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Practice Intelligence Australia

18 March 2015 - Ex-Melbourne Arm of ILH Emerges as R.B. Flinders
In July 2012, ILH Group began acquiring equity in Melbourne-based
commercial law firm Rockwell Bates. Over time it acquired 49% of the equity.
In July 2012 Rockwell Bates was generating $4 million in revenue.
The Managing Principal of the firm, Adam Levine, has freed his firm from the
ILH Group (now in Administration) and is re-launching the firm as R.B.
Flinders. Under ILH the firm had been trading with the Rockwell Olivier brand.
According to AFR reporting "It's understood Levine has agreed to terms with
KordaMentha [the Administrator], will take full control of the firm..."
Key people:
Adam Levine - Executive Chairman
George Spiliotis - Managing Principal
John Gdanski - Principal
Troy Palmer - Principal
R.B. Flinders is broadening its service offering compared to the original
Rockwell Bates commercial law firm. It is offering a lot more private client
and personal law services including: 24/7 Legal Helpline, Legal Expense
Insurance Solutions, Conveyancing, Family Law and Disputed Wills
and Estates.
The firm's new website is www.rbflinders.com.au

17 March 2015 - Insurance Litigation Firm Growing With The Aid of

Fixed Fees

16 March 2015 - No Retreat for Victoria Conveyancing Activity

The RBA's healthy attitude to interest rates has contributed to an unabated
climb in Victoria's property sales activity.
Year on year home values in Melbourne are up 7.37% to February 2015. For
the three months to February 2015 home values are up 4.5% (Source: RP
Data Index). The rate of growth in home values is slowing down but as long
as it is positive, then the greatest probability is that property sales volumes
will continue to climb.
February 2015 property transfers are up 3.5% compared to 12 months ago;
up 27% compared to two years ago and up 15% compared to three years
ago.

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10 March 2015 - Now We Know What Happens When a Publicly Listed

Law Firm Goes Under

7 March 2015 - Maddocks Loses Heavyweights For Australian Launch

of Pinsents Masons

Click above image to read details

(image: website screenshot)

5 March 2015 - NSW Conveyancing Activity Up Again

In February 2015, NSW property transfers were up 12% compared to

February 2014. This is a turnaround because December 2014 and January
2015 combined were down by 5% compared to 12 months ago.
February 2015 property transfers were up by 12% compared to 12 months
ago but compared to 24 months ago (February 2013) it is up by 38%.
The December and January figures started to point to a tempering trend in
property sales after a buoyant calendar 2014. If there was a most likely factor
for the latest surge in activity, it is probably the change in interest rate
sentiment, actualised with a rate cut one month ago.

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Property prices and share prices have benefited from the change in
sentiment on interest rates. As usual, when property prices are on the up so
is conveyancing activity.

3 March 2015 - LegalVision Secures $1.2m Angel Round

2 March 2015 - Profitable Acquisitions Boost Shine Lawyers Financial

Results

Shine Lawyers website screenshot

Since 1 July 2014, Shine Lawyers (Shine) has made a number of

acquisitions: Stephen Brown Personal Injury Lawyers (WA), Emanate Legal
(Qld), Sciaccas Lawyers Pty Ltd and Sciaccas Family Lawyers Pty Ltd (Qld).
Shine has reported revenue of $73.1m for the six months to December 2014.
The (normalised) EBITDA on this revenue was $22m or 30% of revenue.
The 2015 half year revenue was $16.5m higher than the 2014 equivalent
period.
Acquired practices contributed $14.3m of this $16.5m increase. Therefore,
Shines revenue growth excluding these acquisitions was 3.8%.
Last financial year (2013/14), Shine reported annual revenue of $115.5m and
EBITDA of $34.2m (29.6%).
How is Shine performing? An EBITDA margin of 30% is around 6% better
than Slater & Gordons 2015 first half result. The main factor in the difference
is staff costs. Shine has managed to keep these to around 46% of operating
revenue.
The Emanate and Stephen Browne acquisitions have increased Shine's
revenue for the half year and even more significantly, boosted profitability.

27 February 2015 - Solicitor Employment Market Not Revealing its

Intentions
After one year of mild recovery in the demand for employed solicitors, the
graphs have chosen not to reveal their current intentions. The downward jolt
depicted for January 2015 is a normal movement for that time of the year.
The Australian economy is similarly not showing a clear direction. The
Reserve Bank was worried enough to reduce the official interest rate
recently. This move implies that the glass is looking more half empty than half
full.
The Federal Government has so far failed to make any meaningful
improvements to its own fiscal position. On the other hand, if it had not failed,
the economy would be feeling a lot worse than it is at the moment. The
recent spike in share prices brought about by an interest rate manipulation,
as opposed to a robust economy, is a false sign of hope.
It is interesting to note that the demand for employed solicitors follows closely
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the pattern of demand for all occupations thus also being under the influence
of the state of the economy.
The demand for employed solicitors may be a glass that is half empty or half
full. No doubt we will find out soon.

