a very attractive government (IDA) grant of up to $2000.00, which will finance up to 80% of the web development costs. Law Firms who do not currently possess a website are entitled to apply for this Grant, however please note that the grant is for a limited period only. Our web marketing services for law firms includes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Website Design and Development Content Management System Web Hosting Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) IDA-SIP Grant Administration
Please refer to the Web Marketing Suite brochure in the Law Firm Startup Kit. For more information, please call 62362846 or email slim@bizibody.biz.
www.bizibody.biz
WHAT YOU WILL GET: Law Firm Website:

Professional Web Design + Programming Development of Website with a choice of layouts Customised Graphics & Images Easy to use Text Editor + User Training Assisted Content Creation + Copy Editing Feedback/Contact Us/ Enquiries Form Web Hosting for 12 months Helpdesk Support during business hours Submission to Internet Search Engines Google, Yahoo and MSN Free 2 Hour strategic consultancy on how you can use the Web to market your practice Listing on SME MarketSpace, including account subscription fee for 1 year
TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. You must meet the IDA SIP Grant Eligibility Criteria.
2. Prices quoted exclude GST
Technology
Overview Technology plays a key role in every law firm. Some older practitioners may view technology as a necessary evil, and yearn for the days when technology was less pervasive, and legal work was churned out using type writers and conveyed through snail mail. Other practitioners simply cannot imagine practising without technology and embrace technology as an essential and indispensible part of their practice and worklife. Like it or not, technology has changed the way that law is practiced and the way that business is done, and there is no returning to the good old days. We have included 2 Sample IT budgets for a 2-person and 5-person law firm in the Startup Kit, to assist you in your IT budgeting.
_______________________________________________________________________
How We Can Help Legal technology implementation and consultation are areas that we excel in. We are able to offer the full spectrum of law firm technology services, from generic IT setup and maintenance to implementing software solutions specifically designed for law firms, including practice management systems such as LEAP office, Electronic Filing Systems (EFS) and Justice Online (JOL), website design and development and online marketing. We also assist clients to procure lease financing and government grants for their technology implementation. IT planning is difficult for most lay persons, and you are likely to need professional advice for your implementation, for navigating through your options and for prioritising what to implement first. We would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have regarding your IT setup, even if you are not intending to make your purchases through us. Where we are unable to meet your specific needs, we will help you to source for providers who can assist.
www.bizibody.biz
Sample IT Budget for 5 Persons (with Entry Level Server, EFS, Lawnet, Justice Online and Practice Management System)
Item Entry level Microsoft Small Business Server with 4GB RAM, RAID 1, and 3 year (next business day) warranty Desktops with 19" screen, MS Office SBE OEM Edition External 1Terrabyte Harddisk (for movable backup storage) Automated Backup Software Entry Level Firewall Antivirus SBS Edition (2 year license) For 5 PCs and 1 Server Includes Antivirus, AntiSpyware, AntiRootkit 24 port Gigabit Switch Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Installation/Setup EFS Setup (including Smartcard, Adobe Acrobat) + monthly subscription Lawnet Setup and Monthly Fees (Due diligence and Legal Workbench (2 lawyers)) Practice Management System (2 licences) + setup+ maintenance Multi purpose Copier, Printer, Scanner, Fax (50 pages per minute) Broadband Virtual PABX (I-Phonenet) Justice Online Setup and Subscription Qty 1 5 2 1 1 1 Unit Price $ $ $ $ $ $ 4,000.00 1,500.00 200.00 250.00 1,000.00 700.00 Total Price $ $ $ $ 4,000.00 7,500.00 Monthly Fees
1 2 3 4 5 6
400.00
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1 1 1 1
$ $ $
M A S
LE
FO
1 1 1 5 1 1
$ $
E F E
550.00 700.00
N E R
CE
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
250.00
Y L N
1,000.00 700.00
550.00 700.00 1,600.00 1,280.00 $ 30.00 $ 3,000.00 $ $ 70.00 134.00 190.00 280.00 99.00 90.00 38.00 30.00 931.00
1,600.00 1,280.00 30.00 3,000.00
$ $ $ $
199.00 200.00 250.00 650.00
$ $ $ $ $
199.00 $ 200.00 $ 250.00 $ 650.00 $ 22,309.00 $ 703.35 $
Website Design & Hosting (with Governement Grant subsidy of $2000) TOTAL Assuming 100% financing over 3 years at 4.5% pa Total monthly instalments and subscriptions
