Professional Practices Alliance Podcasts

We are are pleased to share with you the recording of our recent Professional Practices Alliance expert panel discussion on 'Measuring and Driving Diversity and Inclusion in Professional Services Firms'.

Over the last year, the issue of workplace inequalities and under-representation of minority groups has been reignited, or come to the fore, on the agenda of many businesses, including professional services firms. Such firms may now be looking afresh at how to drive and measure diversity and inclusion within their partnerships and wider staff constituency.

In this panel discussion, you can hear Chair Sarah Chilton (CM Murray LLP, Partner), Emma Bartlett (CM Murray LLP, Partner), David Shufflebotham (Founder of PEP Up Consulting), Corinne Staves (Partner & Head of Professional Practices, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP) and excellent Guest Speakers, Mouhssin Ismail (Principal of Newham Collegiate Sixth Form) and Ray Berg (UK Managing Partner of Osborne Clarke LLP) explore some of the vital diversity and inclusion issues with which firms will need to engage, including:

- The moral, economic and regulatory importance of partnerships driving and embedding a sustainable culture of diversity and inclusion.

- The impact on business innovation and people strategy and how to get partnership ‘buy in’, wider engagement and accountability.

- Broadening the firm’s approach to diversity to include social mobility, cultural diversity and neurodiversity and addressing the intersection with legally protected characteristics like age, gender and race.

- Measuring diversity and inclusion through quantitative and qualitative data tools as “what gets valued, gets measured and what gets measured gets done”.

- The critical need for firms to assess inclusion distinct from diversity and the approaches firms can take to tackling homogeneous replica cultures at all levels. As one speaker put it “you can get asked to the party but if no one asks you to dance, what’s the point of going to the party”, so it is necessary for firms to not only have diversity in the staff and partners, but to also cultivate supportive environments for them to flourish at all levels.

- Key challenges to creating a more diverse and inclusive environment in professional practices.

- Recruiting a diverse equity partnership and senior leadership, nurturing the pipeline and addressing the challenges of diversity attrition, including through collaboration with educational establishments, effective communication, role models and coaches, implementing proper systems and process and equipping staff with diversity and equality skills and training.

- The benefits, limitations and practical tips for using equality legislation and constitutional partnership documents to address under-representation and inclusion in professional services partnerships.

For more information on the issues covered in this recording, please contact Partners Sarah Chilton and Emma Bartlett, who specialise in employment and partnership law and advise businesses and individuals on equality and discrimination issues.

The Professional Practices Alliance is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between leading UK independent legal, accounting and law firm management specialist advisers, CM Murray LLP, Buzzacott LLP, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, Pep Up Consulting and Cambridge Strategy Group.

Join the Conversation

We are delighted to launch the Professional Practices Alliance LinkedIn group, a collaborative networking and information sharing space for professional services firms. Join our LinkedIn group here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13930936/

Follow us on Twitter: @PartnershipAlln

Measuring and Driving Diversity and Inclusion in Professional Services Firms

We are pleased to share with you the recording of this Professional Practices Alliance expert interactive panel discussion on what the medium-term holds for law firms emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and how they can prepare for changes to the economy, office life, and the tax landscape.

The panel addressed issues including:

- The impact of the pandemic on law firms and how to emerge stronger on the other side.

- How office workspaces can be adapted to meet the requirements of a workforce that wants greater flexibility.

- The key points of the UK’s first 2021 Budget and the measures that will most affect law firms and their clients.

- The employment law challenges that arise out of new ways of working.

The panel:

James Campbell - International Partner, Cushman & Wakefield (Guest Speaker)
Andrew Hosking - Managing Director, Restructuring & Insolvency, Quantuma (Guest Speaker)
Beth Hale - Partnership and Employment Law Partner, CM Murray LLP
Alastair McQuater - Tax Partner, Buzzacott LLP
Claire Watkins - Partner & Head of Professional Practices Group, Buzzacott LLP (Chair)

For more information on the issues covered in this recording, please contact Partner Beth Hale, who specialises in employment and partnership law and advises businesses and individuals on equality and discrimination issues.

The Professional Practices Alliance is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between leading UK independent legal, accounting and law firm management specialist advisers, CM Murray LLP, Buzzacott LLP, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, Pep Up Consulting and Cambridge Strategy Group.

