The domestic agreement process can be tricky for clients to understand. By Lawyers have published several new client enclosures to help practitioners further explain the process and inform their client. Read more...

The recent decision to change the name of this folder to General Deeds, Agreements, Statements, Declarations, Consents & Execution Clauses grants the opportunity to highlight its usefulness once again. Read more...

We have removed the link to Dealing with Brexit legal issues from the top of the matter plans as the changes are no longer urgent. The publication remains in the Reference Materials folder of the Practice Management guide for reference.

Most of the requirements for possession claims set out in Practice Direction 55C are no longer in force, and our commentaries have been amended accordingly.

Court of Protection applications have been given their own guide containing commentary on making an application, deprivation of liberty, managing and terminating a deputyship. The matter plan contains all the letters and forms necessary for this work.

We have published a new article on Using Retainer Instructions which we hope By Lawyers users will find helpful.

We are very pleased to announce the release of a Letters of Administration guide. The guide covers all aspects of practice and procedure when acting in the administration of an estate where there is no will, or there is a partial intestacy. The guide assists practitioners with all aspects of the estate administration from applying for a grant through to distribution. The commentary is practical and easy to understand and is supported by numerous helpful precedents. Key content includes law and procedure relating to the intestacy rules and the impact that they have on the distribution of the estate to creditors, claimants and beneficiaries. A number of new precedents have been published, including: 6 examples for the content of an administrator’s statement of truth; A full suite of letters to administrators, beneficiaries and third parties; and A very useful precedent Estate Summary Pack. The Letters of Administration guide is an invaluable resource for all practitioners who deal with estate administration, including those with limited experience in this area or those supervising junior lawyers.

A folder of new precedents for clients who are commencing or operating small businesses has been added to the Purchase of Business, Companies and Partnerships guides. The new library of precedents provides a suite of documents which practitioners can provide to their clients who own and operate small businesses, to assist them with the day-to-day running. These documents can be provided to clients both when they are setting up or purchasing a new business and when required for existing businesses. The documents are general in nature so they can be customised and amended as required for the needs of different clients. The precedents are designed to apply across various sectors, whether traditional storefront retail or online and whether supplying products or services. These new precedents are: Agreement for supply of goods and services Credit application Data protection policy for a business Dispatch and delivery policy Director guarantee Liability waiver and consent Returns and refunds policy Example tax invoice Terms of trade Website terms of use for advertising and booking personal services Website terms of use for downloadable online products Website terms of use for physical products The new If required - Library of precedents for small business clients folder is located in: Purchase of Business matter plan - in folder H. Mid-transaction Companies matter plan – in folder B. Setting up a company Partnerships matter plan – in folder D. General business This practical material was added to these existing By Lawyers publications in response to requests and suggestions from By Lawyers users. The precedents provide practitioners with additional tools so they can better assist their clients with all aspects of their business. We invite you to explore these new precedents. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Many quality schemes, including LEAP’s own ‘Best Practice Scheme’, require firms to obtain feedback from clients. We recognise that this is often dealt with by way of a survey platform and there is space in the Firm Details table for a feedback weblink to be listed. This link now drops into the By Lawyers letters to clients finalising matters, if the firm has the link set up.

We have published a new commentary, A summary of the key obligations of the Anti-money laundering guidance for the legal sector which sets out the essential information that practitioners need to know to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. The new commentary can be found in the Compliance requirements folder on every By Lawyers matter plan. The goal of By Lawyers is take the intimidation out of the law and ensure that our clients enjoy practice more. As a result, all By Lawyers commentaries are published with a focus on providing a sensible appreciation of law and practice in England and Wales.

To complement the new ‘Your Finances’ app for gathering financial information from clients, two new letters have been added to the Financial Remedy guide. The first, Letter to client instructed to commence proceedings with financial remedy – Form E shared via LawConnect, contains step-by-step instructions for using LawConnect which clients can follow. The second, Letter to client with financial statement for signing – eSignature, contains guidance for clients on signing the Financial Statement using DocuSign. We invite you to explore these new letters. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

With criminal practitioners being busier than ever, we have enhanced our Criminal guide with a library of new initial letters to clients. Designed to accompany the Client Care and Terms of Business which are sent after the first meeting with a client, these letters have sufficient space for case-specific details and advice and already include the sentencing guidelines for an offence. The library can be found in the B. Getting the matter underway folder of the Criminal Magistrates Court matter plan and includes letters for the following offences: Drink driving Possession of Class A drugs Possession of Class B drugs Possession of Class C drugs Criminal damage Robbery – Street and less sophisticated commercial Wounding with intent Rape We encourage practitioners to use these letters, and welcome feedback and suggestions, particularly if other offences may be useful.

As practitioners are no doubt aware, the government has recently promised to finally reform the way that leasehold works, and to address the issues with commonhold. This has prompted By Lawyers to include three new precedents in the Enfranchisement guide: Memorandum of Association – Commonhold limited company Articles of Association – Commonhold limited company Community statement – Commonhold limited company Wholesale reformation of the property ownership system is long overdue and it is hoped that amendments to the legislation will reassure lenders and developers, persuading them to leave the cosy confines of leasehold and finally embrace the brave new world of the commonhold system, 20 years after it was created. When the new rules are announced, we will, of course, review and amend our materials to ensure that users have access to the most up-to-date information. In the meantime, we will be keeping a close eye on the most positive news item of 2021 so far.

As practitioners may be aware, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme increased the length of time that temporary high balances were protected in bank accounts from 6 months to 12 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This protection has been reduced to 6 months again from 1 February 2021. The Practice Management guide has been amended accordingly.

To enhance our Practice Management guide, a precedent Referral Fee Agreement has been added helping firms to comply with regulator requirements around transparency and due diligence when accepting introductions from third parties.