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09 May 2019 / David Dolding , Martin Parish
Issue: 7839 / Categories: Features , Profession , Pensions
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Financial stress: most law firms agree they have a role in financially educating their staff, say David Dolding & Martin Parish

  • What can law firms and individuals do?
  • Self-employment and retirement savings.

An overwhelming 93.6% of law firms agree, according to recent research, that they have a role in financially educating their staff beyond pensions guidance (see ‘HR in Law and Aon 2019 Employee Benefits Survey’, April 2019). This is positive, but are they acting on it?

In our view as advisers, action can’t come soon enough from firms and individuals. It’s been a long-held perception that financial pressures are solely the preserve of lower earners, but it’s become clear that financial stress overwhelmingly impacts the well-paid too. Large houses and mortgages, private school education for kids, holidays, cars; the expenses are high and can create constant, often hidden, pressures.

It doesn’t take much to scratch the surface and see how acute financial pressures impact an individual’s emotional wellbeing. Keeping a certain standard of living can be a concern—wealthy

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Michelman Robinson—Daniel Burbeary

Michelman Robinson—Daniel Burbeary

Firm names partner as London office managing partner

Bellevue Law—Sally Hall

Bellevue Law—Sally Hall

Employment boutique strengthens data protection and privacy offering with senior consultant hire

NLJ Career Profile: Ken Fowlie, Stowe Family Law

NLJ Career Profile: Ken Fowlie, Stowe Family Law

Ken Fowlie, chairman of Stowe Family Law, reflects on more than 30 years in legal services after ‘falling into law’

NEWS
Personal injury lawyers have welcomed a government U-turn on a ‘substantial prejudice’ defence that risked enabling defendants in child sexual abuse civil cases to have proceedings against them dropped
Children can claim for ‘lost years’ damages in personal injury cases, the Supreme Court has held in a landmark judgment
Holiday lets may promise easy returns, but restrictive covenants can swiftly scupper plans. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Francis of Serle Court recounts how covenants limiting use to a ‘private dwelling house’ or ‘private residence’ have repeatedly defeated short-term letting schemes
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already embedded in the civil courts, but regulation lags behind practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ben Roe of Baker McKenzie charts a landscape where AI assists with transcription, case management and document handling, yet raises acute concerns over evidence, advocacy and even judgment-writing
The cab-rank rule remains a bulwark of the rule of law, yet lawyers are increasingly judged by their clients’ causes. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian McDougall, president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, warns that conflating representation with endorsement is a ‘clear and present danger’
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