Join the Conversation

We are delighted to launch the Professional Practices Alliance LinkedIn group, a collaborative networking and information sharing space for professional services firms. Join our LinkedIn group here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13930936/

Follow us on Twitter: @PartnershipAlln

How Law Firms can Prepare for Changes to the Economy, Office Life and the Tax Landscape

If England’s COVID roadmap progresses as planned, stringent COVID restrictions should be lifting or lifted during summer 2021. The office and future working arrangements are dominating discussions at all levels within professional services firms. 
 
This peer-to-peer discussion aims to provide an understanding of market practices and trends, addressing topics affecting your people, your business and your clients.

In this discussion, you can hear Session Chair Corinne Staves, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, Beth Hale, CM Murray LLP, Robert Millard, Cambridge Strategy Group, and guest speaker Oliver Richards, Orms, discuss the following:

• What the ease of adaption to such significant working changes has proven about the resilience of the professions

• How the past year of home working has already altered everyone’s horizons and how Firms will need to reflect this in their long-term strategy

• What the key components of a successful workplace will be, allowing people to balance companionship and communication, without compromising privacy needs

• The challenges of effectively supporting the new hybrid of office-based and remote working, including through investment in office technology and considered office reconfiguration

• The legal and non-legal considerations of firms imposing changes on team members and the potential impact of same on firm culture

• What firms need to consider in managing their partner body, including where tensions may emerge if there has been a disparity in contribution during COVID.

We (Still) Need To Talk About The Office

Transitioning from Founder-Led to Perpetual Governance Models: The Most Difficult Challenge that Many Professional Service Firms ever face

The transition that any firm must undergo if it is to survive and thrive after its founders retire affects every aspect of the organisation. It is at the same time both strategic and intensely personal. For founding partners, it involves giving up control of an organisation that in many cases defines who they are and trusting the next generation to lead and manage it into a successful future. For that next generation, it means stepping up to a whole new level of responsibilities. It almost always involves difficult discussions, including about money, power and influence. For the firm’s employees, the outcome determines no less than their future livelihoods. For clients, such transitions can significantly impact the quality of service that they receive in both the long term and while the transition is underway.
This issue is deeply relevant in 2021; the (then) young entrepreneurs who founded a disproportionately large number of professional service firms in the early 1990s are fast approaching retirement. Many have been immensely successful, building firms that stand proudly pre-eminent in their markets. The role that those founders will play in their twilight professional years, and indeed whether or not these firms will even survive without their founders, depends on how well the transition is planned and executed.

In this panel discussion recording, you can hear Session Chair, Rob Millard (Founder, Cambridge Strategy Group – Law Firm Management Consultant) and esteemed panellists, Fernando Peláez-Pier (Founding Partner, Hoet Peláez Castillo & Duque- a former president of the International Bar Association and the Lex Mundi network), David Shufflebotham (Founder, PEP Up Consulting – Partner Remuneration Specialist), Claire Watkins (Partner, Buzzacott LLP – Head of Professional Practices Group) and  Zulon Begum (Partner, CM Murray LLP – Partnership and M&A Law specialist),  discuss and provide expert insights on the major challenges and considerations for such transitioning firms, including:

The relative merits of potential exit models to balance founders’ and next generation partners’ interests, including a straight return of capital and profit share (or “naked in, naked out”); post-retirement annuities; consultancy arrangements; sale on exit based on agreed value (and typical valuation approaches and expectations); and returns based on a future capital event.
Developing a governance transition strategy and adequate succession planning, including understanding the firm’s current position and future requirements as well as managing timing and communications.
Issues involved in transitioning family-owned firms, including challenges caused by not having clear, institutionalised governance, processes and opportunities for all partners, the need to have open early conversations about the exiting partners’ interests and to build consensus on the firm’s future.
The legal and operational issues and how to approach key provisions in the firm’s constitutional documents, including weighting of founder and next generation voter rights, profit sharing arrangements, anti-embarrassment clauses, annuity provisions, post termination restrictive covenants, admission of new partners, partner “lock-in” provisions, mandatory retirement age and change to firm name clauses (amongst others).

Transitioning from Founder-Led to Perpetual Governance Models

We are pleased to share with you the recording from our recent Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) expert discussion, ‘Neurodiversity in Professional Services Firm Leadership’.

