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Dealing with trouble at Christmas

Christmas is a fertile time of year for claims against professional firms, according to leading Yorkshire lawyer Mike Willis.

Skeleton staffs and mind and body absences are the norm for most businesses at this time of year.

Mike Willis, a former partner with Leeds-based DAC Beachcroft who now runs his own firm F Mike Willis, believes that Christmas is a good time for weak claims against a professional firm to impact more than they should.

“That is because the chances are that relevant witnesses or decision-makers are not around, and even if they are, the claim won’t be handled or investigated optimally. By the time they return, claimants may have taken opportunities they should not have been given, or their position has been strengthened by the delay,” said Mike, whose firm, based at Thorganby, near Thirsk, celebrates its first anniversary last month.

“It’s also a season when supervisors have opportunity to check the work of absent colleagues and discover skeletons, or diary deadlines galloping closer - only then to find there is nobody available with necessary expertise or capacity to deal with them properly.

“As ever, for professional firms there is a league table of good and bad priorities for such situations.

Good:

Be your Brother’s Keeper: Ensure absentees’ in-trays and email in-boxes are monitored; and act appropriately if there is any risk that action is needed.

Avoid commitments of action or representation based on guesses or assumptions where possible; but when actions are necessary, or safer than inaction, try to caveat or qualify them as provisional pending proper investigation or authorisation.

Diarise return dates of relevant absentees to engage their attention promptly on their return.

Emails sent days before they’re back in swing are rarely looked at properly for days following their return.

Actions by understudies or junior staff in place of the person with proper charge should be properly reviewed and recorded on file as approved on their return.

Suppress impatience. Everyone is entitled to holiday, or to move jobs, and their non-availability has to be managed as sensibly as it can be.

Holiday notes are always prudent, but should not be trusted blindly.

Don’t be fearful of engaging external help – from someone like me…

Bad:

Using absence of self or a colleague as an excuse for inattention. It never is.

Imposing too much reliance or responsibility on junior or inexperienced staff.

For more information please contact Mike Willis 01845 501 162.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .