Hints & Tips from Expense Reduction Analysts for UK law firms seeking to reduce costs and improve processes.

1. Legal Services Bulletin
September-October 2013
Jason Adderley
T: 0121 602 1445
M: 07824 449 577
E: j.adderley@erauk.net
: @ERA_Legal
COMMENT FEATURE: see overleaf
MATTHEW ARNOLD & BALDWIN
Cost Reduction Strategy
PEPs Up South East Firm
The Editor
Jason Adderley is a consultant Partner with ERA
specialising in managing programmes of work for
legal and professional services firms.
He has 18 years experience of working with
solicitors and other professional consultants as a
client and as a service provider.
“....ERA has managed to consistently
outperform my expectations and their
specialists know their business...”
UNDER PRESSURE
Company Watch finds that a third of law firms are
under financial pressure and may require
refinancing or an injection of capital.
REVISTING REGULATION
The SRA has called for “truly independent”
regulation of the profession, but stopped short of
calling for a single regulator.
MID MARKET FIRMS TOP LOCK UP LEAGUE
MHA found that firms with 11-25 equity partners
had average lock up of 148 days compared with
the national average of 127 days.
PRACTICE TIPS
networkpartner with
My local town lost its last large full service
firm with the demise of Challinors, though
happily the resurgent Thursfields was riding
into town to fill the void as we went to print.
Birmingham superpower Shakespeares
continued to hoover up practices, with
acquisitions in Leicester and Coventry.
Australian-owned Slater & Gordon drew
Fentons and others into the fold.
Consolidation is a trend with momentum and
more and more we’re finding ourselves drawn
into firms to drive the efficiencies they seek
quickly.
At ERA we’ve added another legal IT specialist
to the team to expand the breadth of services
we’re able to offer. We’ve highlighted the
ongoing cost of software overleaf and will
return to the subject of software in future
issues.
Our client David Abrahams, Finance Director
at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin (MAB) has been
kind enough to let us publish a case study
which is summarised briefly overleaf. MAB has
had a fantastic year with a PEP figure that
propels the firm into the Top 20.
Sustained cost reduction has been an
integral element of the growth strategy, and
the full case study is available on request.
Those in the legal
profession hoping for a
quiet Summer have been
disappointed.
July and August have
been punctuated by
further stories of
administration, merger
and acquisition.

2. #5
AN EXPERT
FOR EVERYTHING
Why ERA?
We understand that many
firms would like to carry out
the type of work we do
themselves, in fact it’s one of
the most common barriers we
encounter.
“But how many firms can
honestly say they have a
procurement specialist in
every field?”
Our Legal Services Team has
experts who procure products
and services every day – so we
can deliver more quickly.
Our Team also has £millions
worth of spend under
management, so we can
leverage more savings.
Jason Adderley
T: 0121 602 1445
M: 07824 449 577
E: j.adderley@erauk.net
: @ERA_Legal
STUDY
CASE
Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP
“I was highly sceptical of Jason’s
claims during our initial meetings, but
I am happy to say that his team have
managed to consistently outperform
my expectations, and their specialists
know their business.”
David Abrahams,
Finance Director, Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP
Matthew Arnold & Baldwin (MAB) is 30-Partner
firm operating from London and Watford. With a
turnover of £20 million, MAB is amongst the
largest 200 firms in the UK by fee income. Profit
per Equity Partner of £616,000 for 2012/13
places the firm amongst the Top 20.
LSN Law Firm Forums October 2013
LSN Law Firm Forums provide a unique opportunity for you to
gather under one roof with others working in law firm
management, operational and support roles.
ERA will be attending Law Firm Forums at Birmingham on
October 2 and Bristol on October 15 and we’d love to see you
there.
For more information visit: www.legalsupportnetwork.co.uk
ERA was first engaged by MAB as the firm was
anticipating a period of significant growth. The firm
had neither the time nor the resources to quickly
interrogate elements of the non-salary overhead
themselves. However, Finance Director David
Abrahams recognised that any savings identified
could be put back to work winning new business or
helping towards the costs of hiring additional
revenue generating staff.
To date ERA has implemented projects for
Document Storage, Digital Print, Postage, Office
Supplies and Leased Lines with savings well into six
figures. Reviews are underway for Secure
Shredding, Mobile and Fixed Telecommunications.
The full MAB Case Study is available upon request.
Most Law Firms have experience of
software and services procurement.
But how can you be confident that you
have secured the best available terms,
not only for the initial procurement, but
over the course of the software usage?
Since most software vendors charge at
least 20% of the software price for
annual support, the firm can expect to
pay the equivalent of the undiscounted
software price every 5 years, in addition
to the initial capital expenditure.
As a version of software ages, it becomes
more stable and users become more
adept in its usage, resulting in less need
for support. Yet, the price of that
support rarely changes.
That is, until you ask one of our Legal IT
experts to review those costs for you.
Hard cash for Software