1.0 Overview
1.0 Culture
1.0 Central Office Contacts
1.0 Part One - Administration
1.1 Assessing, accepting and declining instructions
1.2 Client introduction and set-up
1.2.1 New client set-up
1.2.2 New matter set-up
1.2.3 Client introduction by Central Office
1.2.4 Client introduction by you
1.2.5 Contact through the website (and unproven clients)
1.2.6 Keystone Engagement Letter
1.2.6.1 Periodic retainers
1.2.6.2 Joint/multiple clients and instructions through an intermediary
1.2.6.3 Scope of engagements
1.2.6.4 Fractional general counsel advice
1.2.6.5 Changing the scope of the retainer and new clients coming onboard.
1.2.7 Keystone being onboarded by clients
1.2.8 Summary of the client set-up process
1.2.9 Matters not proceeding
1.2.10 Contracting with consumers
1.2.11 Contracting with clients overseas and clients who pose a credit risk
1.2.12 Contracting with those without capacity
1.2.12.1 Contracting with minors
1.2.12.2 Contracting with others without mental capacity/clients losing capacity
1.2.12.3 Death of a client
1.2.13 Contracting with vulnerable clients
1.2.14 Acting as co-counsel with UK and foreign law firms and acting for those firms directly
1.2.14.1 Direct engagement with the client
1.2.14.2 Acting for the law firm only
1.3 Communications
1.3.1 Email
1.3.1.1 Administration
1.3.1.2 Teams from Microsoft, a business unified communications system
1.3.2 "The Pulse" - our internal social networking
1.3.3 Telephone switchboard
1.3.4 Incoming post and DX
1.3.5 International post
1.3.6 Courier services
1.3.7 Fax
1.4 File Maintenance and closure
1.4.1 File maintenance and naming
1.4.2 Closing a matter
1.4.3 Closing a file under CQS
1.4.4 Archiving of files
1.4.4.1 Archiving of paper files
1.4.4.2 Archiving of digital files
1.4.5 Retrieval of archived files
1.4.5.1 Retrieval of archived paper files
1.4.5.2 Retrieval of archived digital files
1.4.6 Document retention
1.4.7 Destruction of files
1.4.8 Ownership of client files
1.4.9 File requests by clients
1.4.10 File Requests by Insolvency Practitioners
1.5 Business continuity
1.6 Authority to bind Keystone
1.7 Requesting a director sign a document on behalf of the firm
1.8 Instructing other law firms, experts, advisers, etc.
1.9 Pro bono work
1.10 Holidays
1.10.1 Taking a holiday
1.10.2 Out-of-office email auto-response
2.0 Part Two - Financial and Invoicing
2.1 Revenue sharing
2.1.1 General rule
2.1.2 Client introductions and 'chain' introductions
2.1.3 Website, press and events rule
2.1.4 Developing clients owned by Central Office
2.1.5 Introducing a client already owned by a colleague's pod
2.1.6 Bringing clients to the firm on joining and other exceptions
2.1.7 Determining client ownership at matter level
2.1.8 Gifting matter ownership
2.1.9 Referrers of clients
2.1.10 Clients disinstructing lawyers and change of control
2.1.11 Clients left behind by exiting lawyers
2.1.12 Keypoint Australia
2.2 Invoicing fees and disbursements
2.2.1 Setting fees
2.2.2 Time recording
2.2.3 Invoicing (general)
2.2.4 Types of invoices and their effects
2.2.4.1 Interim Statute Invoice
2.2.4.2 Interim Non-Statute Invoice
2.2.4.3 Final Statute Invoice
2.2.5 Payment terms
2.2.6 Fee notes
2.2.7 Invoicing process
2.2.8 Disbursements
2.2.9 Costs estimates, management and budgets
2.2.10 Credit control
2.2.11 Complaints and assessments of our fees
