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• Private Client Law

• • Overview

  • A Day in the Life of

  Put Simply...

  Private client lawyers work with individuals and families, providing legal advice on a variety of matters such as investments, taxation, estate management, wills and testamentary issues, etc. Private clients are usually very rich and high net worth individuals or landed gentry holding massive amounts of properties and other assets anywhere in the world.
  
  The main objective is to provide advice which will help preserve, build and maintain wealth and establish trusts and provide prudent guidance on inheritance taxes and capital gains tax, which are usually high in such cases. Charity matters will include setting up of charities and trusts, registering such bodies with the required statutory authorities, providing oversight on day-to-day management and fund collection and disbursements in accordance with the mandate created at the time of set-up. Charities can be small, non-profit associations to full-fledged organisations run like a business and with immense budgets.

  What is involved in Private Client Law?

  Lawyers working for charitable bodies will provide legal services for registration, restructuring where applicable, creating charters or trust deeds, compliance with statutory and local authorities, and regular management and disbursal of funds received or earned for charitable endeavours. Other activities will include providing investment advice, setting-up of offshore trusts, draft contracts and business proposals, handle sponsorships and other corporate and commercial matters falling within the purview of charity management.
  
  The workload a typical private client lawyer will have is comprised of drafting wills, executing terms of the will on death and the disbursal of properties and assets upon this date. You will also assist clients on potential way for clients to look after and grow their wealth, where locally or internationally. As such, a considerable application of tax law is also applicable in many cases. Most firms will have separate departments where private client and charity work is handled, but largely individual practitioners and small niche firms specialize in such cases.

  What is needed for Private Client Law?

  Qualities which are important for lawyers practising in private client and charity areas are excellent people management skills, articulate and erudite in handling communications, discussions and negotiations with a wide range of clients and a thorough foundation in law and commercial matters dealing with taxation, inheritance, investments, trusts, etc.

  
  You must have a particular aptitude for wading through tons of rules and regulations and being able to structure matters in a manner which is most beneficial to your client, saving on costs, but being compliant with the law. Familiarity with overseas markets where clients may hold interests or are residents overseas and holding interests in the UK is an advantage. You may need to interact and coordinate with contemporaries abroad, deal with organisations which operate offshore or overseas in tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, etc.
  
  There could be some degree of international travel involved, some long hours while engaged in complex restructuring or setting-up of trusts, and last but not the least handle humongous amounts of documentation which is created during the course of such activities.

  Current Climate for Private Client Law?

  Private client practice is a burgeoning field with the growth of financial status of large number of individuals, whether through high salaries and benefits, or successes in start-up ventures, takeovers of privately held companies, winning lotteries or contests with big cash prizes. Immense growth in several emerging markets have created a fresh breed of millionaires and billionaires across the globe, so lawyers in this area have their hands full with plenty of work, and more to come in the future. There is an increasing demand for lawyers specializing in private client and charity practice, which makes taking a closer look at this field a worthwhile option.
  
  In legislative and regulatory matters, recent events include the introduction of the Charities Act in 2006 which lays down guidelines on how a charity should be defined and what constitutes public benefit. Further amendments to the Companies Act are expected to affect charities set-up as companies. In private clients, there is a demand for rationalisation and reform of divorce law, particularly in issues like enforcement of pre-nuptial agreements, division and allocation of assets post a divorce.
  
  

  A day in the life of... Rachel Aldous, Private Client Law trainee at Penningtons Solicitors LLP

  I usually arrive in the office between 9am and 9.30am.  The private client department has a group meeting every Tuesday morning at 9.30am.  These meetings usually last about half an hour and provide the opportunity for everybody in the department to comment on their workload, any business development activities they have been involved in and to highlight any technical points that have arisen on matters on which they are working. 

  Sometimes these meetings incorporate a Legal Network Television training session (LNTV); this involves watching a DVD on a topical issue and answering follow up questions. The first thing I do in the morning is make myself a cup of tea, essential preparation for a days work! I then check my emails, open the post for one of the partners in the department and distribute it to the relevant fee earners.  

  As a trainee in the private client department I have been kept busy with a wide variety of interesting responsibilities.  Typical tasks I undertake include drafting, or reviewing, documents (for example, wills, codicils and various trust deeds), conducting research (quite a bit of which is on points of tax law), assisting on probate files (including collecting in assets, completing inheritance tax returns and drafting estate accounts) and drafting simple letters of advice. 

  I have had the opportunity to attend a number of meetings with clients; I would usually be expected to make notes during the meeting and to write these up for the partner or fee earner to review. Following initial client meetings, the relevant partner/fee earner will often involve me in the follow up work and ongoing correspondence with the client.  All the work that I am involved in is supervised and checked by a partner before it is sent out to the client. 

  I have assisted all members of the team, including partners, consultants and fee earners; this means that not only have I had exposure to different work and clients but I have also developed an understanding of how different people work. I have been involved in helping to review and update extracts from a textbook for law practitioners as a number of Penningtons partners are revision editors for this publication. I have also had the opportunity to assist on two pro-bono matters; both applications to register charities.  I have attended Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) presentations along with others in the department and a ladies discussion group for women working in the private client field.      
  
  I usually have my lunch sometime between 1pm and 2pm.  We have a small kitchen area in which I usually eat with the other trainees in my year.  About once a week we treat ourselves to lunch out; there are plenty of sandwich bars and pubs to choose from not far from the office.  

  I usually leave the office between 6pm and 7pm.  Nearly every Friday, a group of us including trainees, newly qualified solicitors, members of the business development and accounts  teams (and on occasion partners too) will have a few drinks at one of the local pubs.  I have also been to a number of Penningtons organised events including a pub quiz and a young professionals networking event which we hosted at the Southbank centre.

  Daily Diary

  Time:	Diary entry
  09:00	Arrive at office between 9.00am and 9.30am. Make cup of tea and check emails.
  09:30	Department meeting.
  10:00	Opening and distributing post.  Replying to emails
  11:00	Accompanying a Partner to a client meeting at the office.  Making notes during the meeting.
  12:00	Writing up attendance note from client meeting.  Drafting simple Wills for new clients.  Sending to partner for approval.
  13:00	Lunch
  14:00	Preparing Will commentary and letter to client.
  15:00	Phoning/writing letters re collecting in assets on probate file.
  16:00	Tax research on the remittance rules.
  17:00	Writing up results of tax research.
  18:00	Home
  19:00	Attending a Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) talk.

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