The number of job advertisements on the internet

26 Febraury 2015 - Sargeants Port Phillip and Jim's Property

Conveyancing complete first Victorian transfer through PEXA

25 February 2015 - iBarristers

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19 February 2015 - Bold Predictions for the Business of Conveyancing

from PEXA CEO
"It will compress the time of settlements, possibly down to five or
seven days from the traditional 60 to 90-day period. We think this
is going to make transactions $150 to $200 cheaper," Mr Price
said.
The average conveyancing fee on a home transaction is about
$800.
The exchange's $100 million development costs were
underwritten by four state governments (NSW, Victoria,
Queensland and Western Australia), ANZ, NAB, CBA, Westpac,
Macquarie (owner of 24 per cent), Link Market Services and
former transport executive and property developer Paul Little.
PEXA's shareholders were not necessarily the "long-term natural
owners of the business" and it was likely to list on the stock
exchange, Mr Price said.
He forecast an initial public offering by the "middle of next year [or
the] second half of next year".
[Excerpt from article in The Age]

Link to full article

13 February 2015 - Mediators Have Assisted Almost 11,000 Workers to

Come to an Agreement with their Employer

12 February 2015 - Slater & Gordon Has Been Bulking up its General
Practice in Australia
Slater & Gordon (S&G) has built a general practice in Australia with annual
revenue projected to be $60 million this financial year. This figure excludes
personal injuries work. It covers what S&G calls general law: family law,
conveyancing and business and specialised litigation services.
After significant acquisitions in Australia and the UK, S&G has become a
$500 million annual revenue company.
For the half year to December 2014, annual revenue increased by 37.6%,
largely as a result of acquisition activity. Importantly, profitability has been
maintained with an EBITDA of 23.9%.
The company has stated that the Australian Personal Injury Law practice
remains resilient despite continued challenges in Queensland.
S&G now employs 1,300 people in 82 locations across Australia and 1,300
people across 14 locations in the United Kingdom.

11 February 2015 - Slater & Gordon Half Year 2014/15 Financial Results

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10 February 2015 - USA Expansion Proves Profitable for Bentham IMF

Litigation Funder

image from half yearly accounts report

In the six months to 31 December 2014, Bentham IMF made more profit from
US cases than Australian cases. Its revenue from Australian cases was also
strong producing a financially rewarding half year result. The cash reserves
of the company leapt to $134 million.
A total of 10 cases concluded during the half-year (2 in the corresponding
period), generating total income from litigation contracts of $77,638,164, a
131% increase over the corresponding period last year (of $33,557,582).
Consolidated net profit from continuing operations after tax for the half-year
was $23,010,207 (2013: $9,127,350), representing a 152% increase over the
corresponding period last year.
The Group's cash position was $134,395,597 as at 31 December 2014 (30
June 2014: $105,576,733) whilst its investments in cases was $79,135,370
at 31 December 2014 (30 June 2014: $98,636,050).
The Company raised capital during the period totalling $2,374,976 as a result
of its dividend reinvestment plan.
In just its third year of operations in the U.S., Bentham reports:
10 American deals funded in 2014 including contract disputes, a patent
infringement trial, partnership disputes, and five law firm case portfolios.
Client recoveries of $100 million from jury verdicts and settlements backed
by the firm.
Gross returns of more than $31 million in the U.S., with net profit of $17
million; clients and outside counsel achieved returns of 69% of case
recoveries.
Four cases resolved in 2014 including three that commenced this year.
Nearly 200 total cases reviewed for funding in the U.S., coming from a
pipeline of major law firms, corporate law departments, businesses and
individual claimants.