1,634.35
PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com
Sample IT Budget for 2 Persons (Peer to peer network, EFS, Lawnet, Justice Online and Practice Management System)
Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Desktops with 19" screen, MS Office SBE OEM Edition External 1Terrabyte Harddisk (for movable backup storage) Automated Backup Software Antivirus SBS Edition (2 year license) Switch Installation/Setup EFS Setup (including Smartcard, Adobe Acrobat) + monthly subscription Lawnet Setup and Monthly Fees (Due diligence and Legal Workbench (1 lawyer)) Practice Management System (2 licences) + setup+ maintenance Multi purpose Copier, Printer, Scanner, Fax (20 pages per minute) Broadband Virtual PABX (I-Phonenet) Justice Online Setup and Subscription
Qty
2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Unit Price
$ $ $ $ $ $ 1,500.00 200.00 250.00 280.00 250.00 800.00
Total Price
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 3,000.00 200.00 250.00 280.00 250.00 800.00
Monthly Fees
Website Design & Hosting (with Government Grant subsidy of $2000) TOTAL
Assuming 100% financing over 3 years at 4.5% pa) Total monthly instalments and subscriptions
M A S
PL
E-
FO
E R
1 1 1 2 1 1
FE
N E R
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
E C
Y L N
1,280.00 30.00
1,280.00 $ 30.00 $ 2,000.00 $ 1,200.00 199.00 100.00 250.00 650.00 $ $ $ $
70.00 72.00 95.00
2,000.00 1,200.00 199.00 100.00 250.00 650.00
99.00 36.00 38.00 30.00 440.00
10,489.00 $ 330.69 $
770.69
PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com
10
Financials
Overview If you are looking at setting up your own practice after practising in a large law firm, the financial aspects of running a law firm may not be an area that you would have paid much attention to. Like many lawyers, the financial aspects of running a practice is quite likely not an area that you are inclined towards. While some lawyers prefer to take a hands-off approach to the financial aspects of running a firm, we would strongly encourage the partners in a firm to take an active interest in the key financial aspects of running a firm, including: 1. Compliance with regulatory aspects of financial management, particularly compliance with Solicitors Account Rules, GST and tax compliance. 2. Are the bookkeeping arrangements satisfactory, from the perspective of i) timeliness; ii) risk associated with outsourcing arrangements, including client confidentiality and loss of source documents 3. Are there sufficient checks and balances to guard against technical client account breaches, client account defalcations and office account fraud? 4. Are there good practices in place to minimise cashflow risk: eg disbursement tracking, regular billing cycles, invoice collection workflows; 5. Have you established a good working relationship with your auditor and tax agent? 6. Are you able to reliably and immediately assess up to date information relating to file related transactions eg: WIP, unbilled disbursements, billed disburements, invoices issued, unpaid invoices; payments received 7. Are you able to generate financial reports that will assist you in analysing your firms performance meaningfully, beyond its profit and loss and balance sheet? 8. Tax planning and reporting Aside from engaging a reliable and experienced law firm bookkeeping (be it full time or part time arrangements), we would encourage new firms to put in place a good practice management system like LEAP Accounting right at the outset (and not 2 years down the road) for the following reasons: 1. It is cheaper to put in place a practice management system at the start, when you do not have to deal with legacy data and are starting off on a clean slate. 2. A practice management system like LEAP Accounting, will help you to comply with the Solicitors Accounts Rules, and to manage your financial transactions much more efficiently and accurately. 3. There are government grants available to assist new law firms in subsidizing the implementation of a practice management system.
_______________________________________________________________
www.bizibody.biz
How We Can Help The Bizibody bookkeeping team has over 25 years of bookkeeping and business experience. We undertake accounts set-up and bookkeeping for law firm clients in Singapore to ensure compliance with the strict regulatory safeguards for lawyers handling client funds under the Solicitors Accounts Rules. In order to accommodate the needs and budgets of our clients, we offer a range of different bookkeeping options. These include insourced onsite bookkeeping arrangements where Bizibody bookkeepers will write up your books at your office, obviating the need to send your source documents to our office.
www.bizibody.biz
11
Choosing Your Bookkeeper