2.2.12 Payment in equity/shares and investing in clients
2.3 Costs exposure and guarantees
2.3.1 Costs on account
2.3.2 Exposure on fees and disbursements
2.3.2.1 Fee guarantee
2.3.2.2 Disbursement guarantee
2.4 Client money and the Client Account
2.4.1 Client Account details (UK)
2.4.1.1 Pound Sterling client account details
2.4.1.2 US Dollar client account details
2.4.1.3 Euro client account details
2.4.2 Client Account details (IOM)
2.4.2.1 Pound Sterling client account details
2.4.3 Confirming account details
2.4.4 Payments into the Client Account
2.4.5 Making payments from the Client Account
2.4.6 Client Authority to Transfer
2.4.7 Fraud checks when sending funds
2.4.8 Discharging Invoices from client funds
2.4.9 Client escrow account
2.4.10 Acceptable use of our Client Account (the Rule against acting as a bank)
2.4.11 Client account interest
2.4.12 Client account balances
2.4.13 Returning funds to the client
2.4.14 Designated Client Deposit Account
2.4.15 Miscellaneous client account matters
3.0 Part Three - Facilities and Support
3.1 Central Office
3.2 Keyed-In
3.3 Meeting rooms and facilities
3.3.1 Meeting rooms
3.3.1.1 Central Office
3.3.1.2 Bristol meeting rooms
3.3.1.3 Newcastle meeting rooms
3.3.1.4 Manchester meeting rooms
3.3.2 Hot desks and permanent desks
3.3.2.1 London
3.3.2.2 Bristol
3.4 Central Office Lawyers (COLs)
3.4.1 All practice areas
3.4.2 Corporate/Commercial
3.4.3 Employment
3.4.4 Family
3.4.5 International arbitration
3.4.6 IP/Technology
3.4.7 Litigation
3.4.8 Property
3.5 Engaging colleagues
3.5.1 General
3.5.2 Becoming too busy/overworked
3.5.3 Using temporary colleagues
3.5.4 Growing your Pod
3.5.5 Professional titles
3.6 IT support and training
3.6.1 IT support
3.6.2 IT training guides
3.6.3 Refresher IT training
3.7 Marketing activity
3.7.1 Pitches and business development
3.7.1.1 Brochure Builder
3.7.2 Client entertaining
3.7.3 Brochures
3.7.4 Events
3.7.5 Event facilities
3.7.6 Presentations and conferences
3.7.7 Sponsorship and partnership opportunities
3.7.8 Advertising
3.7.9 Public relations and media management
3.7.10 Responding to journalists
3.7.11 Negative publicity
3.7.12 Access to restricted publications and trade press
3.7.13 Keystone websites
3.7.13.1 Your profile on the Keystone website
3.7.14 Personal websites and blogs
3.7.15 Social media
3.7.15.1 LinkedIn
3.7.15.2 Twitter
3.7.15.3 Facebook
3.7.15.4 Instagram
3.7.16 Keynotes
3.7.17 Client newsletter
3.7.18 Bespoke newsletters
3.7.19 KeyNews
3.7.20 Legal directories
3.7.21 Memberships of trade and professional bodies
3.7.22 Use of the Keystone logo and our branding
3.7.23 Client feedback
3.8 Firm-wide tools
3.8.1 Document production
3.8.2 Proofreading
3.8.3 Document comparison
3.8.4 KeyBot v2
3.8.5 Company formation
3.8.6 Legal Forms library
3.8.7 Company secretarial
3.8.8 Law libraries
3.8.8.1 Digital Textbooks
3.8.9 Sharing documents/online data rooms
3.8.10 Strong room/safe
3.8.11 Sending large digital files
3.8.12 Digital Execution Protocol
3.8.13 Digital execution platforms
3.8.14 External paralegals
3.8.15 Secretarial support
3.8.15.1 Typing and document production
3.8.15.2 Personal assistants
3.8.15.3 Remote personal assistant service
3.8.16 Voice transcription software
3.8.17 Translation services
3.9 Practice area specific support
3.9.1 Dispute resolution