6 February 2015 - Knowledge in a Law Firm Packaged into a

Subscription Product

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3 February 2015 - E-Conveyancing Now Fully Operational in Victoria

3 February 2015 - Keypoint Law Expands into Banking & Finance

Allan McDougall

Keypoint Law has announced that Allan McDougall has joined the firm. He is
the ninth senior lawyer to join the innovative firm since its launch in mid 2014.
Keypoint Law's value proposition: "Our lawyers come from Australias largest
law firms and senior in-house roles, and have achieved international
recognition for their expertise. All of them share a common goal of providing
first-class, individualised service to clients free of the constraints of a
conventional firm."
Allan McDougall has over 25 years experience as a banking and finance
lawyer, specialising in asset-based finance, equipment leasing, corporate
lending, secured transactions and treasury.
Allan joins Keypoint from one of Sydneys oldest firms, Pigott Stinson. Prior to
that, he was part of the leadership team of Socit Gnrale in Australia,
where Allan held the positions of General Counsel, Assistant Company
Secretary and roles in their treasury. Earlier in his career, he worked with
predecessor law firms to Allens Linklaters and K&L Gates. Allans
professional credentials include an MBA and being a Fellow of the Securities
Institute of Australia.
Allans areas of specialisation are:
Corporate lending, asset-based finance and equipment leasing;
Personal property securities and revenue law;
SME loans and borrowings;
Financial markets and consumer finance;
Privacy and internet law.
Keypoint Law CEO Warren Kalinko said:
Allan brings to the firm a wealth of experience in banking and finance law, as
well as long-standing relationships with some of Australias leading
equipment finance companies. His expertise in advising not just large
companies, but also smaller firms and private clients aligns well with
Keypoints client base. We look forward to working with Allan to grow this
area of our practice.
Allan McDougall stated:
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I am delighted to be joining a law firm with such an innovative and clientfriendly business model.

2 February 2015 - LawPath Launches a Legal Documents Subscription

Service for Businesses

Website screenshot of new service

LawPath has already built an online business which it says has served
almost six thousand individuals and businesses. Users can search for a
document precedent, complete it online, and for an additional fee they
can have a lawyer review it.
For example, an online Will is $39. For an additional $260 a user can have
up to 2 hrs of additional legal drafting and legal advice with no hidden or
unexpected charges.
Now, instead of selling one document at a time, LawPath is giving end
user business clients unlimited access to over 200 easy to use documents
including Website T&C's, Contractor Agreements and Shareholders
Agreement.
The subscription is planned to be $49 per month. The company is currently
running a promotion offering the first 200 users an opportunity to sign up for
$19 per month.
Lawyers who partner with LawPath agree to provide fixed fee reviews to
users who purchase documents via the website.
LawPath maintains a public directory of lawyers. Prospective clients can post
a legal question direct to a lawyer. Lawyers agree to provide the first 30
minutes of their time for free.
LawPath was founded in February 2013. In September 2013 it announced a
strategic alliance with LexisNexis.
Last year it closed a new funding round, with the full investment coming from
Brook Adcock, the founder of the jewellery business Pandora Australia.
Adcock invested $600,000 into LawPath. I look for businesses that are truly
disruptive and have the potential to scale, not only in Australia but globally
LawPath is such a business, Adcock said.

29 January 2015 - 5.8% Predicts Robert Walters

Increased hiring for legal professionals in 2015 is predicted according to the
2015 Global Salary Survey from specialist recruitment consultancy Robert
Walters.
The survey covers a range of professions and is based on real placements
made by Robert Walters consultants. It found growth in corporate
transactions, demand for in-house counsel at the major banks due to
regulatory reform, and the commencement of major construction projects will
all lead to increased hiring in 2015.
Salary freezes were largely lifted in 2014. In 2015, permanent salaries are
expected to grow year-on-year on average by 5.8%.
Robert Walters Legal Director, Andrew Hanson, said:
Hiring managers are likely to struggle to secure lawyers within their budgeted
salary bandings. After years of salary freezes, more associates are now
driven by remuneration, and companies will need to make competitive offers
if they want to secure top talent, possibly including sign-on and retention
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bonuses. Financial services, construction and corporate M&A associates will

probably be the most difficult to source, while construction and corporate
candidates, although not so scarce, may have already moved practice or
been well compensated for staying.
The Robert Walters Global Salary Survey is the most comprehensive of its
kind and is based on the analysis of permanent, interim and contract
placements covering all 24 countries in which Robert Walters operates. The
sixteenth edition offers an overview of salaries and recruitment trends from
2014, as well as those expected in 2015.
Video commentary below discussing all professions

27 January 2015 - Does the ASX Kill Professional Services Firms?

21 January 2015 - Civic Legal Emerges from ILH Ashes

21 January 2015 - We Ask Lift Legal About the Law Firm that Increased
File Openings by 61%

15 January 2015 - Demand for Employed Solicitors Rising From the

Depths
The number of job vacancy advertisements for solicitors rose in 2014 from
the depths of 2013. The increased demand for employed lawyers must be
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coming from smaller firms. At the end of last year The Australian published
statistics showing that through calendar 2014 the number of non-partner fee
earners in 39 large firms decreased by 4.9%. Growth in non-partner fee
earner numbers occurred in only about 30% of those firms.
The graphs below show the number of internet job advertisements.

