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Flex those finances

21 February 2014 / Brent Wilkinson
Issue: 7595 / Categories: Features , Profession
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How financially fit is your law firm, asks Brent Wilkinson

Recent research from insolvency trade body R3 showed that just over 30% of UK law firms are at risk of failing within the next 12 months. How can these firms avoid failure, and how can they ensure that their law firm is “financially fit”?

In order to keep a legal firm healthy and open for business, it is important that, for example in an LLP, the members are fully aware of the internal workings. In many cases the mentality of the members can be the first downfall of any LLP; however, by thinking of the business’ needs first, there are a number of common mistakes which can be avoided.

Don’t milk the cash cow

As most partners within a law firm will be aware, remuneration within an LLP structure is dictated by both the profits generated by the business and the available cash to distribute. However many firms enter into financial difficulty by taking too much cash out of the business for partner remuneration,

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NEWS
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
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