3.9.1.1 Engagement Letter
3.9.1.2 Arbitration and mediation
3.9.1.3 Costs budgeting and costs management
3.9.1.4 Conditional fee agreements (CFAs)
3.9.1.5 CFA guidelines
3.9.1.6 Contingency fee agreements
3.9.1.7 Damages-based agreements (DBAs)
3.9.1.8 Litigation funding
3.9.1.9 Legal expenses insurance
3.9.1.10 Unbundled litigation services including not acting on the court record'
3.9.1.11 Witness statements
3.9.1.12 Privilege
3.9.1.13 Instructing barristers
3.9.1.14 Document support services
3.9.1.15 Court Bundles
3.9.1.16 Electronic disclosure (aka e-disclosure)
3.9.1.17 Court clerking
3.9.1.18 E-filing
3.9.1.19 Pre-sue reports
3.9.1.20 Telephone Legal Hearings - court conference-call service
3.9.1.21 Court video conferencing
3.9.1.22 Money Claim Online (MCOL)
3.9.1.23 Possession claim online (PCOL)
3.9.1.24 RaPId Claim Settlement/RTA Portal
3.9.1.25 Damages Claim Portal
3.9.1.26 Criminal Justice Secure Mail
3.9.1.27 Common Platform
3.9.1.28 Class actions
3.9.1.29 Service of documents
3.9.1.30 Authority to instruct solicitors
3.9.1.31 Mediation rooms
3.9.2 Property
3.9.2.1 Engagement Letter
3.9.2.2 Land Registry Portal
3.9.2.3 Help to Buy
3.9.2.4 Property searches
3.9.2.5 Climate Change
3.9.2.6 Stamp Duty Land Tax
3.9.2.7 Calculating SDLT
3.9.2.8 Payment
3.9.2.9 Land Transaction Tax (in relation to property transactions in Wales)
3.9.2.10 NHBC Conveyancing Portal
3.9.2.11 Contract races
3.9.2.12 Title and defect insurance
3.9.2.13 Undertakings given to the firm
3.9.2.14 Retentions
3.9.2.15 Property checklists
3.9.2.16 CQS
3.9.2.17 Model Commercial Lease
3.9.2.18 Property transactions involving an overseas company
3.9.3 Employment
3.9.3.1 Engagement Letter
3.9.3.2 Legal expenses insurance
3.9.3.3 Employment Lawyers Association (ELA)
3.9.3.4 Class actions and large-scale compromise agreement instructions
3.9.3.5 Unbundled employment law advice
3.9.3.6 Settlement Agreements - Right to payment and interest
3.9.3.7 Scope of our engagement in settlement agreements
3.9.3.8 Joint instructions funded by a third party
3.9.3.9 Acting as an investigator
3.9.3.10 MyHMCTS Portal for Employment Tribunals
3.9.4 Immigration
3.9.4.1 Sponsor licences
3.9.4.2 Appeals and SRA Warning Notice
3.9.5 Corporate/Banking/Insolvency
3.9.5.1 Corporate searches
3.9.5.2 Warranty and indemnity insurance
3.9.5.3 Laserform Hub and registration at Companies House
3.9.5.4 Address for service/document forwarding/process agent
3.9.5.5 Stamp duty on shares
3.9.5.6 Holding client property or documents
3.9.5.7 London Stock Exchange Admissions Portal
3.9.6 Family
3.9.6.2 Lexis+ UK (including the Red Book)
3.9.6.3 Divorce and family finance
3.9.6.4 Lenders
3.9.6.5 HM Courts and Tribunal Service Portal
3.9.6.6 Unbundled family law advice
3.9.6.7 Family law information sheets
3.9.6.8 Access to the Land Registry (HMLR)
3.9.6.1 Housing needs, mortgage capacity and Miris
3.9.7 IT and IP
3.9.7.1 Patents
3.9.7.2 Trademarks
3.9.7.3 UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)
3.9.7.4 International Trademark Association (INTA) membership
3.9.7.5 WEB TMS
3.9.8 Wills and probate
3.9.8.1 Oaths and witnessing
3.9.8.2 Being left a legacy in a will by a client
3.9.8.3 Managing another's money
3.9.9 Tax
3.9.9.1 HMRC Self-Assessment for Agents Online Service
3.9.9.2 HMRC tax advisor status
3.9.10 Insurance