Above: Internet Job Vacancy Index. Star symbol tags November of each year

12 January 2015 - In-House Lawyering is Booming - Right?

5 January 2015 - Sold in Under 7 days: Law Central and Capricorn

Partners
KordaMentha was appointed Administrator of ILH Group at 5.15pm on 17
December 2014. By the afternoon of 24 December 2014 the
Administrator had a binding sale of shares in Law Central and Capricorn
Investment Partners (Capricorn).
Left within the group is the law firm business, including Rockwell Olivier, for
which the unpaid creditors will be holding out hope.
ILH bank debt - believed to be courtesy of St George Bank - was around $14
million as per ILH's 2014 financial year annual report. The amount owed to
other creditors plus employee entitlements is likely to be around another few
million dollars.
Capricorn is a financial planning business that found its way into ILH in
September 2013. The owners of Capricorn received in the order of $4.5
million cash as well as now worthless ILH shares and promises of
performance payments. The identity of the purchasers of Law Central and
Capricorn have not been disclosed. The most likely scenario is that the
previous owners of Capricorn gave back the cash they received and ran for
the exit.
It is no surprise that Law Central sold so quickly. It is an internet-based legal
documents business which had higher margins than the law firm business.
The problem for the ILH creditors is that Law Central is a small business with
an estimated turnover of $1m to $2m (a Legal Practice Intelligence
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guesstimate based on historical ASX disclosures).

It is hard to see how St George Bank and the other creditors will not be taking
a substantial loss. They will no doubt be pondering the lessons learned of
lending to a law firm that was a failure for investors from day one to the very
end.

19 December 2014 - ILH Group Enters Voluntary Administration

Click image below to visit ILH Group website for more information

18 December 2014 - Indicators Pointing to a Busier 2015 for Family

Lawyers
Click image below to view full article

15 December 2014 - AGS to consolidate within the Attorney-Generals

Department
Statement by AGS CEO:
The Government has decided that AGS will be consolidated
within the Attorney-Generals Department (AGD) and no longer
operate as a government business enterprise. AGD and AGS are
working closely with a view to the consolidation occurring on 1
July 2015.
This decision will not impact on the service AGS provides to its
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clients. AGS will continue to have its own independent functional

identity within AGD. The expertise and experience of our lawyers
will continue to be available to serve you with the professionalism
you have come to expect.
We value your continued support in this interim period and will be
continuing to operate without changes to our personnel or
service delivery.
Ian Govey, Chief Executive Officer

15 December 2014 - ILH Shares in Voluntary Suspension During New

Negotiations with Bank
ILH is the listed entity of law firm Rockwell Olivier
At the time of the trading halt on the ASX last week, ILH shares were at a
historical low point of 1.9 cents per share. The original shares were issued in
August 2007 at 50 cents per share.
During 2013 the company acquired a financial planning business, paying for it
with a combination of ILH shares (9 cents per share) as well as $4.51 million
in cash. During financial year 2014 the legal services business was the main
contributor to a heavy financial loss for the year.
By 30 June 2014 ILHs bank debt was up to $14.4 million. This amount
represented roughly 50% of the 2013/14 annual revenue of the business.
A new financing / repayment arrangement with the bank was announced in
September 2014. Now the company has obtained agreement by the bank to
defer a $250K payment that was due in December. ILH expects to make a
further announcement by the end of this week.
In the first week of December 2014 the long term managing director of ILH
resigned and the company appointed a corporate advisory firm to assist with
strategic planning.

14 December 2014 - Australian Government Solicitor to Close

The news was leaked over the weekend:
The Weekend Australian can reveal the 175 agencies to be cut
include the Australian Government Solicitor as well as obscure
committees such as a governance board on computer
systems and a partnership group on student services. While
the AGS had been seen as a potential asset sale, the
government will instead close it down and transfer some of its
staff to the Attorney-Generals Department in order to scale back
overall spending.
Legal Practice Intelligence commentary from 19 November 2014

10 December 2014 - Volume of Property Sales in 2015

8 December 2014 - Corrs disrupts its own BigLaw business model

with a contract lawyer service

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4 December 2014 - Lawson Smith Lawyers Join HWL Ebsworth

