The 2020 Lawyers Group Conference a Great Success!!
The first 2020 Lawyers group Conference was held at the Hilton Hotel in Coventry on the 3rd October 2007; 120 delegates attended and feedback from them tells us that they found the presentations stimulating and encouraging.The Chairman for the day was Viv Williams and the Conference was opened with a number of predictions for the legal profession delivered by Chris Frederiksen.
Professor Stephen Mayson presented a highly topical presentation on Legal Service Reforms which highlighted the issues facing the profession.
This was followed by an in depth look at legal practice solvency delivered by Steve Billot from BDO Stoy Hayward.
Banks are taking a much harder line on practices that do not run themselves as any business would. The amount of unsecured lending was estimated at over 1 Billion pounds in a legal market generating 22 billion to the UK economy.
Viv Williams presented some of the ideas that the 2020 Lawyers Group use to enable their members to rise to the challenge of change. These include how to deliver pro-active services and create a culture of want with clients.
Three members of the 2020 Lawyers Group then presented on their own progress over the past few years - each with their own dramatic success stories:
Tim Bishop, managing partner of Bonallack & Bishop told how Viv and the 2020 Lawyer Group had helped him to define his strategy over the past three years and contributed to his success.
Andrew Woolley talked about his virtual practice. The challenges he faced and overcame were put into a highly amusing presentation.
His business model of no/limited overheads and 13 lawyers working from home presented a high degree of interest.
Martin Morgan of Talbot’s Solicitors demonstrated that a firm with clear vision and strategy can achieve outstanding growth and build a strong internal culture. He explained how they have successfully implemented off shoring into their practice with outstanding results.
The afternoon started with delegates moving to breakout rooms to attend workshops on Strategic Planning, Voice Recognition, Outsourcing and how to integrate Financial Services into a legal practice.
Viv Williams and Chris Frederiksen provided an afternoon session showing how by using 2020 Lawyers Group methodology each delegate could define a clear Strategy, a strong internal culture, a marketing plan and integrate new ideas e.g. finance legal services. Additional input towards creating the correct business model within the practice was defined and how best to use IT investment to drive down a law firm’s cost base.
The afternoon was concluded with an uplifting presentation from Chris Hughes, a motivational speaker, who left the delegates in no doubt about how using their own potential can help them achieve their personal goals.
The evening was completed with a complimentary wine and cheese networking event sponsored by Barclays.