3.9.10.1 Acting for insurers and insureds
3.10 Social events
3.11 Benefits
3.11.1 Legal advice
3.11.2 Recruitment bonuses and incentives
3.11.3 Work experience
3.12 Health and wellbeing
4.0 Part Four - Compliance and Regulation
4.1 Financial crime, including money laundering
4.1.1 Your responsibilities
4.1.2 Understanding Financial Crime Risk
4.1.3 Money Laundering
4.1.4 Terrorist Financing
4.1.5 Proliferation Financing
4.1.6 Sanctions
4.1.7 Bribery and Corruption
4.1.8 Tax Evasion
4.1.9 Fraud
4.1.10 Other Financial Crime Risks
4.1.11 The Risk-Based Approach and the Practice-Wide Risk Assessment
4.1.12 Governance and support
4.1.13 Client and Matter Risk Assessment
4.1.14 Client Due Diligence
4.1.15 The responsible lawyer's role
4.1.16 Understanding the client
4.1.17 Ownership, control and authority
4.1.18 Risk and Client Type
4.1.19 Certification and remote verification
4.1.20 Collection and retention of CDD records
4.1.21 Reliance
4.1.22 Grace Period
4.1.23 Escalation
4.1.24 Reporting discrepancies
4.1.25 Enhanced Due Diligence
4.1.25.1 When EDD applies
4.1.25.2 Factors indicating that enhanced scrutiny may be required
4.1.25.3 What EDD involves
4.1.25.4 Meeting the EDD requirement
4.1.26 Politically Exposed Persons
4.1.26.1 Identifying a PEP Relationship
4.1.26.2 Risk Assessment
4.1.26.3 Source of Funds and Source of Wealth
4.1.26.4 Approval requirements
4.1.27 Sanctions and trade restrictions
4.1.27.1 What are sanctions?
4.1.27.2 Screening
4.1.27.3 Why do sanctions matter to lawyers?
4.1.27.4 Ownership and control
4.1.27.5 Indirect sanctions risk
4.1.27.6 Trade restrictions and dual-use goods
4.1.27.7 Sanctions Evasion and Circumvention
4.1.27.8 Escalation
4.1.28 Source of Funds and Source of Wealth
4.1.28.1 Source of Funds
4.1.28.2 Source of Wealth
4.1.28.3 The Responsible Lawyer's Role
4.1.28.4 Building a Funding Narrative
4.1.28.5 Origin
4.1.28.6 Cryptoassets
4.1.28.7 China, Exchange Controls and International Funds Transfers
4.1.28.8 Escalation
4.1.29 Client Accounts and Financial Crime Risk
4.1.29.1 Keystone's approach
4.1.29.2 Acting as a banking facility
4.1.29.3 Relationship with Source of Funds
4.1.30 Third-Party payments
4.1.31 Returning funds
4.1.32 Payments for fees only
4.1.33 Ongoing Monitoring
4.1.33.1 What is Ongoing Monitoring?
4.1.33.2 Updating the Client and Matter Risk Assessment
4.1.33.3 Higher risk matters
4.1.33.4 Red flags and escalation
4.1.34 Escalation and reporting
4.1.34.1 Reporting (England and Wales)
4.1.34.2 Reporting (Isle of Man)
4.1.35 Training
4.1.35.1 Mandatory training
4.1.35.2 Continuing awareness
4.1.35.3 Practical Competence
4.2 Conflicts
4.2.1 Conflict checks
4.2.2 Conflicts explained
4.2.3 Client conflicts
4.2.4 Information Conflicts
4.2.5 Own Interest Conflicts
4.2.6 Conflicts clearance
4.2.6.1 Clearing true Own Interests Conflicts
4.2.6.2 Clearing commercial conflicts
4.2.6.3 The clearance process
4.3 Solicitors' undertakings
4.3.1 The obligations of Central Office
4.3.2 Guidelines for undertakings given by Keystone lawyers
4.3.3 Hints & tips for drafting and amending undertakings
4.3.4 Routine and bespoke undertakings
4.3.5 Undertaking templates
4.3.6 Topping up or increasing undertakings
4.3.7 Transferring undertakings between matters for the same client
4.4 Firm regulatory requirements
4.4.1 Professional indemnity insurance
