Epoq.co.uk Legal Services News

Epoq are please to announce the availability of some new document for use by our institutional or law firm partners using our Rapidocs applications. These documents together form a new service to help people in managing their debts – a very topical project given the current economic climate. The project consists of a series of letters to help people deal with creditors and also an income and expenditure statement to help work out their finances.

The new documents are as follows:

Holding letter to creditor. Use this document to inform a creditor that you are or will be in difficulties maintaining your payments and to explain the reason why. The letter will ask the creditor to hold from taking any action in respect of the debt until an anticipated improvement in your financial circumstances occurs, or after you review your financial situation, you are able to formulate a proposal to the creditor in respect of the debt.

Income and expenditure statement. Use this document to record your income from all sources and total expenditure, and to record what your debts are and where (if applicable) you have fallen into arrears with such debts.  The document will then calculate what surplus income (if any) you have.  With this information, you can review and make decisions about whether you need to reduce your expenditure, and if so, where you might make savings; and about how best to use any surplus income that you have.

Offer letter to creditor. After you have completed a review of your financial circumstances using the document ‘Income and expenditure statement’, use this document to make a proposal to your creditor in respect of your debt, supported by your completed income and expenditure statement. This document can be used whether the debt to this creditor is a priority debt or a non-priority debt. Although a creditor does not have to accept your proposal, this document will improve your chances by guiding you towards making a fair proposal that is backed up by full and frank disclosure of your financial circumstances.

No offer letter to creditor. After you have completed a review of your financial circumstances using the document ‘Income and expenditure statement’, you can use this document to inform your creditor that you are unable at the present time to make a proposal in respect of your debt, that you will contact your creditor again when your circumstances change and to request that your creditor hold action in respect of the debt in the meantime.

Letter regarding mortgage debt or arrears. If you are having difficulties, or know that you will within a relatively short period have difficulties meeting the payments due under your mortgage, you can use this document to help you to explain the problem to your mortgage lender and to outline the steps you will be taking, and the assistance you would like your mortgage lender to provide to help you, to address the problem. You can use this document whether or not there are already arrears that have arisen on your mortgage account.  It is better if you tackle any problem, or even any anticipated problem, with your mortgage payments at the earliest opportunity before it becomes unmanageable.  This document may be used in conjunction with the document ‘Income and expenditure statement’.

Epoq partners interested in including these documents as part of their online services should get in touch with their Epoq Account manager in the first instance.

The newly launched MyLawyer service is featured today in this week’s edition of the Financial Times digital business podcast.

Epoq founder and joint CEO Grahame Cohen discusses the ‘lower costs, but no compromise’ concept that underpins the MyLawyer service with presenter Peter Whitehead. Grahame explains how MyLawyer is good for consumers, small businesses and the law firms involved, by using Epoq’s  bespoke technology to simplify the process - and hence remove some of the cost - of getting a high quality first draft of a legal document to a law firm for review and approval.

Those who wish to listen to the podcast can access it here - it should be available for at least a week.

You can also try out the MyLawyer service for yourself, for free, here.

Epoq’s Rapidocs v4 technology and the MyLawyer network were featured as part of a discussion on the changing face of the legal services market in Radio 4’s ‘Law in Action’ legal show on Tuesday the 27th January.

Presenter Clive Coleman interviewed both Richard and Grahame Cohen, Joint CEOs of Epoq, and tried out the MyLawyer service for himself, creating a prenuptial agreement as part of a live test.

The programme examined the changes that are happening to the legal industry and included commentary from reknowned industry experts such as Professor Stephen Mayson, Richard Susskind and Des Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society.

Details on the programme can be found on the BBC site here, and for the first week after transmission the site will host links to both a downloadable podcast and the BBC i-player for those who missed the show and would like to hear it.

You can also try out the MyLawyer service for yourself here.

Epoq is today proud to announce the launch of MyLawyer, the innovative new legal service that allows customers to quickly and easily create legal documentation online. Customers complete their chosen document by answering questions in an intelligent online interview process, during which they can see an online draft being edited in real time in response to the information they supply.

When satisfied, they can then submit the resulting document to one of the MyLawyer network of participating Legal 500 law firms, who will review the document and tailor it to match the client’s exact circumstances. Full online guidance is provided in the accompanying document notes, and through an extensive law guide hosted at the MyLawyer site. The reviewing law firm can also answer any questions the customer may have.

Engaging with a law firm in this way gives the customer greater accesibility and control over their legal documents, and saves money - because the initial first draft is produced online, customers can save up to 30% on high street solicitor prices. Customers can try any document out for themsleves, with no payment required, by simply visiting the site.

The MyLawyer site offers a large range of legal documents for both individuals and small businesses, and is supported at launch by reknowned law firms such as Brethertons, Hugh James, Last Cawthra Feather, Minster, Nelsons and Pannone, with more particpating firms expected to be announced shortly.

For more details, please see the press release at the Epoq site, or try the service for yourself.