Individuals who may be described as “neurodivergent” bring a plethora of skills and different perspectives to an organisation, offering firms a sustainable, competitive advantage that will be particularly beneficial in the current economic climate. Harnessing and embracing the cognitive divergence of a workforce will enable professional services firms to home in on an untapped pool of innovators and high performers to inform its decision making and wider strategies, and promote an inclusive workplace culture. It is important for firms to raise awareness about neurodiversity related issues, whether through the day-to-day advocacy of senior management or the delivery of firmwide training, to help managers and colleagues to better understand neurocognitive differences and the needs of their neurodivergent colleagues. 

In this webinar, you can hear session Chair, Emma Bartlett, CM Murray LLP, and speakers Daniel Aherne, Adjust Services, Caroline Ramsay, TLT LLP and Rob Millard, Cambridge Strategy Group, discuss a range of issues relating to neurodiversity for professional services firms to carefully consider, including the following:

• the importance of harnessing cognitive diversity in leadership and the various ways in which firms can boost decision-making, creativity and innovation through neurodiversity;
• how professional services firms can encourage a culture that is more understanding of neurodiversity, including implementing policies and procedures promoting and generating awareness about neurodiversity; encouraging senior individuals to lead from the top; and offering training to managers and colleagues to help them to better understand these issues; and
• potential statutory protection under the Equality Act 2010 for those who may be described as “neurodivergent”; in particular, focusing on an employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments, and offering some practical suggestions as to what might constitute a reasonable adjustment in this context.

For more information on any of the topics covered in this recording, please email Emma Bartlett: emma.bartlett@cm-murray.com.

The Professional Practices Alliance is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between leading UK independent legal, accounting and law firm management specialist advisers, CM Murray LLP, Buzzacott LLP, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, Pep Up Consulting and Cambridge Strategy Group.

Neurodiversity in Professional Services Firm Leadership - Professional Practices Alliance Webinar

We are pleased to share with you the recording from our recent Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) expert discussion, ‘Personal Risk Management for Partners’.

Partners of professional practices spend their entire careers focused on the protecting interests of their clients.  This can sometimes be at the expense of their own planning.  

In this podcast recording, you can hear Chair, Corinne Staves (Partner and Head of Professional Practices, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP) and panel speakers, Rachel O’Donoghue (Partner and Head of Financial Planning, Buzzacott LLP), James Currie (Senior Tax Manager, Buzzacott LLP), David Shufflebotham (Founder, PEPUP.consulting), Fiona Poole (Partner, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP) and Beth Hale (Partner, CM Murray LLP) explore the actions that all partners should be considering and the extent to which firms should be involved in personal risk management. In particular, this panel address the following: 

• the key personal risks for professional partners; 
• financial planning and legal protections that partners should put in place; 
• the extent to which firms should implement measures to protect partners, for example, death in service and/or life insurance benefits; 
• whether insurances could benefit of the firm (i.e., to manage cashflow) or the partners/their families, for example, life insurance and income protection; 
• how a firm can manage the risks of partner death/incapacity; and 
• how a firm’s agreement and policies can support this process including the protections which should be included in LLP deeds as well as powers to remove and suspend.

Personal Risk Management for Partners: Professional Practices Alliance Webinar Recording

Rapid technological developments have made, and will continue to make, a significant impact on professional service firms by changing the way in which they devise new business models, replace distribution channels, and modify and adapt the way people and businesses interact with each other.

Everybody has an opinion about how professional services are evolving, and how “firms of the future” might be different to those of today. In the legal sector, which is arguably less ‘transformed’ than some of the other professions so far, many firms view this topic with some trepidation. In this webinar recording, we look at whether artificial intelligence (AI) will actually replace lawyers and, if so, are there ethical or moral dilemmas that should be considered regarding AI and the legal industry?

In this webinar, you can hear Chair, Rob Millard, Director of the Cambridge Strategy Group and speakers, Tara Chittenden and Dr Kion Ahadi, of the Law Society of England & Wales (LSE&W), discuss issues including the following:

• How potential future change will have an impact on diversity and inclusion, particularly in more senior positions;
• How Generation Z have begun to reshape global politics as we see a generational shift in allegiance and identity;
• Whether the rise of machines will free up time vs threaten jobs; and
• How, according to research carried out by LSE&W, it is expected that, by 2030, the workforce in the legal sector, including lawyers and legal support staff, will reduce by half.

What might the Future Hold for Law and other Professional Service Firms?

