Holidays or Clients or Money?
Holidays are problematical. They are definitely a Good Thing. So how come they often have a downside, which can outweigh their benefits?
Back in 1984 I went on holiday for a month, and I am convinced that I am still suffering the after effects even now. The holiday to Australia was fantastic, unforgettable and great fun. The locum I employed was well qualified, if a bit doddery, and he was able to live in the house as well as run the office. It looked like a good scheme. When I got back he had done nothing except hold the fort. Nothing had progressed unless it urgently had to do so and he had not delivered any bills at all. I always reckoned that the holiday cost me £10,000 GBP, as well as the actual cost of the journeys etc,, which in those days was a fortune. Having said that he was not as unusual as one locum I heard of recently who took it upon himself to take away a leaking sink and replace it with one which did not fit at all ( and still leaked)!
My holiday in June (which feels like months ago already) was very good. I love CenterParcs and we had a good time. But coming home has been hard work. I am as busy as I have ever been, if not busier. There have been problems with conveyancing; new cases have been appearing like magic and old cases are coming to fruition at last. And I have had to try to catch up for the mere week I spent away from the office.
It has taken until now to be able to get to grips with the Newswire - clients have got to take priority over everything else, no matter how much fun.
That was why my 1984 holiday was so expensive and traumatising - I had to take steps to make sure that my clients did not suffer while I had fun. My bottom line suffered instead.
That is the whole ethos of our profession - clients have to come first. We cannot go to extremes - we have to be able to make enough profit to live but sometimes the profit is less than at other times because of various pressures.
The Government seems to be taking advantage of this. The new legal aid proposals will not make things worse for clients but will make things worse for their lawyers. Many lawyers will have to close down because legal aid work will just not be profitable. Many will soldier on making sure their clients are OK while their own standard of living falls. .The clients who can find a solicitor will not notice the difference which is what the government is relying on. Isn't it the clients who will find it harder and harder to find a solicitor who should worry the Government? Aren't there going to be more of those than the Government has foreseen as many lawyers are forced to take a permanent holiday?
Back in 1984 I went on holiday for a month, and I am convinced that I am still suffering the after effects even now. The holiday to Australia was fantastic, unforgettable and great fun. The locum I employed was well qualified, if a bit doddery, and he was able to live in the house as well as run the office. It looked like a good scheme. When I got back he had done nothing except hold the fort. Nothing had progressed unless it urgently had to do so and he had not delivered any bills at all. I always reckoned that the holiday cost me £10,000 GBP, as well as the actual cost of the journeys etc,, which in those days was a fortune. Having said that he was not as unusual as one locum I heard of recently who took it upon himself to take away a leaking sink and replace it with one which did not fit at all ( and still leaked)!
My holiday in June (which feels like months ago already) was very good. I love CenterParcs and we had a good time. But coming home has been hard work. I am as busy as I have ever been, if not busier. There have been problems with conveyancing; new cases have been appearing like magic and old cases are coming to fruition at last. And I have had to try to catch up for the mere week I spent away from the office.
It has taken until now to be able to get to grips with the Newswire - clients have got to take priority over everything else, no matter how much fun.
That was why my 1984 holiday was so expensive and traumatising - I had to take steps to make sure that my clients did not suffer while I had fun. My bottom line suffered instead.
That is the whole ethos of our profession - clients have to come first. We cannot go to extremes - we have to be able to make enough profit to live but sometimes the profit is less than at other times because of various pressures.
The Government seems to be taking advantage of this. The new legal aid proposals will not make things worse for clients but will make things worse for their lawyers. Many lawyers will have to close down because legal aid work will just not be profitable. Many will soldier on making sure their clients are OK while their own standard of living falls. .The clients who can find a solicitor will not notice the difference which is what the government is relying on. Isn't it the clients who will find it harder and harder to find a solicitor who should worry the Government? Aren't there going to be more of those than the Government has foreseen as many lawyers are forced to take a permanent holiday?
posted by Steve Butler, UKlawyers | 11:43 pm
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