Whom shall I engage to manage my bookkeeping? is an important practice management decision every lawyer needs to make when setting up a law firm. In this article, we examine the role of the bookkeeper in a legal practice; and provide you with practical guidelines on what to consider when engaging a bookkeeper. The Legal Profession (Solicitors Accounts) Amendment Rules 2004 (the SAR) which takes effect on 1 April 2004 will have an impact on your choice of a bookkeeper as the SAR now prescribes that authorisation for payments from the client account above $5000 must be signed by 2 lawyers unless the books relating to its client accounts are kept by an accounting firm or accounting corporation or by a bookkeeper approved by the Law Society. The Book-keeping Arrangement Whether you employ a full time bookkeeper or outsource your bookkeeping to a third party depends on the number of financial transactions in your client and office accounts each month, the timelines in which the information is required and the complexity of your financial management. This is determined by the size of your practice as well as the nature of legal services that the firm engages in. For example, a law firm with 3 lawyers specialising in high volume work such as debt recovery or conveyancing would be better served by a full time in-house bookkeeper; whereas a firm specializing in high-value but low-volume corporate work may find an outsourced bookkeeping arrangement adequate to keep them on top of their financials each month. Of course we would recommend that all new practices implement an industry-standard practice management system that establishes the client and matter database as a robust foundation on which to grow their practice. However the reality is that most solos outsource their bookkeeping due to time and cost constraints; and because they prefer to concentrate on the business of practising law and building the business than on administrative backroom details. As most lawyers have only a vague notion of what a bookkeeper does, they may have engaged their bookkeeper solely on the basis of fees and expediency without giving due consideration of factors such as professionalism, experience and quality of the service. In fact, to our knowledge, some lawyers have outsourced their bookkeeping to a relative or friend; or someone whom they had heard of through word of mouth. Whether your bookkeeper is outsourced or a full-time employee, hiring a bookkeeper is something that lawyers should undertake with careful deliberation. As some of our clients have discovered, changing their bookkeeper can be a painful, time consuming and costly exercise; especially if the bookkeeper is discharged for not keeping the books in order. Selecting your bookkeeper is akin to how your client selects a lawyer to represent them. While cost and referrals are important, the bookkeepers qualifications, experience in similar law practices, and communication / client care skills are equally important considerations. Finally, to ensure an acceptable level of efficiency, accuracy and the ability to deliver financial reports that are meaningful to the owner of a law firm, we believe that the bookkeeper should be using accounting software that is customised to meet the specific accounting requirements of legal practice. The Role of the Bookkeeper
www.bizibody.biz
Some lawyers denigrate the bookkeepers role to that of a data input clerk (albeit with an understanding of double-entry ledgers). This is far cry from the picture of a responsible and trusted individual responsible for keeping the Lawyer on top of his financials. Apart from entering financial data into your ledgers, bookkeepers also conduct month-end reviews and bank account reconciliations. When the books dont balance or the bank account statements cannot be reconciled this is when your bookkeeper proves her worth to your practice. She must check the data input against the source documents, undertake a thorough analysis of the financial data in order to discover the discrepancy, then make the correct ledger entries to order to balance the books. This is the only way you can have an accurate picture of your financial position. Without her analysis and reports, you can have only the haziest notion of where your firm is in terms of its cash flow and debt position. Bookkeepers responsibilities under the SAR Bookkeepers of law firms have the additional un-enviable responsibility of implementing bookkeeping policies to ensure the firms compliance with the Legal Profession (Solicitors Accounts) Rules (the SAR) at all times. These additional responsibilities relate to writing-up the relevant books of accounts described in Rules 11(1), 11(2) and 11(4) of the SAR and undertaking monthly client account bank reconciliations. Under the SAR, your bookkeeper has a direct and active responsibility to alert the Law Society of possible breaches of the SAR. In fact the Approved Bookkeeper is required to swear a Statutory Declaration prescribed by the Law Society containing an undertaking by her to inform the Council of difficulties encountered in writing up the relevant books of accounts or in reconciling the client cash book with the client account bank statements. This is an onerous duty which will undoubtedly place the bookkeeper in a difficult position vis a vis her employer / client should she encounter such problems in a law firm. Currently, the SAR stipulates that only the Client Account ledgers are required to be kept by the Approved Bookkeeper. However, it is good practice to also have the office account ledger and the general ledger be kept by the same Approved Bookkeeper. She should generate the requisite financial statements and undertake the office bank reconciliation on a monthly basis. Financial reports such as Clients Ledger Report, General Ledger Report, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet, Bank Reconciliation Reports, Aged Debtors Report are the very minimum you need to understand your financial position, and in risk management to alert you to difficulties in maintaining a healthy cash flow and compliance with the SAR. What you should look for in a selecting a bookkeeper A bookkeeper who has experience of law office accounting and who uses specialised legal accounting software will be in a better position to provide you with adequate bookkeeping support and comprehensive financial information to help you to stay on top of your financials and to reduce your practice risks. A competent bookkeeper will even anticipate the year-end audit by providing auditors with the requisite financial information in a manner that expedites the audit process this may translate to a trouble-free audit and lower audit fees. Saving you headache and anxiety, she will be worth her cost many times over. Generally, we find that that many lawyers, especially lawyers starting their own practice with little knowledge of financial management, do not know what to expect from their bookkeepers in terms of service delivery standards.