Partner Performance Management and Remuneration Systems: Under-Rewarded High-Flyers & Over-Rewarded Under-Performers – Professional Practices Alliance Webinar

In the latest webinar of PPA Growth Strategy Webinar series, Partner Zulon Begum (CM Murray LLP) and expert panel, Beth Hale (CM Murray LLP), David Shufflebotham (Pep Up Consulting) and Corinne Staves (Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP), share their experiences and top tips for dealing with under-rewarded high flyers and over-rewarded under performers. The webinar discusses: 
•	Partner performance management and renumeration systems 
•	The practical steps to dealing with these issues in the short to medium term
•	Structural issues that may need to be addressed in the medium to long term 
•	The culture of a firm and how this may affect partner performance

Listen to the webinar here

Three key factors firms need to consider when dealing with partner performance management are:
•	Putting in place structures to identify performance issues
•	How adapting partnership documentation and profit allocation systems might help
•	The culture of the firm and other factors that may influence partner performance
Identifying issues: It is important for partner performance to be evidenced and well documented. Firms should also ensure that decisions are data driven.
Partnership documentation: Firms should consider adapting their constitutional documentation to ensure there is a clear framework in relation to renumeration provisions to help firms achieve their objectives, while also retaining flexibility. 
Culture: It is important for firms to have a remuneration and reward framework in place which is aligned with the culture of the firm. 
If you have any questions arising from this recording or would like to discuss Partner Performance Management and Remuneration Systems; Under-Rewarded High-Flyers and Over-Rewarded Under-Performers or for any other partnership law issues, please contact Partner Zulon Begum or Managing Partner Clare Murray.

Partner Performance Management & Remuneration Systems: PPA Webinar

Is Your Firm prepared for the Financial Year Ahead?
Key Trends and Challenges for Professional Services Firms in 2023/24

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, 'Is Your Firm prepared for the Financial Year Ahead? Key Trends and Challenges for Professional Services Firms in 2023/24', in which our expert panel discuss the financial year ahead for professional services firms. Listen to the recording here and see below for further details. 

In this webinar, you can hear from Chair, Corinne Staves (CM Murray LLP), and speakers Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group), David Shufflebotham (Pep Up Consulting) and Andrew Pavlovic (CM Murray LLP) as they discuss the following issues to include in professional service firms 'to do' list for the next financial year: 

- How to remain profitable and effectively manage the firm's cash flow at a time of stalled economic growth, inflation, cost of living crisis and basis period reform.

- Implementing a strategy and the importance of having a Plan B strategy, especially during a time where firms are adapting to deliver client services in a new technological era.

- How to maintain and enhance a firm's culture and productivity in a hybrid working environment, including the impact that long-term hybrid working may have had on a firms culture.

- Key regulatory developments and the practicalities surrounding how to approach them, specifically the new SRA regulations to address toxic work environments by actively challenging behaviours in the workplace.

- Whether ChatGPT could spell the end of lawyers or whether it can be harnessed to improve service delivery and profitability of firms.

- The potential regulatory issues that arise from using new technology (such as Chat GPT) to assist with delivering client services.

- The increasing need for professional service firms to address environmental issues.

If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail, please contact Partner, Corinne Staves, who specialises in partnership issues for firms and partners.

Is Your Firm prepared for the Financial Year Ahead?

We are delighted to share with you the recording of the recent Professional Practices Alliance webinar, Moving The ESG Needle For Law Firms – Deciding What Matters And What Can Be Achieved, in which our expert panel discuss how professional practices priorities are shifting regarding ESG. 

In this webinar, our chair Andrew Pavlovic, (CM Murray LLP), Rob Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group), Zulon Begum (CM Murray LLP) and Sarah Chilton (CM Murray LLP) discuss the following:

Materiality – how firms should determine their priorities when it comes to ESG, as firms move away from focussing on their own emissions and are now increasingly considering the environmental impact of their client work
 
Stakeholders – the importance of identifying key stakeholders and carefully considering and incorporating their interests into your ESG strategy
 
Client Selection – taking a nuanced approach when considering whether or not to act for clients whose ESG-related aims and values may not wholly align with that of your firm, balancing business needs, the concept of access to justice, and whether firms can use their expertise and experience to mitigate any potential negative impacts of their advice
 
Remuneration – the increasing shift towards incorporating elements of non-financial performance (i.e. alignment with and adherence to firms’ ESG-related policies) into partner assessment and remuneration policies
 
Risk Management – the risk of discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 where, for example, a member of staff is treated less favourably and/or harassed because of their beliefs on climate change

If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail, please contact Partner, Andrew Pavlovic, who specialises in regulatory law and professional discipline matters for firms and partners.

