Where a client contacts you directly, you will need to decide whether to take on the work. You should assess the opportunity. If it looks promising, then you should take it on (with or without help from colleagues) or refer the entire matter to a colleague. You can find suitable colleagues to work with you through the Find Colleagues function of Keyed-In or by asking a member of the Community Team. Default hourly rates are displayed in all colleagues' Keyed-In profiles. Colleagues are free to adjust their own rates up or down as required. Reduced rates should still be commensurate with the premium brand of the firm, the risk associated with taking on the work, and the value of the work to the client. Colleagues have the ability to increase the rates of others. However, any reduction to another colleague's rates requires that colleague's prior consent, confirmed by email.
Where a matter is being introduced to a colleague, the introducer should share all the relevant knowledge they have regarding the client, including matters such as urgency, time scale, solvency, speed of payment, requirement for face-to-face meetings, position in respect of Costs on Account, fee estimates and/or caps in place, attitude towards fees and general approach. Providing background on the client is especially important for repeat clients and matters that are already in progress. If little is known about the client, as is commonly the case with new clients, then this too should be made clear. While it is the responsibility of the introducer to pass on all relevant information to colleagues, it is common with new instructions for the introducer simply to do no more than effect the introduction. If so, so long as the colleague being introduced is agreeable to do so, they should undertake all usual pre-instruction steps such as those referred to above. Where an introducer invites a colleague to provide a fee cap or estimate, then this should be provided and adhered to, with assumptions and exclusions as necessary. Colleagues are free to decide whether to accept work that is offered to them. Once an instruction is accepted, however, the client should receive the same level of care, attention and commitment as any of the colleague's own clients.
Keyed-In provides permission-based access to client and matter information, which is available only to the Client Owner and those involved in the matter. These permissions are granted automatically to all lawyers listed in the New Client Form. Client Owners and Acting Lawyers can add a colleague to the matter by using the Add Lawyer to matter' tool in Keyed-In.