4.4.2 Changing our limit of liability
4.4.3 Claims and complaints against Keystone
4.4.3.1 Claims
4.4.3.2 Complaints and SRA reports about you/the firm
4.4.4 Claims and complaints against other firms and those in a position of responsibility
4.4.5 Tips to pre-empt complaints
4.4.6 Tips to deal with complaints
4.4.7 Clients ignoring your advice
4.4.8 Last-minute instructions from clients
4.4.9 Ceasing to act/Termination of the retainer
4.4.10 Undersettling
4.4.11 Insolvency of clients
4.4.12 Third-party client supporters
4.4.13 Providing investment or financial advice to clients
4.4.13.1 Arranging insurance for clients
4.4.13.2 What are Insurance Distribution Activities?
4.4.13.3 Insurance Product Information Document (IPID)
4.4.14 Diversity and inclusion
4.4.15 Modern slavery and forced labour
4.4.16 Practising certificates
4.4.17 Referrals
4.4.18 Listed status requirements
4.4.19 CPD and Continuing Competence
4.4.19.1 On the job
4.4.19.2 In-house provision
4.4.19.3 External CPD providers
4.4.19.4 For Legal
4.4.19.5 BPP Business School
4.4.19.6 MBL seminars
4.4.19.7 Duty to provide a competent service and professional negligence
4.5 UK GDPR
4.5.1 Application of UK GDPR
4.5.2 Making sure Keystone's processing is lawful
4.5.3 Data subject rights
4.5.4 How to comply with UK GDPR
4.5.5 Deletion of data
4.5.6 DSARs, rectification requests and deletion requests
4.5.7 Keystone as data processor
4.6 Data security
4.6.1 Your office
4.6.2 Hard copies and USBs
4.6.3 Working in public spaces
4.6.4 Two factor authentication
4.7 Security incident/breach reporting
4.8 Supervision and file reviews
4.9 Specific SRA duties for litigators
4.9.1 Your duties to the court
4.9.1.1 Duty not to take unfair advantage
4.9.1.2 Duty not to mislead or attempt to mislead
4.9.1.3 Duty only to make representations which are properly arguable
4.9.1.4 Contempt of court
4.9.2 Litigants in person
4.9.3 Wasted costs orders
4.9.4 Working with colleagues
4.9.5 Delegation and supervision in litigation (Mazur)
4.10 Reporting and Whistleblowing
4.10.1 Reporting generally
4.10.2 Reporting others
4.10.3 Self-Reporting under the SRA Rules
4.11 Bribery and national security
4.11.1 Bribery and corruption
4.11.1.3 Arrangements with clients and Keystone business contacts
4.11.2 National Security and Investments Act
4.11.2.1 Types of notification
4.11.2.2 Assessing share deals
4.11.2.3 Assessing asset deals
4.11.2.4 Retrospective effect
4.12 Mortgage and impersonation fraud
4.13 Legal opinions
4.13.2 Foreign legal opinions
4.14 Third-party reliance
4.15 Writing templates for clients
4.16 Signing on behalf of the client
4.17 Assigning the benefit of a contract
4.18 Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and confidentiality undertakings
4.19 Giving a reference
4.20 Taking on other roles
4.20.1 Points that apply when seeking to work in any other business
4.20.2 Points that apply specifically when seeking to work at another law firm
4.20.3 Becoming a non-executive director (NED), going to work in-house and other engagements
4.20.4 Instructing Keystone
4.20.5 Acting as a solicitor outside Keystone in your personal capacity
4.20.6 Commercial matters when working outside Keystone
4.21 Changes to your Pod
4.21.1 Exiting arrangements
4.22 Isle of Man jurisdictional issues
4.23 Further policies
5.0 GLOSSARY