Moving the ESG Needle for Law Firms – Deciding What Matters and What Can Be Achieved

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, ‘Cash, Remuneration and Economic Uncertainty’, in which partnership and regulatory law specialists discuss navigating economic uncertainty and how this can be successfully achieved within professional firms.

Robert Millard of Cambridge Strategy Group, David Shufflebotham of Pep Up Consulting and Corinne Staves and Andrew Pavlovic, Partners at CM Murray LLP, explore the important and practical considerations professional practice firms ought to consider in these times of economic uncertainty. Their discussion addresses key questions and topics including:
•	What key commercial changes are affecting firm strategy and their decision making?
•	What sources of capital firms should be looking to in the new high interest rate landscape; are the traditional methods still viable? 
•	How can firms better structure their own governance to appear more attractive to private equity and bank funding?
•	Strategic options available to mid-market firms to maintain financial resilience; 
•	Key considerations of financial health from an SRA perspective; at what point do the SRA get involved with a firm in financial distress? How do the SRA view different forms of funding?
•	What does the financially resilient law firm of the future look like?

Cash Remuneration & Economic Uncertainty

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, ‘Managing Partner Performance in Professional Services Firms, Evaluating Contribution and Using Partner Processes to Drive Your Firm’s Strategy’, in which partnership and regulatory law specialists discuss how to manage successfully partner promotion and remuneration processes within professional services firms.

Jeremy Callman, Barrister at Ten Old Square, David Shufflebotham of Pep Up Consulting and Sarah Chilton and Andrew Pavlovic, Partners at CM Murray LLP, explore the important and practical considerations professional service firms ought to consider when making decisions about partner promotions and remuneration. Their discussion addresses key questions and topics including:

What do the regulators, such as the SRA, expect regarding workplace culture and partner performance? How does this impact firm strategy and decision-making?
 
What factors should an organisation consider when developing its partner promotion and remuneration strategy and processes?
 
What does an effective partner performance evaluation process look like? 
 
What governance powers and documentation are required to implement these evaluation and remuneration processes?

If you would like to discuss any of the above issues in further detail, please contact Partners Sarah Chilton and Andrew Pavlovic, who specialise in partnership, professional discipline and regulatory law issues for firms and partners.

Managing Partner Performance in Professional Services Firms & Evaluating Contribution

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, ‘How Do You Attract and Retain ‘High Flyer’ Partners?’, in which partnership specialists discuss navigating the recruitment process for high flyers and important issues facing such decision making within professional practice firms.

n this recording, Chair Corinne Staves (Partner, CM Murray LLP), Dr Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group), David Shufflebotham (PepUp Consulting), and Zulon Begum (Partner, CM Murray LLP), are joined by guest speaker Siobhán Lewington, Partner at transatlantic legal recruiting firm, Macrae. The panel explore the key challenges involved in attracting and retaining ‘high flyer’ partners, who are often at the very heart of the engine room of many firms. Their discussion addresses key questions and topics, including:

- What do we mean by high flyers; what might firms be looking for?
 
- The extent to which firm culture, partner performance and succession planning are key strategic considerations
 
- How can firms elevate the high flyers already identified within their ranks?
 
- Should firms guarantee offer compensation packages or are they too flawed with difficulties?
 
- How can firms manage any tensions between high flyers and other partners?
 
- The ways in which integration plays into promoting the long-term success of high flyers within a firm

How Do You Attract and Retain ‘High Flyer’ Partners?

In this panel discussion, subject specialists share their expert insights into the interesting and challenging features of LLPs that they have seen over the last 25 years and what they see approaching on the horizon for LLPs. 

Jeremy Callman (Ten Old Square), Dr Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group) and Corinne Staves (CM Murray LLP) join chair Sarah Chilton (CM Murray LLP) to explore the key benefits of using LLPs in professional services, the trends they have seen – including in LLP disputes – key tax changes and issues, strategic considerations as well as what the coming years may hold for LLPs. Their discussion addresses key questions and topics including:

- How has the structure of LLPs developed since birth; what are some of the key elements of different LLP structures and their implications?

