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Our team has a mix of experience between working in trust
companies and top tier law firms. As such, we are very aware of the
unique legal needs of a trustee. This sets us apart from our
competitors. Our view is that the current business model
offered by law firms to the trust industry does not work
effectively. The trust company client is unique, and the
relationship between you and your lawyer is different than that of
the other clients in a law firm. You might agree?
Your Concerns
The familiar concerns of a trustee client often
include:
(1) A failure of your
adviser to understand your business needs;
(2) Uncertainty of fees -
even after a fee estimate has been given;
(3) Inappropriate
delegation of your work;
(4) Poor communications
between you and your lawyer.
Our Vision
Our vision for you, the trustees:
(1) Your lawyer should understand your
business.
We believe that we can best advise you if we understand
what advice you need (i.e. not six pages when all you wanted
was a summary).
(2) Mutual respect.
Your staff are skilled professionals, and they know what they
need. This will change depending on the circumstances.
Perhaps you already know the answer, perhaps you
need a general summary of the salient (and not irrelevant) issues,
or perhaps you need a detailed review of the law.
If the adviser has not determined the type of
response that you require, he cannot meet your expectations:
at worst, if he gives you the opposite answer to that
which you were expecting, this can lead to disastrous
consequences.
(3) Avoiding being 'stuck in the
middle'.
We understand you are often not the end client - you are often
'sandwiched' between the lawyer you have instructed and
your trust's settlor, beneficiaries, or advisers. As such,
you can 'get the blame' if any service problems
arise. We aim to solve this problem by properly setting
expectations to govern our relationship.
(4) Stop the clock!
Since when does a clock determine real value of work? Ask us
for our Fixed Fee Menu, or up front quotation. Your relationship
with your adviser should be more akin to the traditional private
client model of a trusted adviser, so that you feel
comfortable to call to discuss major and minor issues without fear
of the "clock" running with each call. Our aim is
to foster a partnership with you.
(5) Avoid inappropriate delegation.
Another problem with the traditional law firm model is that whilst
your relationship may be with a senior lawyer or/partner, who knows
your business, your legal expertise, and often what you need, that
lawyer often merely delegates your work to a junior lawyer who
doesn't understand your business. Although the partner may
generally supervise the work, all too often you receive a service
which was different to what you had expected and failed to meet
expectations. Our core strength is that the lawyer who knows
your business will do your business.
(6) A trustee deserves to
get advice!
This may seem obvious, but many lawyers have become so defensive in
their advice at which point the letter merely serves as a summary
of the law. Let's have some recommendations.
(7) A trustee deserves the fee which it was
promised!
While there may be times where instructions change, or negotiations
become protracted, receiving an invoice which bears little
resemblance to the fee that was estimated should be the absolute
exception not the norm. How can we fairly raise an
invoice if we don't understand how you invoice your
client, or whether the bill is paid for from trust monies
or from your own funds, or the timing
of your invoicing? We will ask these questions to
better fit your business model.
(8) The right fee for the advice.
You have a myriad of different requirements, ranging from
very simple documents, to innovative advice. You
should expect to pay different fees for these services.
The traditional business model charges a lawyer out at a set
rate. Surely this is flawed in the trustee/lawyer
relationship? Surely the answer is to charge according to the
nature of the service being offered. If the end product is
essentially a commodity, that should be relatively
inexpensive, but if what is wanted is a uniquely
tailored plan, which only a minority of lawyers in our jurisdiction
could provide, that ought to be a high value service. A
flexible fee structure is the right solution.
(9) Proactive advice we know you are
busy.
More than likely you've received 50 plus emails today with many
administrative tasks to do that day. We'll help you. If we
draft a deed for you we will include the accompanying Trustee's
resolution, both tailored to your house style. Resolutions can
often be missed when you get busy so this is just one less thing
for you to do.
If the points in this note strike a chord with you, please feel
free to call us. We would be happy to discuss how we can assist
your business.
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