Content update: Epoq have today added a series of new Rapidocs templates to the range of Rapidocs templates available to our customers.  The documents are found in our new Probate application pack, and the details are as follows:

When someone dies, it is normally the task of relatives or friends of the deceased to “administer the estate”. This can be a daunting task at a very sensitive time. It involves obtaining information about the deceased’s property and debts, collecting in the deceased’s property, settling any outstanding debts of the deceased, completing tax returns and paying any inheritance or other tax that may be due, and dealing with any remaining property in the way required by any Will left by the deceased or, if there is no Will, in accordance with other rules.

The first step is to find out about the deceased’s property and affairs.  The pack includes a series of letters that can be written to banks/building societies, mortgage companies, loan/credit card companies, etc. for information concerning money owed by the deceased.

Once this information has been obtained and the appropriate Inheritance Tax return submitted (and any tax paid), an application must be submitted to the court for permission to deal with the deceased’s property and affairs.  Until this permission is obtained, the deceased’s estate is frozen.  The permission is called a grant and can either be a grant of probate, if there is a Will, or a grant of letters of administration, if there is no Will.  This pack includes the one application form, Form PA1, which is required in order to obtain a grant and detailed step-by-step guidance as to its completion and the application process.

Documents included

1. PA 1 – Probate application form
2. Probate letter to bank and building society
3. Probate letter to annuity provider
4. Probate letter to investment provider
5. Probate letter to life insurance company
6. Probate letter to credit card or loan company
7. Probate letter to mortgage company
8. Probate letter to pension provider
9. Probate letter to share provider
10. Probate letter to utility company
11. Beneficiary receipt

If you are an existing Epoq customer and are interested in supplying this pack through your service, please contact your account or project manager in the first instance.

We are delighted to announce that Last Cawthra Feather LLP are the fifth firm to join the online MyLawyer network, launching to the public early in 2009.  The West Yorkshire firm has offices in Bradford, Leeds, Shipley and Ilkley, and is the first West Yorkshire firm announced for the rapidly expanding network. The firm offers a wide range of legal services, and joins the other announced network members (Pannone, Hugh James, Nelsons and Minster Law) in adding Epoq’s online drafting, referral, and transactional systems to their online presence, and in offering their own fully branded e-commerce website alongside MyLawyer membership.Simon Stell, managing partner at Last Cawthra feather, commented:

“In understanding the needs of our clients as to service and delivery we recognise the changing world in which live and work. The need for versatility of delivery of legal services and competitive pricing available to clients when they want to access the service is part of this. The ability to create formal documents on-line backed by verification by our teams of qualified lawyers offers our existing clients and new clients a greater and improved range of services. Our partnership with Epoq, an established leader in the technology, is part of Last Cawthra Feather’s strategy to enhance the firm’s delivery of legal services”

Interested in MyLawyer, either as a potential customer or as a network member? Why not have a look at our pre-launch homepage here to see more details…

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

John F Kennedy

Epoq is pleased to announce that the company is holding a seminar for law firms, “Fee earn while you sleep”. The event is being held in partnership with Pannone and will take place at 2.00pm on Monday 19th January 2009 at the Law Society in London.

If you are a Managing Partner or Head of Department and your key areas are private client, family, employment or commercial law for SME’s, our seminar will be particularly relevant. The event is free to attend and 3 CPD points are available for delegates.

The discussion will include keynote addresses from leading legal commentator, Professor Stephen Mayson on the future of legal services, and the Chief Executive of the Law Society, Des Hudson, who will talk about what the Law Society is doing for the profession in the light of the credit crunch.

If you are interested in finding out what the banking and insurance competition is up to in the legal market and looking for ways to increase your firm’s turnover and margin in private client, employment and commercial SME work, our seminar will provide you with a valuable insight. We will demonstrate how you can access the opportunities that are now developing in the legal services market. The seminar will:

• Discuss the implications of the LSA 2007
• Explore how these changes will affect your firm over the next 3-5 years
• Find out what  banks and insurers are planning for the legal sector
• Look at how some law firms are reacting to these changes
• Consider the opportunities available to a firm like yours and;
• Demonstrate how innovation in technology can complement your existing service delivery.

The seminar will be chaired by Joy Kingsley, senior partner of Pannone

Agenda

Detailed below is the agenda highlighting the main areas that we will be covering.

• Introduction - Joy Kingsley, senior partner, Pannone
• The Future of Legal Services - Professor Stephen Mayson
• How to manage a law firm during the credit crunch - Joy Kingsley
• Q&A Session
• Tea/Coffee
• ‘Fee earn while you sleep’ - Richard & Grahame Cohen, Joint CEO’s, Epoq
• What is the Law Society doing for me (particularly in the credit crunch)? - Des Hudson, CEO, The Law Society
• Q&A and Close - Joy Kingsley

If you are interested in this event Click here to register and book your place.

What does your website offer your clients?. Stock photos and contact details?, or a fully engaging online legal platform where they can learn about, draft and purchase legal services from you?

With modern consumers growing to consider online delivery of services the norm, what is your firm doing to embrace and profit from this new culture, what is your client-web-strategy? We take a look at what members of the MyLawyer network can offer their clients, most specifically the new “try before you buy” technology that comes with the latest generation of Rapidocs technology.