www.bizibody.biz
To help you, we set out here a list of qualifications (including the requirements of the SAR) and service delivery standards that you should consider when engaging a bookkeeper for your law practice 1. Registered Business Entity It is not uncommon for bookkeeping to be undertaken by freelance bookkeepers who are unregistered business entities. For your outsourced bookkeeper to be an Approved Bookkeeper in compliance with the SAR, the bookkeeper must be a registered entity under the Registry of Companies and Businesses. 2. Qualifications and Experience The SAR stipulates that an Approved Bookkeeper must possess at least one of the following qualifications: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI); Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT); Certified Accounting Technician (CAT); Diploma in accounts from a Polytechnic; Passed ACCA level 2 Degree in Accountancy
If the bookkeeper has the qualifications set out in (i), (ii) or (iii), he/she must also have at least 1 years experience of bookkeeping for a law practice. A bookkeeper who does not possess any of these qualifications can still qualify as an Approved Bookkeeper provided that he/she has written up the relevant books of accounts of a law practice for 5 years as at 31 December 2003. We welcome the Law Societys approach of coupling paper qualifications with relevant law office bookkeeping experience. In our experience, the lack of formal bookkeeping qualifications is often more than adequately compensated for by relevant experience and domain knowledge. 3. Domain Knowledge It is extremely important that the bookkeeper possesses a good working knowledge of law firm processes and procedures. A bookkeeper from the retail or manufacturing industry is likely to need initial handholding and supervision as he/she would not be acquainted with SAR requirements or the unique business processes in a law firm (eg, anticipated disbursements, many matters to one client, and online services such as EFS or BizFile). 4. Attributes Good bookkeepers are meticulous and dogged as well as possessing good analytical skills. They are often required to identify, track and rectify discrepancies in the course of their bookkeeping duties.
www.bizibody.biz
They should also possess good communication and people skills as they often need to work with members of your staff to obtain and convey information on myriad financial transactions undertaken by the firm from invoicing to time-recording and disbursements. 5. Software A good bookkeeper should use the right software to keep and process your financial data ie, Windows or Web based instead of DOS; industry standard legal accounting software instead of excel spreadsheets and generic accounting software, an open database (eg, Access or SQL) for ease of access to the data instead of a proprietary database. Bookkeepers who use legal accounting software will have the edge in terms of the range and timeliness of financial reporting. In the event you discharge the bookkeeper, it is also possible to require that she delivers all your financial data in a digital format that you can easily install in your own accounting system. Ask your prospective bookkeeper what software she uses to process the data and to generate the financial reports she is required to deliver every month. You should always ask her for a sample of the standard financial reports (eg, profit & loss statement or client account transaction report). The sample report should contain the information you require in a clear and user-friendly format. We would also advise you to present the sample reports to your auditor to for their confirmation that the reports generated by the bookkeeper contain adequate information for the purposes of the year-end audit. Should your Auditor also be your Bookkeeper? It is not uncommon for firms to outsource their bookkeeping to their external auditor or a company associated with the external auditor to facilitate their year-end audit. However, the possibility of a conflict of interest arising makes this a less than desirable arrangement as far as public interest is concerned. In the USA, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 lists book-keeping services as a service that an audit firm should not be rendering to its client if it has been appointed as auditors. Defining Expectations A bookkeeper keeps your books, ie she is responsible for ensuring that all your financial transactions are properly and accurately recorded in the requisite ledgers, sub-ledgers, journals, etc. In engaging your bookkeeper, it is important to define your expectations from the outset. Examples of some of the items to address may include Type and Delivery of Financial Report; 1. Frequency of Bank Account Reconciliations; 2. Source Documents to be returned by a specified number of days from delivery; 3. Data Backup (we have seen far too many cases of bookkeepers losing critical financial data as a result of computer failure); 4. Return / Delivery of Data (digital formats and hard copies) at Termination; 5. Confidentiality For all of the reasons we have described above; but most of all, for your own peace of mind, choose your bookkeeper with the same care and consideration your clients have invested in choosing you as their lawyer. We hope that we have made a case for all responsible and competent bookkeepers out
www.bizibody.biz
there slogging painfully at your books, making sure that every number entered accurately represents your financial position.
_______________________________________________________________
www.bizibody.biz
12
Client Account Management

