The ILFM has been evolving progressively ever since its inception in 1978. As a not-for-profit organisation the ILFM is able to plough membership fees back into the body which enhances the level of:
- Independence
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Confidentiality
for its members to pass onto its colleagues and clients.
Trust and Transparency
As the leading body for legal finance, COFAs and practice managers the ILFM helps the legal profession as a whole with its quality indicators. We are all consumers, as well as legal professionals and by fulfilling our commitments to our members and students we therefore help clients understand that their instructed legal persons have on-going support, mentoring and back-up through intensive training and further required qualifications.
Consumers are savvy and in a digital world there isn’t much they can’t check up on.
Collaborations for the better good
As a relatively small body, we are lucky to have continued collaborations and partnerships with companies in the legal industry that benefit both our members and of course all consumers of legal services.
In 2019 we collaborated with Saffery Champness LLP to run a comprehensive survey in the legal sector to understand their “Strategies for Success”. The benchmark survey report was published this year, 2022.
The insights are invaluable for a variety of reasons, including evaluating data for cyber threats, compliance, policies as well as missed opportunities.
People, Talent and Salaries
Recruitment, retaining talent and salaries were questions asked – with a dovetailed understanding for legal firms’ leadership as well as noting diversity and inclusion numbers.
It was interesting that although staffing and recruitment were a challenge, well-being came in higher than the secondary expectations for higher salaries.
Potential Growth Strategy
Law firms who responded to this survey (which included top 50 law firms down to sole practitioners) each had their own vision of growth, whether that included utilising technology more, partnering up, becoming an ABS or relinquishing office space, it was clear the barrier they mainly saw was recruiting the right people.
Please read the whole article and report HERE.
ILFM’s Focus for Reshaping Legal Services
Our aim is and has always been to works with those supporting fee-earners. Legal cashiers, compliance officers, practice managers and finance directors are often seen as secondary to solicitors, but this simply isn’t the case.
A legal cashier’s role can be exhaustive in nature, and the pressures they are often under can be considerable. Working in the legal industry can be extremely rewarding, yet without support, mentoring, continued training and if necessary, further qualifications, it can also be isolating and full of potential threats.
Our networking, conferences, resources and content is there for the taking and we are proud that our incredible Executive Council (who each volunteer their time to the ILFM) continue to allow this non-profitable organisation to thrive.
Our aim is to help and guide everyone in the legal industry to ensure they are fully aware, trained and confident in their knowledge of AML, compliance, VAT, cyber security and cashflow amongst many other factors.
When a consumer comes to a legal practice with, for example, a transactional matter, we want them to know that their money is secure.
Technical Competence
We are committed to working with the Legal Services Board and aligning with their 3 themes as part of their reshape:
- Fairer outcomes
- Stronger confidence
- Better services
When it comes to technical competence the ILFM excels! The tech indicators of quality are currently measured by the level of qualifications, training and expertise; as the professional body and membership organisation for legal finance and management our role is to ensure our members maintain their technical competence, which in turn aids consumer trust.
The ILFM looks forward to new partnerships with a variety of legal support services and regulators together with law firms themselves to ensure we are all proactively building upon a strategy to better meet society’s needs.
You can find out more about our membership benefits here: ILFM Membership Benefits.
More stories