- Financial services LLPs vs professional services LLPs: the difference in attitudes on mutual trust between partners and duties of good faith at law and in LLP agreements;

- The use of English LLPs across the world, their evolution in different jurisdictions and how the increase in larger LLPs has affected strategic decisions;

- Risk considerations: tax, regulation, liability and litigation;

- Which partner remuneration trends have LLPs imported from other sectors and have they led to more or fewer disputes?

- What are the differences, if any, in downward incentivisation between LLPs and more corporate structures?

- What does the next 25 years hold for the future of LLPs?

If you would like to discuss any aspect of LLPs or if you have any questions arising from this recording, please contact Partners  Corinne Staves or Sarah Chilton, both of whom specialise in partnership law.

The LLP: 25 Years On - Professional Practices Alliance Webinar

We are delighted to share with you the recording of our recent webinar, Professional Services in the Age of AI: Regulation, Strategy, and Real-World Impact. 

In this discussion, Anthony Davis (FisherBroyles), Devika Kewalramani, (FisherBroyles), Dr Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group), David Shufflebotham (PepUp Consulting) and Nick Leale (CM Murray LLP) join chair Corinne Staves (CM Murray LLP) to explore the impact of technology on professional services firms, with a particular focus on regulation. 

Topics covered include:
- How is technology reshaping professional services firms? From AI-powered research and disclosure tools to virtual client engagement, technology is now embedded in every aspect of firm strategy and operations.
 
- What are the implications for structure, pricing, and regulation? AI is driving a shift away from traditional leverage models, elevating the role of technologists and challenging the billable hour. Value-based pricing is gaining ground and firms must rethink how they assess and compensate their partners.
 
- What regulatory and ethical risks must firms manage? Competence, confidentiality, and supervision remain central. Firms must develop clear AI policies, invest in training and maintain strong oversight - particularly as regulatory scrutiny increases.
 
- What practical steps should firms take now? Define your AI business case, benchmark tools, train your teams, and document compliance. The next generation of lawyers is already embracing AI - leaders must act now to stay ahead.

This summary was drafted using Microsoft Copilot, as part of our ongoing exploration of how AI can support and enhance professional services.
 
If you would like to discuss any aspect of AI in relation to your firm, or if you have any specific questions arising from this discussion, please contact Partner and non-contentious partnership specialist Corinne Staves, or Partner and leading regulatory law specialist Nick Leale.

For example, CM Murray LLP can assist firms with reviewing their HR, risk management and other policies and/or their terms of business, on changes to governance and compensation systems for partners as a result of the increased adoption of technology and the regulatory implications of the use AI and technology in client service.

Professional Services in the Age of AI: Regulation, Strategy, and Real-World Impact Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) Webinar Recording

In this discussion, you can hear Session Chair, Zulon Begum, CM Murray LLP, and speakers Claire Watkins, Buzzacott LLP, David Shufflebotham, PEPUp.consulting, Robert Millard, Cambridge Strategy Group, Sarah Chilton, CM Murray LLP and Corinne Staves, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP, discuss a range of metrics and strategic issues that professional services firms should carefully consider when evaluating partner reward. 

Our PPA experts discuss the following:

1. What areas are firms currently weak at measuring in respect of evaluating partner reward? 

2. What areas should firms focus on measuring and how can they do that from a practical perspective? What types of data should firms be looking for in respect of various metrics? 

3. How can firms ensure that metrics and data are aligned with their overall strategy, particularly given that many firms will need to reassess their business plan over the next few months/years, given the current climate?

4. What are the key issues associated with sole reliance upon financial metrics to measure partners’ performance?

5. How can firms ensure that metrics they apply reflect their diversity and inclusion focuses and values? Might some metrics be inherently discriminatory?

6. How should firms evaluate partners against metrics and what are the main strategic issues when undertaking such evaluations? What are the potential pitfalls?

For more information on the topics covered in this recording, please contact Partners Zulon Begum or Sarah Chilton, both of whom specialise in Partnership law.

Partner Reward – Metrics, Measurements and the Link with Profit-Sharing

We are pleased to share with you the recording of our recent Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) live panel discussion on “Partner Contribution - The Ramifications of External Investment on Traditional Partner Reward Structures".

The partnership model is proven to be effective in generating cash and reward for partners of professional practices but is the partnership model attractive for external investors and how will partner reward structures be impacted by external investment? 