From 1 April 2004, changes to the Legal Profession (Solicitors Accounts Rules) (the SAR) came into force. The main change in the SAR is the provision for a law practice to:(i) Ensure 2 lawyers act as signatories to approve payments above $5,000 from the client account of a law practice; or (ii) Engage an accounting firm or accounting corporation or a firm or corporation to provide book-keeping services to a law practice; (iii) Employ a book-keeper to write up required books of accounts of a law practice.
Prior written approval of Council of the Law Society (Council) is required to engage or employ a book-keeper to write up the required books of accounts under the Rules. Council has specified qualifications for a book-keeper other than for an accounting firm or an accounting corporation. Good client account management goes beyond fraud prevention and detection. Technical breaches of the SAR occur even in well managed practices. They occur because of inaccurate or late entries, oversight and human error. Because financial data is input manually, human error will inevitably take place. However putting in place sound bookkeeping and business processes will go a long way towards avoidance and early detection of such technical breaches. Our recommendations for good Client Account management are designed to help you minimise the risks associated with handling funds on behalf of a client. You will discover that the implementation of such practices will bestow additional benefits of better client care, improved backroom efficiencies and even improvements in your cash flow. A. Documentation The four inviolate principles that govern a diligent approach to clients money in all its forms are: Written records must be kept The records must disclose the true position Records must be auditable Records must be up to date. Paragraph 11(1) of the SAR prescribes that every lawyer shall keep cash books, ledgers and journals and such other books and accounts as may be necessary to show proper accounting records including transactions relating to (i) (ii) Clients money received, held or paid by him; and Other money dealt with by him through a client account; and to show separately in respect of each Client all money of the category specified in items (i) and (ii) above.
Whether you use a manual or automated accounting system, the information that is documented must show (at the very least)
a. The balance in the client account (for each client) at all times; and
Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz www.bizibody.biz
b. Details of transactions affecting each Clients balance. The following prescribes the account records and ledgers which law firms should maintain in order to provide the above information: (i) Cashbook
The Cashbook details in chronological order the receipt and payment of all clients money, with the following transactional detailsa. Date received or issued b. Name of Payer / Payee c. Cheque number and Payment Details d. Name of Client and Matter Reference e. The Amount f. Available Cash Balance. Each entry in the Cashbook should be supported by a copy of the deposit slip, cheque book stubb, payment and receipt voucher or other document evidencing the deposit or payment. These source documents must be retained as part of your accounting records. (ii) Clients Ledger
This is a record that contains similar information as in the cashbook described above, except the balance is for the individual client only. The aggregate sum of all individual client balances must be identical to the balance in the Cashbook. There are a variety of formats which you could use for the Cashbook and Client Ledgers. These could take the form of a computer spreadsheet or be generated from your computerized accounting system. B. Monthly Procedures The monthly Client Account Bank Reconciliation should go a step further than the routine bank account reconciliation by including a reconciliation of the individual client ledgers. To explain, a comprehensive client account reconciliation should comprise the following actions (i) Cashbook / Bank Account Reconciliation
At the end of each month, the account balance in your bank statement must be reconciled to (ie must tally with) the account balance shown in your cashbook register. There is no prescribed format for this report but Appendix 4 shows a sample Cashbook / Bank Account Reconciliation. Differences between the balances in your bank statement and cashbook should be investigated immediately and the discrepancies corrected either in your own records or by the bank. This bank statement reconciliations (of both client and office accounts) should be undertaken every month as a matter of good internal control for the firm. (ii) Reconcile your individual Client Ledgers
After you have completed the cashbook / bank account reconciliation, you should check that the individual client balances tallies with the reconciled cashbook / bank balance. The easiest way to do