4 December 2014 - Cridlands MB will Join HWL Ebsworth to Form the

Firm's new Darwin and Alice Springs offices

3 December 2014 - Productivity Commission Recommends

Contingency Fees and Limited Opening of Family Law to Non-Lawyers

1 December 2014 - Exemplary Marketing of a Criminal Law Practice

28 November 2014 - In a Globalised World, Local GCs are Losing the

Autonomy to Choose Law Firms

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26 November 2014 - E-Conveyancing: First Full Transfer, Lodgment

and Financial Settlement

25 November 2014 - Justice Connect moves into Fair Work support for
unrepresented litigants

19 November 2014 - Closing Australian Government Solicitor will not

help Federal Government Fiscal Deficit

18 November 2014 - S & G Looks to Expand in Canada

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14 November 2014 - Galilee Solicitors Wins Bragging Rights for First

NSW E-Caveat

13 November 2014 - Top 20 Private Law Firms Partnering with Legal

Aid NSW

10 November 2014 - E-Conveyancing Sceptics Proved Wrong Today

click above image to read more

7 November 2014 - Macquarie Secures 25% of PEXA Shares

According to recent AFR reporting, Macquarie Capital has become a 25%
shareholder of PEXA which is the maximum ownership limit for any single
shareholder.
Western Australia Governments Landgate owns 16%. Other shareholders
include the four major banks, Link Market Services (Pacific Equity Partners),
Paul Little (Little Group) and the governments of New South Wales, Victoria
and Queensland.

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$50-$60 million of the capital raised has gone into building the PEXA platform.
GlobalX Legal Solutions CEO Peter Maloney said the company was looking
forward to its customers being able to fully access the Property Exchange
Australia (PEXA) in NSW from November 10.
Mr Maloney says that the Brisbane based company is Australias largest
property settlement provider to the practitioner market.
"We have been preparing and investing significantly in our technology, people
and industry partnerships, to ensure we have a competitive advantage in
delivering PEXA to all our clients and solutions partners, Mr Maloney said.
We are thrilled to be able to deliver PEXA to GlobalXs practitioners who
currently utilise the companys online search, conveyancing and practice
management software solutions.
We are very pleased to have agreements in place to deliver access to PEXA
to the broader practitioner market via our strategic partners and their software
solutions.

Read more
6 November 2014 - Blue Rock Law Joins M+K Lawyers
Headed by Principals George Haros and Alex Ninis, Blue Rock Law focuses
on IT, workplace relations, property, litigation and commercial law.
George and Alex have done a wonderful job in a tough market to grow their
firm since founding it only five years ago, comments Damian Paul, National
M+K Managing Director. Their focus on mid-market businesses aligns
perfectly with ours. This union creates enormous opportunity to introduce, on
the one hand, their clients to the wider skill sets within M+K and, on the other,
their specialist skill sets to the M+K client base.
A team of eight lawyers and three support staff [based in Melbourne] will
accompany George and Alex, with two team members based in Perth.
Blue Rock Law is excited by this opportunity, says Alex Ninis. We feel there
is a real synergy between M+K and Blue Rock Law of a vision to use our
industry knowledge to truly understand our clients business, and then to
provide them with a practical and commercial legal service.
As Blue Rock Law strives to keep ahead of the curve and meet the ever
changing need of our clients, teaming up with M+K will allow for greater
operating efficiency, solidify our presence nationally, and deliver all-round
better value for our clients, concludes George Haros.
M+K Lawyers has 350 staff with offices in Victoria, New South Wales,
Tasmania, Queensland and Perth.

6 November 2014 - Tim's Story

... and "Besties" from Shine Lawyers

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3 November 2014 - Kemp Strang Opens Office in Brisbane

Commercial law firm Kemp Strang today opened the doors to its Brisbane
office. It comes only nine months after announcing it would open a Melbourne
office and the firm now has offices across the eastern seaboard in Brisbane,
Sydney and Melbourne.
Kemp Strang provides high quality legal services to clients across a wide
range of industries with particular strengths in banking & finance, dispute
resolution & insolvency and corporate advisory.
The Brisbane office is headed by partners Glen Williams and Paul Wong,
both from Kemp Strangs former Brisbane affiliate law firm, Thynne &
Macartney.
Said Kemp Strang managing partner, Michael Joseph: This is the next step
in our business strategy of providing a national service to our clients under
the Kemp Strang banner.
Mr Williams is an insolvency specialist and has over 20 years experience
providing expert services in dispute resolution to banks, financial institutions
and commercial enterprises. Mr Wong has 15 years experience in banking
and finance specialising in transactional banking and finance. He also acts for
Banks and insolvency practitioners in the realisation of assets. They are
supported by a highly experienced team of lawyers and paralegals.

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