In this session, our PPA experts and guest speaker discuss:
• The benefits of the partnership model 
• How partnerships can facilitate fair reward structures
• The different types of business models we see now
• Identifying the right time to go down the external investment route 
• The pros and cons of employee ownership 
• Other forms of external ownership and how investors measure their rate of return  
John Aldred (Barclays) joins the PPA panel to provide the bank’s view when it comes to attracting finance from external investors. 
PPA Speakers:
Matthew Katz, Buzzacott LLP - Partner and Head of Corporate Finance
David Shufflebotham, PEP Up Consulting - Partner Remuneration specialist
Robert Millard, Cambridge Strategy -  Law Firm Management Consultant   
Zulon Begum, CM Murray LLP -  Partnership Law & M&A specialist

Guest Speaker:
John Aldred, Barclays - Industry Director of Business and Professional Services

Chair:
Claire Watkins, Buzzacott LLP - Head of Professional Practices Group

Partner Contribution - The Ramifications of External Investment on Partner Reward Structures

We are pleased to share with you the recording of our recent Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) live panel discussion on “We Need to Talk About the Office". 

The Government’s announcement on 22 September that office workers who can work effectively from home should do so over the winter has resulted in many professional services firms halting their plans to bring staff back to the office and instead gearing up for a further phase of remote working.

In this discussion, you can hear Session Chair, Corinne Staves, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP and speakers Beth Hale, CM Murray LLP, Claire Watkins, Buzzacott LLP and Robert Millard, Cambridge Strategy Group discuss the following:

• What positive lessons can firms learn from the previous experience of long-term remote working. How can we build on these?

• What will firms do differently this time?

• What is the long-term future of the office? Is it too early/uncertain to be making long-term decisions?

• To what extent can evolved working practices be used as a positive opportunity to enhance culture and support strategic aims?

For more information on the topics covered in this recording, please contact Partner Beth Hale (beth.hale@cm-murray.com), who specialises in partnership and employment law.

We Need To Talk About The Office

We are pleased to share with you the recording of our recent Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) live panel discussion on “Life and Partnerships without The Billable Hour: Business Model Transformation Post-COVID-19".

The increasing use of technology to deliver professional services in new and more efficient ways means the billable hour is under pressure. Our expert panel consider the potential impact on business models in the professional services sector if it became impossible or irrelevant to measure billable hours.

In this discussion, you can hear Session Chair Zulon Begum (CM Murray LLP), Corinne Staves (Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP), David Shufflebotham (PEP Up Consulting), Robert Millard (Cambridge Strategy Group) and guest speaker Philip Goodstone (UK&I Head of Law at EY) discuss the following:

- Why do business models in law firms and other professional services firms need to evolve?
 
- How has the increased use of technology in the professional services sector driven changes in business models?
 
- Would the way that performance and profitability is measured by firms need to change?
 
- How would a firm’s governance systems need to develop?
 
- Would a change in business model impact the metrics and process that a firm uses for assessing partner contribution and compensation?

Life And Partnerships Without The Billable Hour: Business Model Transformation Post-COVID-19

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), concluded in late December 2020, addresses a range of topics of interest to professional practices, but a glaring omission is a framework for trade in services between the EU and the UK.

This has significant strategic implications for professional practices that are based in the UK but service the needs of clients in the EU (and vice versa), or who have offices in both the UK and EU. While much remains to be agreed, over time frames that might extend to several years or more, there is a lot that such practices need to do now.

In this discussion, you can hear Session Chair, Robert Millard, Cambridge Strategy Group, Zulon Begum, CM Murray LLP, and guest speakers Mickaël Laurans, The Law Society of England and Wales, Ceris Gardener, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP and Markus Hartung, Kanzlei Chevalier discuss the following:

• What steps professional practices need to take in the short term in order to align with the new realities

• What impact the TCA will have on market access compared with EU single market access

• What the potential regulatory impacts may be in the absence of mutual recognition

• What services UK LLPs may provide in EU countries

• How firms should prepare for further changes as they unfold, including with respect to mobility and immigration issues

• How firms can seek out and take advantage of the opportunities that may result from Brexit.

Brexit - Impact and Opportunities for Professional Services Firms

Welcome to the CM Murray LLP podcast channel where we discuss a wide range of topical issues in relation to partnership and employment law.

CM Murray LLP is a leading partnership, employment and regulatory law firm based in London. 

We advise US and UK law firms and partners, hedge fund and investment management partners, US and other multi-national employers, senior executives and founders on a range of UK partnership and employment law issues.