www.bizibody.biz
this is to make a list of the clients and the balance for each, then add the individual client balances. If every item has been posted correctly and your math is faultless, the aggregate of all individual client b balances should be identical to the balance in the cashbook. If they are not, it means that you have (1) omitted a client from the list, (2) the activity during the month was not correctly posted to the client ledger, or (3) your calculation is wrong. Redo each step to identify the source of the discrepancy and make the necessary correction. While this step (reconciliation of the individual client ledgers) is not prescribed in the SAR, we recommend it strongly as a means to identify inadvertent breaches of the SAR arising from data entry errors. (iii) Review Debit Balances
Debit balances in the Client Bank Account signal that Clients funds are overdrawn. In the absence of fraud, this can arise as a result of human error and oversight such as an incorrect postings, as well as late postings of transactions to the clients ledger. Once the lawyer has identified the cause of the error he/she should rectify it immediately. (iv) Client Account Statements
As part of good client care, we also recommend that lawyers send client account statements to their clients at appropriate intervals. The statement should show the balance in clients account at the beginning of the reporting period, any transactions in the Clients Account such as deposits or withdrawals, and the final balance in the account as at the statement date. If an invoice is going to be paid from the clients account, a statement noting this should also appear on the billing statement. Appendix 5 shows a sample Client Accounts Statement. Even if funds are held in clients account on a long-term basis without any activity, a periodic report to the Client should also be made. This reminds the Client that funds are being held by the firm and gives you an opportunity to stay in contact with the client. (v) Review of Amounts that can be Transferred from Client to Office Account
Good client account management also means timely transfers of amounts from clients to office account. As failure to undertake timely transfers will have a detrimental effect on the firms cash flow, law firms should institute a process of review conducted at appropriate intervals to ensure that funds that can be transferred are correctly transferred. C Legal Accounting Systems
Paragraph 11(5) of SAR accepts the use of computerized bookkeeping systems provided that the financial information recorded in such computerized system is capable of being reproduced in the form of a printed document within a reasonable time. Most modern legal accounting software in the market today will have the capacity to generate comprehensive and accurate reports in easy-to-read formats. We have seen such systems make tremendous improvement to backroom efficiency, as well as relieving the backroom staff from menial and repetitive tasks, hence reducing the opportunity for errors. Such systems can and should be regularly backed up with an appropriate storage device.
www.bizibody.biz
The experience of our clients shows that the implementation of a good legal accounting system will go a long way in helping law firms avoid and detect technical breaches, and are regarded by many law firms as an important risk management tool. In terms of good client account management, a good legal accounting software can perform these functions faster and more accurately than a whole team of backroom staff can possibly deliver through manual effort:(i) (ii) Alerts the user of any technical breach of SAR at the time of the posting; Keeps tight audit trails of financial transactions, including any adjustments or corrections made to the data (unlike manual records that can be erased or amended without trace); Performs the 3-way cashbook / client ledger / client bank account reconciliations recommended in this article and generates the requisite bank reconciliation reports, as well as the cashbook and client ledgers for easy reference; Possesses powerful query, filter, sorting and reporting functionalities that will help you to access pertinent financial information, zoom in on any potential risk situations and generate comprehensive financial reports for proper practice management; Generates the Client Account statements that we recommend that you send to your clients regularly.
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
_______________________________________________________________
www.bizibody.biz
13
Designed with the small practice lawyer in mind, Bizibody-LEAP Accounting understands that to operate a successful practice, you need to spend less time on administration and more time on client care and service. Law Practices using Bizibody-Leap Accounting save time, reduce practice risks and make more money .
Put relevant information on your desktop

