Buying Professional Services

Overview

Improve your skills in choosing the Professional you work with.

This Report provides expert guidance in choosing and using lawyers and other professional advisers, and will ensure you better understand the process and exactly what you are buying.

Get the best quality professional services for your business.

The principal difficulty for a buyer is knowing who will provide good services of a kind that they do not necessarily understand. Therefore, the purchasing decision is often made on “soft” grounds (for example, they like the person). Whilst it is good to work with those with whom a rapport can be built up, buyers of these services should use a range of factors in their decision to purchase.

This Report looks at the issues that often arise between buyer and advisor, and details the things that can go wrong and gives solutions to overcome the problems. It supplies firm practical advice on selecting the best professional services for your needs.

Report benefits

It will help you:
1 Ensure that the professionals you choose supply the service level you require, fulfill the need and who you feel confident in working with

2 Flag-up some of the issues which consistently re-emerge when buying professional services and what to look out for to avoid costly services which do not provide results

Who will benefit from this Report

• In-house counsel about to engage the services of private practice legal advisors
• Finance directors and managers outsourcing complex tax and accountancy needs and advice
• CEOs looking to engage the services of a specialist consultancy firm
• Heads of human resource departments who outsource complex and time consuming functions such as payroll and facilities management services

Content

1 INTRODUCTION

• Quality of advice
• Ability to communicate
• The balance of power
• The good professionals
• Expect the best and negotiate upwards from the worst if necessary
• The inadequate client
• Action checklist

2 CHOOSING AND APPOINTING THE PROFESSIONAL

• Choosing and instructing a professional
• 5 Golden rules:
  • Rule l: Establish what work you need doing
  • Rule 2: Consult early
• When you need a professional and how to find one
• Making the choice
  • Rule 3: Arrange a pre-instruction meeting
  • Rule 4: See more than one firm
• Appointing a professional
  • Rule 5: Insist on a letter of engagement from the professional
• Conclusion
• Checklist

3 PAYING PROFESSIONALS

• Fees
• Rules regarding estimates
  • Rule l: Mention fees early on
  • Rule 2: Get the estimate in writing
• Time costs
• Rule 3:* Ask the firm whether you really need a partner to do the work proposed — a more junior member of the firm may perfectly competently handle it
  • Rule 4: Ask whether the individual allocated to the job has done this type of work before – insist on a partner if you wish
  • Rule 5: Doing a deal quickly can save money
• Conclusions

4 SACKING THE PROFESSIONALS

• Tupe

APPENDIX

Initial interviews practice note – 15 May 2008

1 Introduction
2 Basis upon which initial interviews are conducted
3 Initial information obtained from the client
4 Initial information given to the client
5 Non face-to-face interviews
6 Confidentiality
7 The interview – main areas to cover
8 Terminating the retainer
9 Follow-up after the interview
10 Records

Further information

Author

Susan Singleton

Susan Singleton is a solicitor with her own firm, Singletons, and specialises in competition law, IP law, IT/e-commerce and general commercial law, and is listed by Chambers Legal Directory as one of the UK’s leading IT lawyers. She is the author of over 30 books on topics such as Internet and e-commerce law, data protection law and intellectual property.