When a potential or existing client lands on your MyLawyer website they have instant access to a full law guide that explains the area surrounding their matter, and introduces the range of documents that may be of help to them. The client is presented with clear, upfront pricing and is able to start drafting the document without having to commit so much as an email address.

The drafting process involves an intelligent online interview system where (although partially obscured and not printable) the document can be seen to evolve in real time as answers are provided and the client’s situation becomes clear. A draft can then be saved to a personalised section of your website and returned to at any point to be edited further and purchased when complete. At this point the document is passed to the firm itself for legal review, if appropriate.

So how does all this make the user feel, and what does it mean for you? Well, our feedback suggests that users remain in their comfort zone and don’t feel the pressure that may be exerted by a face-to-face interaction. Perhaps most significantly, it is the transparency of the process that enables both potential and existing clients to see the value of what is being sold and builds a degree of trust before having to make any sort of commitment whatsoever, and the overriding emotion that users feedback is one of control;

“From start to finish I felt in control: I found the right documents and read some background info which helped put my mind at rest, and being able to fully preview them before committing to purchase was a nice touch. All in all I found the process transparent and reassuring, and came out with the documentation I needed without sacrificing quality and whilst saving substantially from the price I would have paid on the high-street”

M Noar, Libra Solutions, online business services.

The modern consumer banks online, buys their insurance online, pays their bills online, and yet the market for online legal services is still relatively immature. Is it time your website became more than just an e-brochure for your legal services?, is it time it became a portal for successful web-engagement 24/7?

Our research suggests that firms joining the MyLawyer network are set to benefit from substantially reduced drafting costs and increase firm-wide margins just from servicing their existing client base.

MyLawyer firms will be able to provide online drafting services to clients from their own website, will receive pre-drafted referrals from MyLawyer.co.uk, and will have access to Rapidocs V4 technology for in-house drafting use, making cost savings across all three channels.

“Our detailed and law-firm supported research suggests that MyLawyer members will be able to save money in 4 key ways”, explains Business Development Director, Dave Jones:

a)    Firstly, the cost of drafting a document virtually disappears if the client chooses to create the draft themselves online.

b)    Secondly, clients can engage with the firm by telephone, with less qualified (and hence cheaper to employ) specifically-trained operators using Rapidocs technology to draft the document in house.

c)    Thirdly, in-house face-to-face interviews can be performed by less qualified staff that have a lower hourly rate.

d)    Finally, even when a face-to-face interview is conducted by the fee-earner themselves, time and money are still saved as at the end of the interview the document has been automatically drafted, whereas traditionally they would need a separate ‘write up period’.

On top of these savings, admin overheads can be reduced: a proportion of the clients who engage with any firm invariably do not complete their engagement – but if these clients can be directed online for the first draft, these lost transactions do not take up valuable staff time. Additionally, electronic billing means that the need for staff to chase invoices is reduced.

The latest Rapidocs technology means firms are able to service their existing client-base much more efficiently: in fact through both online and in-house drafting we believe some firms will be able to cut their direct cost of fulfilment by as much as 50%. Even if only 30% of their existing customers engage online we still forecast a 10% rise in the overall margins of the firm. This is a staggering statistic when you consider that this model doesn’t take into account any new business generated as a result of the new online capabilities MyLawyer firms will enjoy.

Making accurate predictions of resulting new business is not easy, but by being among the first firms to truly embrace the web and hence give the modern legal consumer what they want, the sky’s the limit.
There is limited space for top-tier firms to join the MyLawyer network.

This week sees the launch of two new documents into the Rapidocs library, a ‘change of name deed for a minor’ and a ‘limited liability partnership agreement’.

A recent news article highlighted a number of pending court cases in New Zealand where children are fighting for the right to change their names having been graced with names such as Sex Fruit, Number 16 Bus Shelter, O.Crnia and Midnight Chardonnay. Despite such a bizarre trend in the UK, changing the name of a minor is still a common occurrence, for a variety of reasons. Our change of name deed for a minor makes it easy to change the name of a child, provided that you have parental responsibility for that child and any other person who also has parental responsibility gives consent to the change of name. This document is only suitable for minors (i.e. under the age of 18 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and under the age of 16 in Scotland) and British citizens. Children over the age of 16 will also need to give consent to the change of name by signing in both his/her new and old name.

A limited liability partnership has elements of both a partnership and a corporation, and is a unique entity in its synthesis of both collective and individual rights and responsibilities, while being a particularly flexible business structure. This document creates a limited liability partnership agreement (LLP) in accordance with the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 and provides a contractual framework under which the members should conduct themselves at all times. The agreement includes provisions in relation to the key elements that define an LLP such as management, finances and member regulation. In addition, the agreement offers many optional clauses such as those in relation to insurance, maternity, paternity and adoption leave. This document is suitable for small to medium sized limited liability partnerships of no more than 20 members. Please note that this can only be used for LLPs consisting of individual members, and not companies or other LLPs.

Both of these documents are now part of the Rapidocs library, and available for our customers to access.