You save time looking for information or waiting for your bookkeeper to give you an update. Disbursements, client account balances, time records and unpaid invoices at client or matter level are accessible whenever you need.
Input data once, use it again many times over

are designed to eliminate manual paper based routines and duplication of effort.
Automated processes in Bizibody-LEAP Accounting
Save time preparing bills, bill more often

Lawyers who spend less time preparing bills find that they bill more often more regularly. Whether you bill by time or fixed fee, the billing process in BizibodyLEAP Accounting is easy, you will wonder why you ever took so long to get the billing done.
Improve cash flow, reduce collection cycles

You can manage cash flow risk by enforcing strict collection policies based on accurate debtor aging records. Bizibody-LEAP Accounting not only gives you easy access to accurate and up to date billing information, it automates the preparation of statement of accounts.
Convert professional time to revenue

Make more money by keeping accurate time records. Clients never realise how much work you have done for them until you produce an itemized bill or prove it at taxation. Electronic time records in Bizibody-Leap Accounting make it easy to produce itemized bills and keep track of work in progress.
Compliance with Client Account Rules
Access to up to date and accurate client account balances helps you avoid technical breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Rules. Monthly quicker bank and account easier reconciliations with are Bizibody-Leap
Accounting.
Features at a glance
Client & Matter Database | Conflict
Searches | Client Accounting | General Ledger & Office Accounting (MYOB) | Payment Vouchers | Disbursements | Anticipated
Disbursements | Electronic Time Recording | Invoicing | Debtor Aging | Statement of Accounts | GST Reporting (MYOB) | Financial Management and Performance Reports
Aged Debtors Report | Aged WIP Report | Departmental Income Analysis Matters Financial Summary | Matters Opened | Matters Archived Fee Earner Overview | Fee Earner Receipted / Invoiced Funds | Top Fee Earners Time Keeping Record | Invoices Record Client Account Ledger | Client Account Dormant Balances | Client Account Audit Report Cash Payments Report | Cash Receipts Report Office Payments / Receipts Report | Anticipated Disbursements Outstanding Disbursements | Outstanding Time Cost Recovery Pre-Billing Guide | Statement of Account by Client / by Matter
REPORTS available in Bizibody-Leap Accounting
The LEAP Timesheet

TM
The LEAP Timesheet is the most advanced and feature-rich timesheet available. It combines an intuitive time input screen with dynamic displays of useful matter and performance related information - all on one screen! Record more time because of the ease and convenience of use; Spend less time making time entries because of the unique Productivity Boosters; Bill more because time records are more accurate and comprehensive; Waste less time preparing bills because the original data entered is of such high quality; Bill more frequently because it is so easy to do so.
Mouse and/or keyboard driven Familiar commands Flexible column displays Suggestive lookups Multiple Sheets Multiple Timers Offline/ Online operation Record time before the matter is created Billing Description and Narrative fields Printing File notes as you go Time templates Autotext Spell Checker Incomplete Entry management Full editing functions Real time when online
For a no obligation demonstration of this powerful new tool call LEAP today!
Requirements
LEAP Timesheet is client software that is installed on a PC or Notebook. It automatically synchronises with LEAP Accounting when it is connected. It requires LEAP Accounting Version 1.102 or higher, Windows XP with SP 2 and a minimum 800x600 screen resolution.
LEAP Legal Software Pty Ltd e sales@leap.com.au w www.leap.com.au Sydney: Level 8, 189 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000 P (02) 8273 7588 F (02) 9247 7544 Melbourne: Level 2, 520 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 P (03) 9629 5700 F (03) 9629 5722 Brisbane: Level 1, 365-375 Turbot Street, Spring Hill QLD 4000 P (07) 3831 2488 F (07) 3831 2044 Adelaide: Unit 8 / 198 Greenhill Road, Eastwood SA 5063 P (08) 8271 7125 F (08) 8272 7344
14
Bizibody - Leap Documents is a fully integrated matter management system that offers automated document assembly | document & email management | workflow and matter management | management status reports Input data once, Reuse many times over
Law Practices that use automated document assembly / mail merge engines find that they can do more with fewer resources, more accurately and consistently.
Complete Electronic Matter File

Bizibody-Leap Documents puts all client information & matter documents on your desktop so that you never have to waste time looking in different places.
At one glance you will have - Client, matter and third party details Documents prepared by you Documents received by email, fax or scanned Matter related financial data* *if integrated with LEAP Accounting. Attendance notes and instructions to staff Delegated tasks, critical dates and matter deadlines Matter related research and links
Bizibody-Leap Documents integrates seamlessly with MS Outlook. Outgoing emails can be created quickly from the application. An in-built PDF converter even allows you to lock down content in email attachments. Working from home? Bizibody-Leap Documents facilitates access to critical matter data and documents from remote workstations outside the office. With complete electronic matter files in Bizibody-Leap Documents, you can easily keep on top of your matters, delegate tasks, schedule appointment and monitor critical dates as if you had the paper file in hand.
Task Delegation, Supervision and Calendaring through LEAP Documents

Bizibody-Leap Documents
You can track matter progress, supervise your staff and monitor key dates and matter deadlines using
Matter Status Reports through LEAP Documents

Bizibody-Leap Documents empowers you to provide value-added services to preferred clients in the form of customized matter progress reports and publishing on client extranets. You can customize your own report from the data in the LEAP database. Common reports include Matters Due for Completion | Monthly Matter Status Report | Daily/Weekly/Monthly Task List or Workload Report by Fee Earner.
BIZIBODY SMART PRECEDENTS

Bizibody Smart Precedents are developed by Bizibody and LEAP Consultants working in collaboration with the Law Societys Small Law Firm Committee and practicing lawyers specializing in the different areas of law. All Precedent templates are industry standard and updated automatically through a unique online updating service powered by the Bizibody-LEAP Content Server. This ensures that your precedents are up to date and complaint with current practice.
Bizibody Smart Precedents
(Available in LEAP Documents soon)
Create Your Own

Bizibody-Leap Documents allows you to customize your own Matter database with user defined fields Precedent templates with merge capabilities Automated workflows & agenda items Matter status reports for preferred clients
< Corporate Secretarial & Company Forms < Standard Forms for Debt Recovery < Standard Forms for Personal Injury < Conveyancing Sale & Purchase
Getting Started
Whether you are starting a new practice, taking on additional fee earners or expanding your practice into new areas of law, our experienced consultants will have you up and running in a few days. Bizibody-Leap Documents can be implemented in a stand alone PC for solo practices or networked for as many additional users as required.
Priced for Solo and Small Practices

You will find Bizibody-Leap Documents surprisingly affordable. For clients who prefer to minimize upfront capital expenditure, we offer flexible installment plans.
License For Server + 1 User Each Additional User Implementation, Training & Support $3,000 $800
Support Subscription / pm $63.30 variable
Bizibody Consultants provide implementation, training and support for Bizibody-Leap Documents in Singapore, supported by a team of professionals in Australia. The Bizibody Team includes systems professionals, document automation specialists and former lawyers to provide a holistic approach to training and support, covering not only technical aspects but also process specific input and recommendations.
Hardware Specifications for LEAP Documents

For LEAP Server Operating System Windows 2000 with min Service Pack 4 Windows XP Professional with min Service Pack 2 Windows 2003 Server Windows Small Business Server 2003 CPU / Memory Space* For 1 User: 512 MB Ram + 40GB Space For 2 5 Users: 1GB Ram + 40 GB Space For 6 20 Users: 2GB Ram + 60 GB Space * If running other applications on the server, will require faster CPU or more memory You do not need to use a true server for LEAP Server a pc (in your network) which meets the LEAP Server specs can be used to run the software. For LEAP Client (Users Workstation) Operating System MS Office Suite CPU / Memory Space Windows 2000. XP Professional, XP Home Word Outlook Excel 2000, XP, 2002 and 2003 Minimum Intel 1GHz with 512 MB Ram

Law Firm Start Up Kit For Aspiring Law Firm Owners 003

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Law Firm Start Up Kit For Aspiring Law Firm Owners 003

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Law Firm Start Up Kit for Aspiring Law Firm Owners

Prepared by Bizibody Technology

Law Firm Start Up Kit for Aspiring Law Firm Owners

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

COMPLIANCE AND REGISTRATION CHECKLIST

2. Register with ACRA Online

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Small is the New Big

You dont have to be Big to be Strong

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Website Basics For Lawyers

Your domain name should be a) Short

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Design with Purpose

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

WHAT YOU WILL GET: Law Firm Website:

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

1,600.00 1,280.00 30.00 3,000.00

199.00 200.00 250.00 650.00

199.00 $ 200.00 $ 250.00 $ 650.00 $ 22,309.00 $ 703.35 $

PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com

1,280.00 $ 30.00 $ 2,000.00 $ 1,200.00 199.00 100.00 250.00 650.00 $ $ $ $

70.00 72.00 95.00

2,000.00 1,200.00 199.00 100.00 250.00 650.00

99.00 36.00 38.00 30.00 440.00

PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Choosing Your Bookkeeper

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd

Tel: 6236 2846 | info@bizibody.biz

Bizibody Technology Pte Ltd